October 9, 2015

Weekly Wrap:

As promised last week, on Wednesday the House of Representatives held a vote on a portion of Governor Wolf’s budget proposal. The proposal was not a General Appropriations or “revenue spending bill”; it was a legislative proposal to amend the Tax Reform Code or a “revenue raising bill”. Put before the House as an amendment to H.B. 283, it included an increase in the Commonwealth’s personal income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent and a new tax on the extraction of natural gas. Though as of Tuesday night the Governor’s office was hopeful that the measure would pass, it was voted down on Wednesday after over six hours of debate with 127 members voting in the negative and 73 members voting in the affirmative. Pennsylvania is now over a hundred days late with a budget.

To see how everyone voted, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/RC/Public/rc_view_action2.cfm?sess_yr=2015&sess_ind=0&rc_body=H&rc_nbr=758

To see what legislative leaders are saying, check out:

House Democratic Caucus http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015100899.HTM

Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015100716.HTM

Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015100752.HTM

Rep. Dave Reed (R-Indiana) http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015100764.HTM

Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion) http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015100743.HTM

Rep. Sandra Major (R-Susquehanna) http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015100725.HTM

In other legislative news, the House Health Committee reported two pharmacy -related bills to the full House for a vote. H. B. 946 (Baker, R-Bradford) provides for pharmacy audit procedures, and H. B. 947 (Fabrizio, D-Erie) provides for registration and transparency measures for pharmacy benefits managers. Both bills were amended and are now on second consideration.

Finally, the House unanimously passed S.B. 925 (Rafferty, R-Berks), which would extend the time period for a school bus driver to have their required physical from 12 to 13 months. Requiring the physical within 12 months was forcing drivers to pay out of pocket for the exam, since most insurance policies cover an exam only once 12 months have passed. The bill will now return to the Senate for a concurrence vote.

A Look Ahead:

Only the Senate will be in Harrisburg for voting session next week, and only for two days, since Monday is a national holiday.

For a full list of Senate committee meetings, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/CMS/index.cfm?Chamber=S

To see what might happen on the floor, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/SC/SC/0/RC/CAL.HTM

The House will return to session on Monday, October 19.

In Other News: