November 20, 2015

Weekly Wrap:

We have a little bit of a budget update this week: a general appropriations bill, S.B. 1073 (Browne, R-Lehigh), is on the move. It was voted favorably from the Senate Appropriations committee and is set on the Senate calendar for next week. With funding measures put on paper, expect Tax Code, Fiscal Code, Public Welfare Code and Public School Code legislation to pop up as negotiations between Republicans and the Governor continue.

There was also movement on another issue loosely linked to the state budget this week. Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) introduced new liquor privatization legislation two weeks ago, and it moved quickly through the House this week. Passing by a vote of 110 to 86, H.B. 1690 will now head to the Senate for consideration. This bill is a political hot button, and its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Don’t plan to buy your New Year’s champagne anywhere other than the state store just yet.

Medical marijuana is part of the conversation in Pennsylvania once again. Sen. Mike Folmer’s (R-Lebanon) S.B. 3 was voted favorably from the House Rules committee and set on the House Calendar for next week. The bill received bipartisan support with 15 Democratic and 10 Republican voting to report the bill to the full house.

Finally, the Special Committee on Senate Address held two public hearings this week to hear testimony Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s fitness to hold office without a valid law license. On Tuesday, a panel of constitutional and legal ethics experts testified on their interpretation of permissible actions an unlicensed attorney can perform. There seemed to be a consensus amongst the panel that there are a lot of grey areas and that the question asked of the committee was a difficult one to answer. Professor Bruce Antkowiak of Saint Vincent College was the only testifier that expressed the conclusion of “there is no question the Attorney General has to be an attorney”.

Then on Wednesday, the committee held its final public hearing to hear testimony from four of the Attorney General’s deputies. The Deputy Attorneys General spoke to the operations of the Office of Attorney General since Kathleen Kane had her law license suspended. After hearing all the testimony, the final report is expected to be released before the November 25th deadline.

A Look Ahead:

Both chambers are scheduled to be in Harrisburg for three days of voting session next week, leading right into the Thanksgiving holiday. On Monday, expect a House Health Committee informational meeting on long term managed care and a House Agriculture and Rural Affairs meeting to consider S.B. 352 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would modernize the Race Horse Industry Reform Act. Also on Monday, as well as on Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee will hold meetings off the floor, agenda to be determined. As of this writing, no meetings have been scheduled for Wednesday.

For updates to the committee schedules, to go: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/session.cfm

It’s hard to say as of yet if there will be movement on any budget related legislation in either the House or Senate next week. Senator Browne’s general appropriations bill- S.B. 1073 is on second consideration, but not yet marked as a bill that could possibly be voted.

To read S.B. 1073, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=1073

To view the Senate Calendar, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/SessionCalendars/index.cfm?Chamber=S

Over in the House, there could be action on a number of measures. S.B. 3 (Folmer, R-Lancaster), which would allow for the use of medical cannabis in the Commonwealth, could be considered as soon as Monday. On Tuesday, we may see action on H.B. 1633 (Pickett, R-Bradford) which would move administration of the CHIP program from the Insurance Department to the Department of Human Services; we may also see action on S.B.524 (Scarnati, R-Clearfield), which would establish a pilot program for the use of non-narcotic medicated assisted treatment for opioid dependence.

To read H.B. 1633, go to:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1633

To read S.B. 524, go to:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0524

Check out The Week Ahead at: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015112091.PDF

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