Weekly Wrap

As the Commonwealth continues to recover from COVID-19, the Governor announced on Friday that eight more counties would move to the “green” status on June 19: Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Luzerne, Monroe, Perry, Pike and Schuylkill.  

Other than watching for counties to turn from yellow to green, it was a typically busy June week this week, though not for the usual reasons.  We’d normally be buried by budget bills this time of year, but the earlier passage of the five-month budget due to the COVID-19 crisis has pushed off the bulk of budget work till fall.  However, we had two big developments this week, the likes of which we don’t typically see.

By Tuesday, both the House of Representatives and Senate had long debated and finally passed H.R. 836 (Diamond, R-Lebanon), which would terminate the COVID-19 declaration of disaster emergency. However, legal and constitutional questions about as to whether or not the Governor has the authority to veto the resolution, and the Governor believes the resolution has no effect on his declaration; ergo, nothing will change regarding his plans to reopen Pennsylvania’s economy. The first of what could be multiple legal actions occurred on Wednesday when the Senate Republicans sued in Commonwealth Court on the basis that the Governor is refusing to comply with the resolution.  Stay tuned for more on this.

Wednesday brought more news, when Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) announced he was stepping down from the speakership and resigning his seat as of June 15. Turzai was first elected in 2001 and assumed the role of Speaker of the House in 2015.  The House is expected to elect a new Speaker the week of June 22, which may impact leadership positions down the ticket so to speak, with reports being that roles will be shuffled and maneuvered among Bryan Culter (R-Lancaster), the Majority Leader, Kerry Beninghoff (R-Centre)  the Majority Whip, and Stan Saylor (R-York), the Majority Appropriations Chairman.  Stay tuned for more news on this as well.

On the usual legislative front, it was a sluggish start to the week. On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee reported out H.B. 2418 (O’Neal, R-Washington), which would require the Treasury Department to identify and review all outstanding debt obligations and options for refinancing.

Tuesday got back to the normal hustle and bustle that we’ve seen over the last month in the Capitol.  Most notably, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out H.B. 2025 (Struzzi, R-Indiana), which would prohibit the Department of Environmental Protection joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), or another greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, unless the General Assembly specifically authorizes such a measure or takes action by statute.

A portion of the legislative package aimed at preventing “waste, fraud and abuse” was reported out of the House Human Services Committee:

  • H.B. 2350 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which would require a provider seeking to operate in the Medicaid program use either a National Provider Identification (NP) or register for a State Provider Identification (SPI) number;
  • H.B. 2351 (Thomas, R-Bucks), which would increase the penalties for making a false claim against Medicaid;
  • H.B. 2352 (Grove, R-York), which would create a State False Claims Act to allow for the recovery of an additional 10% from false claims made against Medicaid; and
  • H.B. 2355 (Sankey, R-Clearfield), which would require a Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) to enter into an agreement with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to allow DHS to recoup Medicaid funds which were spent on Provider Preventable Conditions (PPC).

The remaining bills in the package were reported from the House State Government Committee:

  • H.B. 2353 (Gaydos, R-Allegheny), which would mirror the Federal Improper Payment law by requiring agencies to review their programs and expenditures and assess whether they are susceptible to an improper payment; and
  • H.B. 2354 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which is modeled after the Federal Do Not Pay law and would establish a state database of organizations, individuals and entities not eligible to receive funds from a state agency.

The Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure met to consider the nomination of Kalonji Johnson for Commissioner of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, which was unanimously reported with a favorable recommendation. Then the committee reported out S.B. 655 (Boscola, R-Northampton), which would authorize the state to join the Nurse Licensure Compact. S.B. 1186 (Boscola, R-Northampton) and S.B. 1187 (Boscola, R-Northampton), were also reported out. The bills, which would amend the Medical Practices Act and Osteopathic Medical Practices Act respectively, would allow the state to fully participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.

In the House Urban Affairs Committee, S.B. 30 (Killion, R-Delaware) was reported to the full floor for consideration. The bill would establish the Pennsylvania Housing Tax Credit. Also, the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee reported out: H.B. 896 (Caltagirone, D-Berks), which would add homeless housing assistance as an eligible activity under the Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit; and H.B. 1860 (Longietti, D-Mercer), which would allow municipalities of all sizes to create a redevelopment authority.

Further, the Senate Transportation Committee reported out H.B. 364 (Gabler, R-Clearfield), which would provide changes to the enforcement of failure to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights.

The following bills passed finally on the House floor and will go to the Senate for consideration:

  • H.B. 1363 (Murt, R-Montgomery), which would establish a bill of rights of individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism;
  • H.B. 1947 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which would reduce the graduate medical training required for international medical graduates from three to two years;
  • H.B. 2171 (Sonney, R-Erie), which would make changes to the governance structure of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education;
  • H.B. 2484 (White, R-Philadelphia), which would allow charitable trusts and non-profit charitable organizations to hold more assets as income and enter into binding nonjudicial agreements on donations with restrictions until 2022; and
  • H.B. 2497 (Dunbar, R-Westmoreland), which excludes forgiveness for Paycheck Protection Program loans under the federal CARES Act from the state personal income tax.

On Wednesday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out H.B. 1808 (Mackenzie, R-Lehigh), which would classify post-use plastics as raw materials for manufacturing following the use of advanced recycling technologies.

The Senate Inter-Governmental Operations favorably voted on four bills:

  • S.B. 119 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would count, cap and cut the number of state regulations;
  • S.B. 251 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would establish the Independent Office of the Repealer to review existing regulations.
  • S.B. 252 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would reform the permitting process in state agencies; and
  • S.B. 253 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would require state agencies to designate an employee as the regulatory compliance officer.

On the House floor, the following bills passed and head to the Senate:

  • H.B. 2293 (Quinn, R-Delaware), which would require a public utility operating a natural gas pipeline to make their emergency response plan available to the public;
  • H.B. 2348 (Causer, R-McKean), which would establish the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Program;
  • H.B. 2369 (Gaydos, R-Allegheny), which would require the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority to issue COVID-19 grants and loans to community development financial institutions;
  • H.B. 2437 (Stephens, R-Montgomery), which requires the Department of Health to publish long term care facility COVID-19 data;
  • H.B. 2438 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would provide broadband services over existing easement and infrastructure; and
  • H.B. 2509 (Day, R-Lehigh), which would establish the Long-Term Care Facility Personal Protective Equipment Reimbursement Grant Program.

The Senate sent to the following bills to the House for consideration:

  • S.B. 1125 (Martin, R-Lancaster), which would allow school districts the option to extend their property tax discount periods and their base periods through June 30, 2021. The bill would also waive penalties for payments; and
  • S.B. 1166 (Ward,, R-Westmoreland), which would provide for two amendments to the Constitution: (1) require action by the General Assembly to extend an emergency declaration beyond 30 days; and (2) prohibit the denial or abridgement of equality of rights because of race and ethnicity.

S.B. 905 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which is the Capital Budget Project Itemization Act of 2019-20, and H.B. 2502 (Mihalek, R-Allegheny), which would require the Department of State to issue a report on the implementation of the 2020 General Primary Election, passed in both chambers and are awaiting the Governor’s signature.

The Week Ahead

Neither chamber will hold voting session next week. The House Judiciary Committee will meet to consider two bills:

  • H.B. 1841 (Readshaw, D-Allegheny), which would require the disclosure of employment information to a law enforcement agency that is conducting a background investigation of an applicant; and
  • H.B. 1910 (Williams, D-Chester), which would require mandatory training in recognizing and reporting child abuse for police officers.

Wednesday, the House Education Committee will hold an informational meeting to discuss plans to safely reopen schools in the fall.

In Other News

  • Governor Wolf announced a $225 million statewide grant program to support small businesses that were impacted by COVID-19.
  • The Administration issued preliminary guidance for high school and recreational sports teams. Updated guidance was also issued for outdoor recreation.
  • The Department of Health (DOH) issued an order requiring that all hospitals take additional steps to further protect their staff and patients from COVID-19. DOH also issued a universal testing order requiring all nursing homes to complete initial baseline testing no later than July 24. 
  • The Department of Human Services announced a Request for Applications for its new Regional Response Health Collaboration Program, designed to support long-term residential care facilities in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
  • The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) announced new funding is available to 60 Pennsylvania counties under the COVID-19 County Relief Block Grant. DCED also issued guidance for the COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Grant Program.