Weekly Wrap
Today marks just one week until the June 30 budget deadline. Seven days. A mere 168 hours to finish hashing out an over $30 billion state spending plan to carry us through the next fiscal year. While we still don’t have any specifics to report on how that’s all going to shake out, the Pennsylvania General Assembly spent the week positioning bills to potentially be used as vehicles for substantive initiatives necessary for a completed and balanced budget, and also taking care of other business before the summer recess.
On the budget front, the Senate adopted a temporary revision to its rules providing that any proposed amendment to the General Appropriations bill must be revenue neutral. Also, the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee each advanced bills to provide funding for our state-related institutions of higher education: Penn State University, University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University. The House Appropriations Committee also reported S.B. 651 (Browne, R-Lehigh), the 2017-2018 Capital Budget Project Itemization Act, to the full House for consideration.
Education is typically a hot topic at budget time, and this week both the House of Representatives and the Senate advanced several bills amending the Public School Code. On Monday, the House passed H.B. 944 (Keller, M., R-Perry), which would provide for agricultural education programs. The House Education Committee reported out H.B. 1448 (Cutler, R-Lancaster), which would require the Department of Education to create an online tool to be used by students and parents to compare the costs, offerings and programs at institutions of higher education; H.B. 121 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which mandates updates to schools’ anti-drug curricula; H.B. 1495 (Bloom, R-Cumberland), which would prohibit teacher lay-offs based exclusively on seniority; and H.B. 1021 (Roebuck, D-Philadelphia), which would require accurate recording of school fire drills. In the Senate, the Senate Education Committee reported out H.B. 178 (Day, R-Berks), which would require school security drills, and the controversial S.B. 756 (Dinniman, D-Chester), which would eliminate the use of the Keystone Exams, allowing schools to evaluate graduation readiness through use of the SAT, ASVAB or GED tests.
Also on Monday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out three bills related to mine safety and the mining industry: H.B. 1333 (Gabler, R-Clearfield), H.B. 1341 (Pyle, R-Armstrong) and S.B. 624 (Scarnati, R-Clearfield). The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee also held a meeting and reported S.B. 334 (Fontana, D-Allegheny), which would allow municipalities to make public funds available to repair or replace broken sewer laterals on private property, and S.B. 639 (Fontana, D-Allegheny), which would allow a municipality to apply to the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) when repairs are desired. Further from Sen. Fontana, the Senate Local Government Committee reported out S.B. 656 (Fontana, D-Allegheny), which would allow municipalities to make public funds available to repair or replace private water lines.
Tuesday brought another busy day. The House Finance Committee reported out H.B. 1385 (Miller, R-Lancaster), which amends the Tax Reform Code to allow a personal income tax deduction to qualified PA 529 College Savings Programs. The Senate Finance Committee also reported out two pieces of legislation related to the Tax Reform Code: S.B. 760 (Hutchinson, R-Butler), which would allow a sales tax exemption for purchases of computer equipment made by data centers, and S.B. 770 (Hutchinson, R-Butler), which would repeal the state’s “tech tax.” The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee also met to consider H.B. 187 (Sonney, R-Erie), which would allow the owner of a preserved farmland to grant access to the land in order to install a wind power generation system. They also reported out H.B. 790 (Pashinski, D-Luzerne), which would control existing and potentially noxious weeds, maximize invasive species control resources and protect Commonwealth lands.
There was plenty of floor action on Tuesday in both chambers as well. The House finally passed H.B. 353 (Nesbit, R-Erie), which would require electronic prescriptions for certain medications, and H.B. 646 (Ward, R-Blair), which would bump assault of a health care worker up to an aggravated offense. Both bills will now head to the Senate for consideration. Meanwhile, the Senate passed S.B. 180 (Greenleaf, R-Montgomery), which modernizes Pennsylvania’s organ donation laws, shipping that bill over to the House for consideration. Finally on Tuesday, some evidence that bipartisanship hasn’t gone to the dogs – the Senate passed H.B. 1238 (Stephens, R-Montgomery), which will now head to the Governor for his signature. The bill — a comprehensive animal abuse law overhaul — is known to most by now as Libre’s Law, in honor of this little guy.
That brings us to Wednesday, a relatively quiet day in the Capitol for this time of year. The House Commerce Committee met to consider bills including H.B. 1519 (Ellis, R-Butler), which would provide for potentially increased funding under the Multimedia Tax Credit Program, and the House Human Services Committee reported out H.B. 18 (Mackenzie, R-Berks), which would provide for the establishment of a prescription drug formulary under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The House Rules Committee reported out H.B. 1469 (Heffley, R-Carbon), which would amend the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act related to third party enforcement of construction codes and ordinances. Finally, the Senate Health and Human Services committee reported out H.B. 45 (Godshall, R-Montgomery), right-to-try legislation, and S.B. 655 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would require mandatory implementation of opioid prescribing guidelines.
And finally, Wednesday’s floor action: the House passed H.B. 1233 (Murt, R-Bucks), which establishes a new standard for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment in the community, and the Senate passed S.B. 242 (Baker, R-Luzerne), which amends the PA One Call Law.
This week, we saw two executive nominations actions: Dan Hassell was unanimously confirmed to become the Secretary of Revenue and former state Sen. John Wozniak’s nomination to the PA Turnpike Commission was unanimously reported with a favorable recommendation from the Senate Transportation Committee.
Look Ahead
We’re hopeful that when members return on Monday, work will begin full steam ahead in time to meet next Friday’s budget deadline. Since its crunch time, expect five days of session next week and the Rules Committee and the Appropriations Committee to meet on the floor frequently.
So far, other meetings already scheduled include: On Monday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee will meet to consider H.B. 1563 (Reese, R-Westmoreland), which would add “government agencies” to the list of third parties where customer consent is required to share smart meter information; on Tuesday, the House Finance Committee will hold an informational meeting on H.B. 1477 (Wheeland, R-Lycoming), which would eliminate the wholesale tax on vapor products and replace it with a per-milliliter retail tax on e-liquid; and on Wednesday, the House Local Government Committee will meet to consider S.B. 656 (Fontana, D-Allegheny), which deals with private lateral water lines and private sewer lateral lines, and refer H.B. 403 (Grove, R-York), which would repeal the $2.00 per cigarette pack tax, to another committee.
For a full list of committee meetings:
For anticipated floor action:
In Other News
- The state has issued the first round of permits for medical marijuana growers and processors.
- DEP is now using electronic bidding for construction contracts.
- The Supreme Court issued a decision this week that drilling on state-owned land is a violation of the Environmental Rights Amendment.
- Governor Wolf said that he will veto H.B. 1071 (Farry, R-Bucks), which prohibits a political subdivision from imposing a ban, fee, surcharge or tax on recyclable plastic bags at the point of sale.