Weekly Wrap

The first steps taken to reopen the state during the COVID-19 pandemic occurred on April 20, when Governor Tom Wolf announced the extension of the statewide stay-at-home order until May 8 and three additional actions:

  • Approval of qualified Pennsylvania notaries public to perform remote online notarizations, which will allow auto dealerships to conducted limited car sales and leasing operations through online sales, as a notary is required to complete the transaction;
  • Public and private residential and non-residential construction may resume statewide starting Friday, May 1, in accordance with safety guidance;
  • The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) began accepting orders by phone for curbside pickup at 176 locations.

Then on April 22, Governor Wolf presented his detailed plan for reopening the Commonwealth. The reopening will be categorized into three phases: red, yellow, green. Phases will be assigned based on conditions in a county, counties or region. The administration will first study conditions in the north-central and northwest regions with a target of moving from red to yellow on May 8. Department of Health metrics and a data tool developed by Carnegie Mellon University will be used to decide when to move to a new phase.

The red phase, which currently applies to the whole state, has the sole purpose of minimizing the spread of COVID-19 through strict social distancing, non-life sustaining business and school closures, and building safety protocols.  

As regions or counties move into the yellow phase, some restrictions on work and social interaction will ease while others, such as closures of schools, gyms, and other indoor recreation centers, as well as limitations around large gatherings, remain in place. The purpose of this phase is to begin to power back up the economy while keeping a close eye on the public health data to ensure the spread of disease remains contained to the greatest extent possible.

The green phase eases most restrictions by lifting the stay-at-home and business closure orders to allow the economy to strategically reopen while continuing to prioritize public health. While this phase will facilitate a return to a “new normal,” it will be equally important to continue to monitor public health indicators and adjust orders and restrictions as necessary to ensure the spread of disease remains at a minimum. 

Now to what happened under the dome in Harrisburg this week. On Monday, Governor Wolf vetoed S.B. 613 (Mensch, R-Montgomery), which would have required Wolf to develop and implement a plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 for businesses using recommended guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). A business that complied with the requirements of the mitigation plan could operate.

The House State Government Committee reported out H.B. 2412 (Polinchock, R-Bucks), which would provide a waiver to the Governor’s business closure order to all real estate related activities that can adhere to social distancing and other mitigation efforts. Furthermore, the House Finance Committee reported out three bills:

  • H.B. 2408 (Markosek, D-Allegheny), which would exempt cash payments under the federal CARES Act from state and local taxation;
  • H.B. 2413 (Dush, R-Jefferson), which would transfer $10 million from special funds under the Governor’s jurisdiction to a restricted account for distribution by the Office of the State Fire Commissioner to first responder organizations; and
  • H.B. 2418 (O’Neal, Washington), which would require the Treasury Department to identify and review outstanding debt obligations and submit a report to the General Assembly.

In the Senate, the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee reported out S.B. 1122 (Pittman, R-Indiana), which would provide COVID-19 Crisis Grants to volunteer fire and EMS companies. Then, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee reported the following bills out of committee:

  • S.B. 273 (Ward, R-Blair), which would remove the cap on funds which can be obtained by federally qualified health centers;
  • S.B. 959 (Bartolotta, R-Washington), which would provide additional Medicaid funding to certain facilities for ventilator and tracheostomy services; and
  • S.B. 1110 (Ward, R-Westmoreland), which would require the Department of Health to notify municipalities in which there are confirmed communicable disease cases, such as COVID-19.

Tuesday, the House passed S.B. 327 (Argall, R-Schuylkill) and sent the bill back to the Senate for a final vote before it reaches the Governor’s desk. The bill does the following:

  • Creates the COVID-19 Cost and Recovery Task Force, which would: (this language is included in H.B. 2419 (Grove, R-York), which was reported out of the House State Government Committee on Monday)
    • Monitor and track the response by the Commonwealth to COVID-19;
    • Identify issues relating COVID-19 that require executive, legislative or judicial action;
    • Develop a recovery plan that includes a documented, structured approach that describes how the Commonwealth and its subdivisions can expeditiously resume mission-critical functions; and
    • Make a final report no later than six months after the declaration of disaster emergency related to COVID-19 is terminated.
  • The Governor shall notify the legislature when a specific statute or regulation is suspended, modified or waived under the authority of the declaration of disaster emergency (this language is included in H.B. 2415 (Lewis, R-Dauphin), which was reported out of the House State Government Committee on Monday).
  • Requires the Treasury Department to identify and review all outstanding debt obligations of the Commonwealth and identify options for the refinancing of outstanding debt obligations to reduce costs.
  • Tolls the following until 90 days after the declaration of disaster emergency is terminated: (this language is included in H.B. 2416 (Everett, R-Lycoming), which was reported out of the House State Government Committee on Monday)
    • Submitting a proposed regulation as a final-form regulation;
    • Promulgating a final-form regulation as a regulation; and
    • Promulgating a final-omitted regulation as a regulation.
  • The Department of General Services shall conduct an annual survey of state facility usage.  

Other bills the House passed finally and sent to the Senate were:

  • H.B. 974 (Peifer, R-Pike), which would authorize municipalities to implement senior citizen tax reduction incentive volunteer exchange programs;
  • H.B. 1822 (Keller, R-Perry), which would provide employee protections relating to COVID-19, make changes to the Local Government Capital Project Loan Fund, and place temporary restrictions on the state from entering into a contract that would require the expenditure of money from certain special funds; 
  • H.B. 2376 (Roae, R-Crawford), which would allow retail stores to remain open during a declaration of disaster emergency if stores restrict access to one customer and one employee at a time;
  • H.B. 2388 (Mihalek, R-Allegheny), which would provide a waiver to the Governor’s business closure order to car dealerships that can adhere to social distancing and other mitigation efforts; and
  • H.B. 2400 (Turzai, R-Allegheny), which would provide a waiver to the Governor’s business closure order public and private construction activities that can adhere to social distancing and other mitigation efforts.

On the Senate floor, S.B. 1108 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which would make supplemental federal appropriations to various departments and agencies to provide relief from the financial burdens caused by COVID-19, passed finally and will go to the House for consideration. Also, S.B. 857 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would authorize health care providers to use telemedicine, was sent to the Governor’s desk. The Governor stated he will veto the bill due to a controversial abortion provision.

Moving to committees, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out S.B. 606 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which would authorize health practitioners to prescribe or provide antibiotics to treat sexually transmitted infections without requiring a medical examination. In addition, the House Commerce Committee reported out:

  • H.B. 2369 (Gaydos, R-Allegheny), which would provide businesses with fewer than 50 employees assistance through the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC);
  • H.B. 2370 (Keller, R-Perry), which would permit electronic notarization; and
  • H.B. 2386 (Mehaffie, R-Dauphin), which would establish a business interruption grant program to provide funding for the continuing operation of businesses during and after the COVID-19 disaster emergency.

Lastly, on Thursday, the Senate Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee held a joint public hearing with the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee on Governor Wolf’s COVID-19 response and impacts.

The Week Ahead

Just the House is in session next week. So far the committee meeting schedule is light, highlighted by the House Insurance Committee meeting on Monday to consider:

  • H.B. 1696 (Murt, R-Montgomery), which would require insurers to file certain information to the Department of Insurance annually to ensure compliance with the Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act;
  • H.B. 1439 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which would require insurers to certify that they are in compliance with the Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act;
  • H.B. 470 (Frankel, D-Allegheny), which would prohibit annual and lifetime health insurance coverage limits;
  • H.B. 471 (Schweyer, D-Lehigh), which would prohibit health insurers from denying or excluding coverage based pre-existing condition;
  • H.B. 469 (DeLuca, D-Allegheny), which would put the federal essential health benefits into state law; and
  • H.B. 913 (Longietti, D-Mercer), which would give parents the option of retaining health insurance coverage for their children up to age 26.

The full committee meeting schedule can be found here.

In Other News

  • The Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee and the Citizen’s Advisory Council held a special joint information meeting on the Carbon Dioxide Budget Trading Program.
  • The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) announced that the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA), Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA), Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority (PMBDA), and Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) are deferring loans and that the maturity dates and amortization schedules of all applicable loans are extended by three additional calendar months.
  • DCED announced that new funding is available to help technology-based companies impacted by COVID-19.
  • The Department of Environmental Protection released the 2020 Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment Update.
  • Governor Wolf encouraged registered voters to apply for a mail-in ballot for the June 2 primary election.