Weekly Wrap

On Wednesday, Governor Tom Wolf and the Secretary of Health finally announced that all 67 counties in the Commonwealth will be under stay-at-home orders. The Governor and Secretary Levine previously approached implementation on an incremental, county-by-county basis, issuing the first orders on March 23 for seven counties and building up to 33 counties earlier this week. The statewide stay-at-home order will continue until April 30. Additionally, the Governor closed all schools until further notice and non-life-sustaining business closures remain in effect.

More information on what a stay-at-home order entails and information related to the closure of businesses can be found here. Businesses that determine that they are non-life sustaining but may provide a life-sustaining service have until today, April 3, at 5:00 p.m. to submit an exemption form.

The Governor also announced the approval of part of his request to the President for a major disaster declaration. Under the major disaster declaration, state, county and municipal governments, as well as eligible private non-profits can receive reimbursement for up to 75 percent of eligible expenses related to the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Eligible expenses can include but are not limited to costs associated with paying overtime, or materials and equipment purchases. The declaration also provides direct federal assistance, which provides federal materials and supplies to support state and local response efforts.

The PA Treasury took two measures this week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella announced a bond purchasing program to provide financial relief to non-profit and public healthcare systems. “This would help to provide liquidity to healthcare systems, while reducing the extreme borrowing costs they have recently incurred, caused by unusual market volatility.” Second, Torsella approved a $2 billion short term line of credit to the General Fund, originally set to expire April 12. The expiration date was extended to June 12. In addition, the interest rate on the line of credit is capped at 2 percent.

The Revenue Department released March 2020 collections this week. There was $4.4 billion decrease in General Fund revenue in March, which was $294.6 million, or 6.2 percent, less than anticipated. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $25.3 billion, which is $45.6 million, or 0.2 percent, below estimate. According to Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell: “The shortfall in March is only partially related to the COVID-19 outbreak. We expect the pandemic will have a greater impact on revenues in the coming months, particularly in a month like April when many of the tax filing due dates are pushed back.”

The Week Ahead

The House of Representatives will be back in session on Monday for two session days, while the Senate has three session days scheduled. However, the session schedule, floor calendar, and committee meeting schedule are ever-changing. As of this moment, with only Monday’s agenda set, here’s a look at what to expect.

On Monday, three new House members, who won their respective special election on March 17, will be sworn-in to serve for the remaining of the 2019-2020 legislative session:

  • HD-8 (Butler/Mercer): Tim Bonner (R) will replace Rep. Tedd Nesbit (R), who was elected as a Mercer County Court of Common Pleas Judge;
  • HD-18 (Bucks): Kathleen Tomlinson (R) will replace Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R), who was elected Bucks County Commissioner; and
  • HD-58 (Westmoreland): Eric Davanzo (R) will to replace Rep. Justin Walsh (R), who was elected as a Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas Judge.

The House State Government Committee will meet to consider bills including:

  • B. 995 (Lewis, R-Dauphin), which would create a regulatory reduction pilot program directing the state agencies overseeing corrections and the issuance of occupational licenses to reduce the number of regulations and/or mandates by 25 percent;
  • B. 1874 (Grove, R-York), which would establish a process for the Independent Regulatory Review Commission to review regulatory actions; and
  • B. 703 (Scarnati, R-Jefferson), which would allow the Joint Committee on Documents to grant executive agencies extensions to promulgate a regulation when the Joint Committee orders an agency to promulgate a regulation.

A Message from Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney’s Federal Government Relations Team

On March 27, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748) – the third phase (Phase III) to provide $2.2 trillion in economic stimulus and financial assistance to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The next steps are for Executive Branch Agencies to provide an expedited rulemaking process to the programs created by the CARES Act. While some guidance and programs were rolled out this week, much of the rulemaking and guidance will be released over the coming week to implement the law.

The Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Government Relations Team is closely watching for these guidance/rules and will share information as they become available. WE are happy to connect you with our attorneys who can provide legal advice on complying with provisions of the law and applying for programs. In addition, Buchanan is in the process of scheduling Executive Branch staff briefing calls in the coming weeks to provide updates to our Firm clients. Stay tuned for announcements!

More information can be found on the BIR COVID-19 page.