October 30, 2015

Weekly Wrap:

This week’s big news is as easy as ABC: we’ve got lots of things to report on including the Office of Open Records Chief Eric Arneson, the State budget and a special committee established in the State Senate.

Starting with “A”: the much anticipated decision from the Supreme Court in the case of Arneson v. Wolf was delivered this week, with the court finding that Gov. Wolf did not have the authority to remove Erik Arneson from his post as Executive Director of the Office of Open records without cause. Arneson had been appointed to the post in the waning days of the Corbett administration, only to be removed by Wolf shortly after his inauguration. The high court ultimately acknowledged that under the State’s Right to Know Law, “the OOR is a unique, independent agency charged with the delicate task of applying the Right to Know Law,” and there is a need to “insulate the OOR and its Executive Director form the potential for coercive influence from a governor to accomplish the purpose of the Right to Know Law.”

To read the decision in Arneson v. Wolf, go to: http://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/supreme-court/2015/51-map-2015-0.html

Moving along to “B”: there’s some news on the budget front this week – the Senate Republicans called up S.B. 1000 (Browne, R-Lehigh) – their stopgap budget that was vetoed by Gov. Wolf last month – for a possible override vote. Constitutionally, an override of a gubernatorial veto requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber, and in the Senate that makes 33 the magic number. With a final party-line roll call of 30 republican and 19 democratic votes, the override failed. What has now become no-business as usual continues with the State budget.

For more on the veto override, go to: http://www.centredaily.com/2015/10/28/4988371_pennsylvania-senate-plans-override.html?rh=1

And finally, “C”: This week President Pro Tempore of the Senate Joe Scarnati (R-Cameron) appointed a special committee to investigate whether or not current Attorney General Kathleen Kane is competent to continue to hold her position. The findings of the committee are to be presented to the Senate in thirty days and could be used as a basis to begin rarely used removal proceedings against Kane.

For more on the special committee, check out our blog post from earlier this week: https://www.buchanangovernmentrelations.com/1015-2/

Legislatively, the biggest news this week is on the transportation front. The House Transportation Committee sent S.B. 385 (Pileggi, R-Chester) which would bill would modernize the Transportation Improvement District Act to the floor for a vote. Across the hall, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee reported S.B. 984 (Bartolotta, R-Beaver) to the floor. S.B. 984 would provide for the statewide regulation of “transportation network companies,” such as UBER.

A Look Ahead:

Expect all to be quiet in Harrisburg next week. Neither chamber will be in session since members will be in their home districts for municipal Election Day on Tuesday, November 3rd.

As a reminder, seats on our statewide appellate courts are up for reelection this year. To see who’s running, check out our blog from last week: https://www.buchanangovernmentrelations.com/worth-another-look-2015-judicial-races/

Also of note, there will also be a special election in the 37th senatorial district on Election Day. Democrat Heather Arnet and Republican Guy Reschenthaler will square off for the Pittsburgh-area seat that was previously held by Sen. Matt Smith (D). Smith resigned earlier this year to become President of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. Across the state, in the Birthplace of America, there’s another big race: Jim Kenney (D) will face Melissa Lynn Bailey (R) in Philadelphia’s mayoral race.

In Other News: