Weekly Wrap

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate held their first voting days of the new session this week. Although no floor votes were taken, the committees were organized and a handful of them held their inaugural meeting of the 2019-20 legislative session. In addition, members received their committee assignments, which can be found here:

On Tuesday, the House Insurance Committee unanimously reported out H.B. 195 (Nelson, R-Westmoreland), which would provide for medication synchronization. This would allow patients to receive their medications on the same day each month, instead of having to make multiple visits to the pharmacy. This is a reintroduction of H.B. 1800 from last session, which unanimously passed on the House floor but failed to receive a final vote in the Senate.

The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee unanimously voted in favor of S.B. 127 (Regan, R-Cumberland), which would reauthorize Pennsylvania’s 911 Law, which is set to expire on June 30, 2019. Along with extending the law for two years, the bill also calls for a study, adds members to the 911 Advisory Board and permits the purchase of a 911 system for individuals with disabilities.

Moving to Wednesday, the House Labor and Industry Committee held an information meeting on Pennsylvania’s workforce development system. The House Local Government Committee unanimously reported two bills from their committee. The first, H.B. 264 (Mako, R-Northampton), would create a system of financial best practices for municipal authorities when handling collected money. The second, H.B. 275 (Mehaffie, R-Dauphin), changes the name of the Early Intervention Program to the Strategic Management Planning Program. The hope is that the name change will increase the number of municipalities who take advantage of the program.

Look Ahead

Governor Tom Wolf will give his annual budget address on Tuesday, February 5, 2019. A few of the items on his 2019-2020 budget wish list have been revealed so far.

The Governor will propose a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $12.00 an hour. The proposal would then gradually increase the minimum wage by 50 cents until reaching $15.00 an hour in 2025. A portion of the savings will be re-invested to provide at least a $12.00 minimum wage for workers providing Department of Human Services-supported childcare and home care for seniors and people with disabilities. The House Labor and Industry Committee will hold an informational meeting on the economic impacts of the minimum wage on Wednesday.

Wolf also outlined a plan, funded by a severance tax, to restore critical infrastructure. The Restore Pennsylvania initiative would invest $4.5 billion over the next four years to address five priority infrastructure areas:

  • High-Speed Internet Access;
  • Storm Preparedness and Disaster Recovery;
  • Downstream Manufacturing, Business Development and Energy Infrastructure;
  • Demolition, Revitalization and Renewal; and
  • Transportation Capital Projects.

As for House and Senate action next week, expect things to be quiet as the budget address takes center stage. However, a few committee meetings have been announced so far.

The House Insurance Committee will meet on Monday and Tuesday for two informational meetings on surprise balance billing. The House Health Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to consider H.B. 51 (Bernstine, R-Lawrence), which would extend presumptive eligibility for home care and home health services, and H.B. 81 (Kauffman, R-Franklin), which would require central service technicians and surgical technologists to pass a nationally accredited exam and maintain continuing education requirements. On Wednesday, the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee will hold an information meeting with the Department of Community and Economic Development’s office of Marketing, Tourism and Film.

A full list of committee meetings can be found here:

In Other News

  • A special election is set for May to replace Congressman Tom Marino.
  • Candidates were chosen for special election to replace former Sen. Guy Reschenthaler.
  • Senator Don White (R-Indiana) and Senator Richard Alloway (R-Franklin) announced their retirements.
  • The PUC will host the Pennsylvania Statewide Sustainable Energy Board annual meeting.