It was a reasonably light session week; since Monday was Columbus Day, the House of Representatives didn’t start their business at the Capitol until Tuesday. The Senate did not have any session days this week.

On Monday, the House State Government Committee reported out H.B. 1704 (Grove, R-York), which would create an Office of Information Technology within the Commonwealth and establish policies governing information technology procurement, planning and security. Also, the House Local Government Committee voted favorably on H.B. 2557 (Rothman, R-Cumberland), which would address the City of Harrisburg’s status under the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, known to most as “Act 47.” Finally, the House Transportation Committee reported out an amended version of S.B. 1098 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which would allow for the placement of stop arm cameras on school buses to capture illegal passing violations.

On the House floor, the following bills all unanimously passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration:

  • H.B. 1822 (Schlossberg, D-Lehigh), which would require institutions of higher education to establish student mental health and suicide prevention plans;
  • H.B. 2291 (Withdrawn), which would revise the definition of “personal care home” to specifically exclude premises that do not provide supervision or personal assistance for a continuous period exceeding 24 hours;
  • S.B. 1090 (Corman, R-Centre), which would establish a comprehensive anti-hazing statute; and
  • S.B. 1095 (McGarrigle, R-Delaware), which would establish several alternative options to the Keystone Exams for graduation requirements.

Moving to Wednesday, the House Human Services Committee reported one bill from committee: S.B. 31 (Scavello, R-Monroe), which would establish the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program and allocate funding from the Tobacco Settlement Fund for appropriate research. The House Judiciary Committee moved out S.B. 10 (Reschenthaler, R-Allegheny), which would address how the state handles sanctuary cities.

Two bills related to organ donation passed finally on the floor: S.B. 108 (Sabatina, D-Philadelphia), which would prohibit discrimination of any potential organ transplant recipient on the basis of a physical or mental disability; and S.B. 180 (Greenleaf, R-Montgomery), which would update and revise the law relating to organ and tissue donations. S.B. 108 goes back to the Senate for concurrence while S.B. 180 is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Another bill needing the Governor’s approval after final passage is S.B 299 (Alloway, R-Franklin), which would exempt magisterial district judges from the requirement to file a nominating petition with 100 or more signature when seeking re-election.

Since Monday was the holiday, the House held a rare Thursday voting session. Two bills of note passed unanimously. First was H.B. 270 (Farry, R-Bucks), which would expand PACENET eligibility and allow for medication synchronization. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. The second bill, S.B. 1078 (Tomlinson, R-Bucks), which will allow state and local governments, school districts and state-related colleges to hold executive sessions to discuss security matters, heads to the Governor’s desk.

The Week Ahead

The 2017-18 legislative session will essentially come to a close next week, as the House and Senate come to Harrisburg for their final three scheduled session days of the year.

On Monday, the House State Government Committee will hold a public hearing on election integrity and reforms. Meanwhile, the House Insurance Committee will have an informational meeting on H.B. 2532 (Pickett, R-Bradford), which would establish the Rural Health Redesign Center to strengthen rural hospitals, keep jobs local and increase access to healthcare.

The House Finance Committee will consider two pieces of legislation: S.B. 627 (Killion, R-Delaware), which would ensure equal treatment of air freight companies under Pennsylvania tax law; and H.R. 1150 (Whealtey, D-Allegheny), which would reestablish the Select Subcommittee on Tax Modernization and Reform to investigate, review and make recommendations concerning the process, rates and methods by which revenue is collected and assessed. In addition, the Performance-Based Budget Board, established in Act 48 of 2017, will convene for the first time to hold an organizational meeting. The Board will review and approve performance-based budget plans developed by the Independent Fiscal Office for agencies and to make recommendations on how each agency’s operations and programs can be made more transparent, effective and efficient. All tax credits will be reviewed as well.

Tuesday, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a joint public hearing with the Senate Republican Policy Committee to consider the role and impact of pharmacy benefit managers or “PBMs” in the Commonwealth.

More committee meetings are expected to be scheduled. For an update got to:

For anticipated floor action:

In Other News

  • The Pennsylvania Treasury Department launched the next phase of their transparency portal.
  • The Wolf Administration announced a grant opportunity to support community health workers in North Philadelphia’s Health Enterprise Zone.
  • Governor Wolf announced that “It’s On Us PA” grants are available to combat sexual violence at colleges and universities.