Weekly Wrap

This week started with some big news from the House Republican caucus.  Last week, the former Majority Leader Rep. Brian Cutler (R-Lancaster) was elected Speaker of the House, filling the post vacated by Rep. Mike Turzai.  This vacancy in the Majority Leader’s office led to some shifting of positions on the House Republican leadership team, and in the end it shook out like this:

  • Former Majority Whip Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre) was elected Majority Leader;
  • Former Policy Committee Chair Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion) was elected Majority Whip;
  • Rep. Martin Causer (R-McKean) was elected Policy Committee Chair.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor (R-York), Caucus Chair Marcy Toepel (R-Montgomery), Caucus Secretary Mike Reese (R-Westmoreland) and Caucus Administrator Kurt Masser (R-Northumberland) all retained their positions.

Although the House was busy with leadership elections, two bills of note were reported to the full floor for consideration. First, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee reported out H.B. 1930 (Hennessey, R-Bucks), which would update provisions of the Older Adult Protective Services Act (OAPSA) to address criminal background checks and denial of employment for individuals caring for the elderly and care-dependent persons. Second, the House Tourism and Recreational Affairs Committee reported out H.B. 2098 (Boback, R-Luzerne), which would deposit a portion of hotel occupancy tax revenue into a newly established Tourism, Museum and Arts Trust Fund to make grants to support tourism in the Commonwealth.

The Senate committees were busy on Monday. First, the Senate Communications and Technology Committee members voted favorably on three bills:

  • S.B. 835 (Langerholc, R-Cambria), which would establish the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Pilot Program; and
  • S.B. 1118 (Pittman, R-Indiana) and its companion bill H.B. 2438 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would expand broadband access by allowing electric cooperative corporations to utilize existing utility poles for broadband fiber lines.

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported out H.B. 1796 (White, R-Philadelphia), which would allow Philadelphia businesses to carry over net operating losses for three years

Also, the Senate Transportation Committee reported out S.B. 1199 (Aument, R-Lancaster), which would establish rules for the operational of personal delivery devices (PDD). PDDs are autonomous robots designed to deliver packages to consumers and from business to business. S.B. 1220 (Sabatina, D-Philadelphia), which would require the Turnpike to keep their complement of toll collectors through October 2021, was also reported out.

The Senate State Government Committee reported out H.B. 2370 (Keller, R-Perry), which would allow for the electronic notarization of documents. Finally, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing on Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement.

Tuesday, the House Education Committee reported out H.R. 880 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to conduct an analysis of the current school bus driver industry.   

The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee reported out H.B. 441 (Sonney, R-Erie), which would provide for wind power generation systems on preserved farmland, and H.B. 2435 (Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna), which would establish the Food Establishment Pandemic Disease Remediation Cost Reimbursement Grant Program.

H.B. 1437 (Keller, R-Perry), which would make changes to the Rural Jobs and Investment Tax Credit program, and 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, were reported from the Senate Finance Committee.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee reported out the following bills:

  • H.B. 672 (Ortitay, R-Allegheny), which would make changes to consent to mental health treatment services for minors 14 to 18 years old;
  • H.B. 2455 (Lawrence, R-Chester), which would require the Governor to submit a plan for COVID-19 testing to the General Assembly; and
  • S.B. 890 (Mensch, R-Montgomery), which would create a new category under the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities (MAWD) for “workers with job success” to protect benefits for persons with disabilities when they earn more than the current MAWD threshold.

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a public hearing to examine Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).   Majority Chairman Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) said this will be the first of many hearings on the issue.

On the House floor two bills of note passed finally and will head to the Senate for consideration: H.B. 2536 (James, R-Venango), which would allow a local government unit to borrow using emergency tax anticipation notes due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and S.B. 352 (Ward, R-Blair), which would authorize local taxing authorities to provide for tax exemption incentives for certain deteriorated industrial, commercial, business and residential property.

Wednesday brought floor votes, bills crossing chambers and some bills heading to the Governor’s desk. Before getting to the floor action, there were two noteworthy bills reported from  the Senate Appropriations Committee: S.B. 273 (Ward, R-Blair), which would remove the cap on funds which can be obtained by federally qualified health centers; and H.B. 943 (Gaydos, R-Allegheny), which would allow pharmacists to disclose cost-related prescription drug information.

On the Senate floor, S.B. 655 (Boscola, D-Northampton) passed finally and will go to the House for consideration. The bill would authorize the state to join the Nurse Licensure Compact. On the House floor, the following bills passed finally and head to the Senate:

  • H.B. 2351 (Thomas, R-Bucks), which would increase fraud penalties for Medical Assistance program providers;
  • H.B. 2354 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would establish the do-not-pay initiative to monitor improper payments across state agencies; and
  • H.B. 2355 (Sankey, R-Clearfield), which would annually adjust the Medical Assistance Managed Care Organization financing reporting used for rate setting

The following bills passed in both chambers and will go to the Governor’s desk:

  • H.B. 364 (Gabler, R-Clearfield), which would provide for the enforcement of failure to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights and for the distribution of fines;
  • H.B. 1457 (Schroeder, R-Bucks), which would require insurance coverage for custom-fabricated breast prostheses post mastectomy surgery;
  • H.B. 2171 (Sonney, R-Erie), which would require the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) board to develop policies and procedures by which they may create, expand, consolidate, transfer or affiliate an institution;
  • H.B. 2418 (O’Neal, R-Washington), which would require the Treasury Department to identify and review all outstanding debt obligations and identify options for refinancing;
  • S.B. 351 (Ward, R-Blair), which would provide for the offense of aggravated assault of a health care practitioner or technician;
  • S.B. 595 (Mensch, R-Montgomery), which would provide insurance coverage for mammographic examinations;
  • S.B. 637 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would remove licensing barriers within the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Licensure for individuals with criminal convictions; and
  • S.B. 842 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would remove health care workers’ last names from their identification badges.

The Week Ahead

The Senate is currently scheduled for session on Monday and Tuesday next week, and the House remains on a twelve hour call.  Standing committee meetings have yet to be announced, though this time of year it’s safe to assume there will be several Rules Committee and Appropriations Committee meetings.  

As of now, on Tuesday, the Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee will release two reports: Pennsylvania ILEC Broadband Deployment Mandates (SR 2019-48) and A Study in Response to Act 2019-20: Non-Economic Impacts of Single Use Container Bans/Fees

In Other News

  • The Department of Health announced a partnership with CVS Health to assist with nursing home facility testing as part of the state’s COVID-19 response.
  • Governor Wolf provided the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) with a six-week extension to develop a proposed rulemaking to allow the state to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
  • DEP launched a new online permit application tool that will help permit applicants submit their permit applications electronically.
  • The Governor announced that 60 senior community centers will be the recipients of the Department of Aging’s 2019-20 Senior Community Center grants – totaling $2 million.
  • PUC Chair Gladys Brown Dutrieuille has been elected to serve as Second Vice Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners (MACRUC) and a new national task force on Emergency Preparedness, Recovery and Resiliency created by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) in response to COVID-19.