Weekly Wrap
It was a busy week in the state Capitol, with both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Harrisburg for session. The headliner this week was the Governor’s joint address to both chambers to unveil his 2019-2020 proposed state spending plan. This year’s proposal is a $34.146 billion spending plan, a $927.36 million (2.79%) increase over last year’s budget, and calls for no new taxes. Read more about the budget in our blog post from earlier this week.
That’s not to say there was nothing else on the docket this week. On Monday, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.B. 195 (Nelson, R-Westmoreland), which would provide for medication synchronization. This process permits pharmacies to synchronize monthly medication fill dates so all prescriptions for the patient are filled on the same day of the month. The House Insurance Committee held an informational hearing, which continued on Tuesday, on surprise balance billing.
Also on Tuesday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a “state of the state” informational meeting with the American Petroleum Institute, Marcellus Shale Coalition, Department of Environmental Protection, and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The House Health Committee reported two bills to the floor: H.B. 51 (Bernstine, R-Lawrence), which would establish a deemed eligibility program for home care and home health services; and H.B. 81 (Kauffman, R-Franklin), which provides for the certification of central service technicians and surgical technologists.
The Senate passed S.R. 20 (Baker, R-Luzerne) on Tuesday, which directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of the impact of venue for medical professional liability actions on access to medical care and maintenance of health care systems. The resolution was introduced in response to a proposed change to the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, amending venue rules for medical malpractice cases. Medical professional liability issues are always contentions, and the resolution passed with a vote of 31 to 18.
Wednesday, the House State Government Committee reported out H.B. 284 (Metcalfe, R-Butler), which would update and modernize provisions of the History Code pertaining to archiving and storage of government records. The House unanimously passed H.B. 264 (Mako, R-Northampton), which would create a system of financial best practices for municipal authorities to employ when handling collected money.
There were also two public hearings on Wednesday. First, the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee heard from the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Office of Marketing, Tourism and Film. Second, the House Labor and Industry Committee listened to testimony on the economic impacts of increasing the minimum wage.
The Week Ahead
Budget hearings begin on Monday in the House of Representatives while hearings in the Senate will commence on February 19. The hearings, which are an opportunity for members of the Appropriations Committees to take a deeper dive into the governor’s proposed budget on a department-by-department basis, will continue through March. Meanwhile, here’s what to expect next week:
Monday, February 11
- Independent Fiscal Office (11:00 a.m.)
- Department of Revenue and PA Lottery (1:00 p.m.)
- Department of Aging (3:00 p.m.)
Tuesday, February 12
- Public School Employees’ Retirement System and State Employees’ Retirement System (10:00 a.m.)
- State System of Higher Education (1:00 p.m.)
- Higher Education Assistance Agency (3:00 p.m.)
Wednesday, February 13
- Treasury Department (10:00 a.m.)
- Auditor General (1:00 p.m.)
- Attorney General (3:00 p.m.)
Thursday, February 14
- Department of Environmental Protection (10:00 a.m.)
- Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (1:00 p.m.)
- Department of Labor and Industry (3:00 p.m.)
In Other News
- Legislators pitch a bill to rescue the state’s nuclear plants.
- Cannabis legalization bill introduced in the House.
- Changes could be coming to hunting in Pennsylvania.