October 14, 2016

Weekly Wrap:

All’s been quiet on the capitol front since our last writing; neither chamber was in Harrisburg for voting session over the last two weeks. That’s not to say we’re without a few tidbits of information.

Gov. Wolf continued in his efforts to curb opioid addiction in the Commonwealth by writing a letter to the Federal Food and Drug Administration encouraging them to make abuse-deterrent opioids more readily available. Opioid-related legislation is likely to be a hot topic over the next two weeks, as we’ll discuss in the Look Ahead.

Read more: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016100460.HTM

The Governor also announced this newest appointment to the Gaming Control Board: Ahmeenah Young, former President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority will take a seat on the seven-member board charged with the oversight of the state’s casinos.

Read more: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016100685.HTM

With the election right around the corner, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes and Gov. Wolf reported this week that nearly 900,000 people registered to vote using Pennsylvania’s new online voter registration system.  Tuesday, October 11th was the last day to register to vote in the November 8th election; the last day to apply for an absentee ballot is November 1st.

Read more: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016101285.HTM

And finally, some regulatory news you can use. New regulations governing unconventional gas drilling became effective last Friday. The regulations had been under development since 2011, were the subject of multiple public hearings and received stacks of public comments.

Read the new regulations here: http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol46/46-41/1757.html

And additional information can be found from an advisory our Energy Team put together here: http://www.bipc.com/unconventional-natural-gas-operators–what-you-need-to-know-about-new-deadlines-and-reporting-requirements-under-pennsylvanias-new-regulations-10-12-2016/

A Look Ahead:

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate will be in Harrisburg for voting session next week for the first of the last two weeks of the 2015-2016 session. If the committees meeting are any indication, expect these two weeks to be busy.

On Monday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee will meet to consider two bills, among them is S.B. 881 (Blake, D-Lackawanna), which would amend the definition of “public utility” to exempt a resort offering water or sewer services to a private home.  Also on Monday, the House Education Committee will meet to consider H.B. 2381 (Turzai, R-Allegheny), which would allow students in a vo-tech program to demonstrate proficiency on exams developed by NOCTI (the National Occupational Testing Institute), instead of the Keystone Exams. And finally, the Senate Appropriations Committee will consider a slew of bills: among them is H.B. 423 (Simmons, R-Lehigh), providing for administration of epi-pens by school bus drivers.

Read S.B. 881 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0881

Read H.B. 2381 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2381

Read H.B. 423 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0423

Expect the building to be abuzz on Tuesday. Three public hearings are scheduled: the House Gaming Oversight Committee will hold a public hearing on the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down the casino assessment local share; the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will meet jointly with the Senate Aging and Youth Committee on aging waivers; and the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee will hold a joint meeting with the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on the state’s efforts to meet the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay mandates. Voting meetings  include the House Local Government Committee, which will hold a meeting to consider H.R. 1053 (Gingrich, R-Lebanon), establishing a task force to review the Commonwealth’s property assessment process, and the House Judiciary Committee, which will consider S.B. 1144 (Greenleaf, R-Bucks), which would prohibit the sale of dextromethorphan (DXM) to minors. DXM is commonly found in cough medicines and is being used by teens to get high.

Read H.R. 1053 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=R&bn=1053

Read S.B. 1144 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=1144

Finally, on Wednesday, the House Gaming Oversight Committee will meet to hold a hearing on issues related to i-Gaming and fantasy sports.

Special Alert on Opioid Legislation:

The House Health Committee will meet on Tuesday to consider several bills designed to address the Commonwealth’s ever-growing opioid crisis. Those bills are:

On Wednesday, the House Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on what to do when a loved one has an addiction problem.

Also, the House Professional Licensure Committee will meet to consider S.B. 1202 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would amend the ABC-MAP Act by requiring that “pain management” and “prescribing practices of opioids” to be included in continuing medical education credits for professionals licensed to issue prescriptions in the Commonwealth.

Read S.B. 1202 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=1202

For a full list of committee meetings, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/session.cfm

Notable bills slated for floor action this week include: H.B. 30 (Petrarca, D-Westmoreland), modernizing the Organ Donation Law, H.B. 1516 (Farry, R-Bucks), criminalizing leaving a dog or cat in a car during extremely hot weather, H.B. 1885 (White, R-Philadelphia), imposing liability on “sanctuary municipalities,” H.B. 1391 (Everett, R-Lycoming), providing for minimum royalty payments to landowners hosting unconventional gas wells, as well as S.B. 1265 (White, R-Armstrong), allowing employers to use payroll debit cards, and S.B. 984 (Bartolotta, R-Beaver), regulating transportation network companies (like Uber), in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

To see what else is scheduled for action on the House Floor, check out The Week Ahead: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016101361.PDF

To see what the Senate’s up to, review the Senate Calendar here: http://www.pasen.gov/

In Other News: