Weekly Wrap
The Senate was the only chamber in Harrisburg this week for session.
On Monday, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee reported out SB 1240 (Hutchinson, R-Venango), which would require additional educational requirements for the issuance of a certified public accountant certificate.
Two bills of note were reported from the Senate Education Committee: SB 698 (Coleman, R-Lehigh), which would require an appraisal before a school district purchases real estate; and SB 1294 (Ward, R-Blair), which would increase civil penalties for those that violate the Private Licensed School Act.
The Senate Transportation Committee reported out SB 1298 (Langerholc, R-Cambria), which would exempt certain vehicles and counties from emissions testing requirements.
On the Senate floor, SB 998 (Brown, R-Monroe) passed finally and will go to the House of Representatives for consideration. The bill would establish a grant program to assist accredited nursing education programs to increase the number of qualified students.
Tuesday, the House Education Committee held an informational meeting on artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12. The House Environmental and Natural Resources Protection Committee held a public hearing on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
SB 1287 (Keefer, R-Cumberland) was reported from the Senate Local Government Committee. The bill would require evidence of adequate water service before final subdivision or land-development approval.
The Senate Transportation Committee reported out the following bills:
- SB 1262 (Pennycuick, R-Montgomery), which would increase penalties for operating a school bus while impaired;
- SB 1295 (Ward, R-Blair), which would require English language proficiency for testing licensing, and operation of a commercial motor vehicle; and
- SB 1296 (Ward, R-Blair), which would establish an English language proficiency requirement for the operation of a commercial motor vehicle and provide for related penalties.
The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee reported out several bills of note:
- HB 1261 (Munroe, D-Bucks) and SB 980 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would regulate the manufacturing, sale, distribution, and use of firefighting foam containing PFAS;
- SB 923 (Schwank, D-Berks), which would exempt volunteer fire and EMS companies from the Right-to-Know Law; and
- SB 1261 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would make changes to the Fire & EMS Grant Program.
HB 797 (Benham, D-Allegheny), which would remove the prohibition on spouses of deceased City of Pittsburgh firefighters receiving survivor pension benefits if they remarry, passed finally in the Senate and will head to the Governor’s desk for his signature before becoming law.
SB 323 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would establish the Keystone National Finance Authority to finance infrastructure and other public benefit projects, also passed on the Senate floor, and will go to the House for consideration.
Wednesday, the House Education Committee held an informational meeting on AI in teacher preparation programs. The House Democratic Policy Committee held a public hearing on utility price increases. The House Republican Policy Committee held a public hearing on regulatory and cost challenges facing the mining industry.
HB 1251 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would allow a midwife to refer a patient to a physical therapist for treatment, passed finally and will become law once signed by the Governor.
On Thursday, the House Democratic Policy Committee held a public hearing on statute of limitation reform.
The Week Ahead
The House will be at the Capitol for three session days next week.
On Monday, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 2435 (Madden, D-Monroe), which would establish baseline dementia-care training requirements for EMS personnel.
The House Professional Licensure Committee will consider HB 2302 (Takac, D-Centre), which would establish a state licensing framework of water well drillers.
The House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee will consider HB 2178 (Warren, D-Bucks), which would establish the Pennsylvania Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act.
HB 2446 (Haddock, D-Lackawanna) is scheduled to be reported out of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. The bill would establish the Fire Company Transformational Grant Program and provide $30 million in funding.
Tuesday, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on resource adequacy, PJM market update, and barriers to entry for new power generation.
The House Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 2429 (Cerrato, D-Montgomery), which would require electric utilities to publish and regularly update publicly accessible maps showing distribution-system hosting capacity, including circuit limits, substation constraints, and interconnection queue status.
The House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee will consider:
- HB 306 (Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks), which would require a public utility to make a record or emergency response available if requested by a federal or state agency or governmental body and if there are reasonable grounds to believe that a public utility facility may cause or has resulted in a safety risk;
- HB 2145 (Scott, D-Montgomery), which would ban PFAS in cosmetics, dental floss, juvenile products, and menstrual products; and
- HR 361 (Matzie, R-Beaver), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to study the costs and benefits of continued membership in PJM.
The House Human Services Committee will consider HR 134 (Cerrato, D-Montgomery), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to study how to improve the home and community-based waiver programs.
The House Health Committee will consider HB 916 (Giral, D-Philadelphia), which would expand current blood testing requirements for children.
The House Education Committee will consider several bills, including:
- HB 1045 (Kazeem, D-Delaware), which would require school nurses and school professional employees who have direct contact with students complete seizure recognition and first aid training every two years;
- HB 1877 (D’Orsie, R-York), which would give school districts the opportunity to offer the seal on the diplomas of students who complete all necessary language requirements;
- HB 2117 (Hill-Evans, D-York), which would authorize schools to maintain a supply of short-acting asthma medications and permit a licensed healthcare practitioner or trained school employee to administer them to students in respiratory distress with the permission of a legal guardian;
- HB 2307 (Kinkead, D-Allegheny), which would make reforms to the special education Contingency Fund;
- HB 2425 (Rusnock, D-Berks), which would establish the CTE Curriculum Modernization Grant Program; and
- HB 2436 (Tiburcio, D-Lehigh), which would establish the Talent Recruitment Account to offer direct support to educators for recruitment and retention efforts.
The House Communications and Technology Committee will consider two bills dealing with AI: HB 95 (Pielli, D-Chester), which would require a disclosure on all AI generated content used for the sale of consumer goods; and HB 2314 (Ciresi, D-Montgomery), which would start an AI public education campaign.
The House Finance Committee will consider HB 1678 (Tiburcio, D-Lehigh), which would allow the malt beverage tax credit to be carried forward for up to five years permit tax credit recipients to sell their credits to other breweries. The Committee will then hold a discussion on HB 2340 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would establish a digital advertising tax.
In Other News
