News From Second & State | Buchanan Government Relations

Due to uncertainties in available future revenue due to COVID-19, an early and partial budget is heading to the Governor’s desk. H.B. 2387 (Saylor, R-York) is a $25.8 billion interim budget that will fund the Commonwealth for the first five months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Most line-items are receiving five-twelfths their FY 2019-20 appropriation. However, most of the education-related line-items are fully funded.

An accompanying Fiscal Code bill, H.B. 1083 (Sankey, R-Clearfield), passed in both chambers. This bill provides instructions as to how money appropriated in H.B. 2387 should be spent and includes the following provisions:

Provides an Act 47 municipality an 18-month extension for their recovery plan timeline;
Eliminates the transfer from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to the Marcellus Legacy Fund for distribution to the Environmental Stewardship Fund;
Extends the Transportation Network Company (TNC) assessment in the City of Philadelphia until December 31, 2022;
Extends the assessment for managed care organizations;
Provides for distributions from the Tobacco Settlement Fund;
Distributes money from the PA Race Horse Development Fund;
Extends the deadline for the study on the impact on imposing a tax or prohibition of single-use plastic containers;
Permits a Category 1, 2, or 3 slot machine licensee holder that holds a sports wagering certificate to conduct sports wagering at an affiliated Category 4 facility without having to pay an additional sports wagering authorization fee;
The Gaming Control Board shall conduct an auction for a Category 4 mini-casino license within 90 days;
Raises the cap on the amount local registrars may keep from the issuance of death certificates;
Provides a medical marijuana grower/process permit to the next most qualified applicant in the same region if a current permitee surrenders their license or has it revoked;
Allocates costs and expenses of the State Employees’ Retirement System proportionally against individual investment accounts;
Extends the surcharges for certain court filings;
Extends match requirements for the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Multimodal Transportation Fund to local, regional or metropolitan transportation authorities;
Defines “commercial and mixed use overlay project” in the Liquor Code;
Allocates funding to qualified non-public nursing homes;
Authorizes the transfer of $49.7 million from the federal COVID – ESSER – SEA appropriation to the School Safety and Security Fund;
Authorizes the transfer of funds to the Environmental Stewardship Fund from Personal Income Tax revenue for the payment of debt service on the Growing Greener bonds; and
Transfers up to $300 million from the COVID-19 Response Restricted Account to the Property Tax Relief Fund in the event of insufficient revenue to provide for $621 million of statewide property tax relief.

Along with the interim budget, the legislature is also sending S.B. 1108 (Browne, R-Lehigh) to the Governor. The bill makes $2.6 billion in supplemental appropriations to the current FY 2019-20 General Appropriations Act from federal funds received by the state to address costs incurred due to the COVID-19 disaster emergency. The bill makes the following appropriations to the newly established COVID-19 Response Restricted Account:

$150 million for the School Safety and Security Fund;
$20 million for the State Food Purchase Program;
$20 million for the Dairy Assistance Program;
$625 million for county block grants;
$20 million for the cultural and museum preservation grant program;
$225 million for statewide small business assistance;
$50 million for hazard pay;
$10 million for the food access initiative;
$7 million for Pre-K Counts;
$2 million for Head Start;
$30 million for the State System of Higher Education;
$30 million for the payment of education assistance grants;
$5 million for institutional assistance grants through PHEAA;
$5 million for higher education for the disadvantaged;
$2.2 million for the student loan interest forbearance program;
$10 million for community-based health care centers;
$632 million for long-term living programs;
$50 million for Community HealthChoices;
$10 million for long-term care – managed care
$259.2 million for the intellectual disabilities community waiver program;
$116 million for child-care services;
$10 million for critical access hospitals;
$10 million for domestic violence programs;
$10 million for homeless assistance services;
$8 million for legal services;
$720,000 for autism services;
$50 million for the crisis fire company and emergency medical services grant program;
$50 million for health care system assistance; and
$175 million for mortgage and rental assistance.

In order to distribute federal funds from the COVID-19 Response Restricted Account to the appropriate state agencies, H.B. 2510 (Turzai, R-Allegheny) is also heading to the Governor. The bill also provides $350 million for the Regional Response Health Collaborative Program to protect residents in long-term care facilities from COVID-19.

There were two other Code bills that reached the Governor’s desk.

First, there’s H.B. 1210 (Jones, R-York), which provides for the following in the Public School Code:

Flat funding for basic education, intermediate units, special education, community colleges, and libraries;
Extends the deadline for the Special Education Funding Commission’s report to September 30, 2020;
Requires the Basic Education Funding Commission to reconstitute by July 1, 2022 and the issuance of a report by November 30, 2023;
Extends the PLACON moratorium prohibiting new school building construction or reconstruction applications for FY 2020-21;
$7.5 million for community violence grants;
$199.7 million for health and safety grants for school districts;
$7.5 million for health and safety targeted grants for nonpublic schools;
Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, the 180-day requirement for schools shall apply notwithstanding a declaration of disaster emergency;
Extends the deadline for the Public Higher Education Funding Commission’s report to November 30, 2020;
Up to $7.0 million in undistributed funds in FY 2020-21 may be used to assist school districts in financial distress or under financial watch status; and
Requires quarterly report on pupil transportation payments and school employees’ social security payments.

In addition, S.B. 1027 (Gordner, R-Columbia), which amends the Administrative Code, does the following:

Extends the temporary regulations for the Gaming Control Board for an additional year;
Increases the maximum annual compensation for local registrars;
Extends the sunset date and updates the State Geospatial Coordination Board;
Requires a report on the implementation of the 2020 general primary election within 60 days;
Requires the Governor’s Office to notify the legislature when a specific statute or regulation is suspended, modified or waived during a declaration of disaster emergency;
Requires the Treasury Department to identify and review all outstanding debt obligations and identify options for refinancing;
Continues the judicial administration surcharge until December 31, 2021; and
Provides protections to licensed operations during a declaration of disaster emergency.