Weekly Wrap
For the first time in nearly a month, both chambers were in Harrisburg for session this week.
On Monday, the House Energy Committee held a public hearing on HB 2380 (Rivera, R-Lancaster), which would require electric utilities to set targets and procure grid-stabilizing battery storage as part of their resource planning.
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out SB 1236 (Keefer, R-York), which would amend the Clean Streams Law to provide for a permit waiver for smaller construction sites. The bill passed on the floor later in the week and went to the House for consideration.
The House passed the following bills of note that will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 1045 (Kazeem, D-Delaware), which would require school nurses and employees to complete seizure recognition training every three years;
- HB 1814 (Steele, D-Allegheny), which would require a school entity to adopt a policy that bans the use of a mobile device during the school day;
- HB 2254 (Frankel, D-Allegheny), which would require healthcare facilities to permit terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana; and
- HB 2436 (Tiburcio, D-Lehigh), which would provide that standard teacher certificate fees be used for grants under the Talent Recruitment Grant Program.
Tuesday, the House Labor and Industry Committee held a public hearing on HB 1580 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would create guidelines for extreme heat, working conditions.
The House Children and Youth Committee reported out three bills of note:
- HB 432 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would create the designation of a maternal care access zone;
- HB 1569 (Shusterman, D-Chester), which would establish a maternal health monitoring pilot program; and
- HR 363 (Shusterman, D-Chester), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to the state’s early childhood education system.
Two bills were reported from the House Education Committee: HB 1919 (Mehaffie, R-Dauphin), which would provide protections for public school employees harmed on the job; and HB 2544 (Takac, D-Centre), which would update compensation plans for school administrators.
The House Health Committee reported out three bills of note:
- HB 1365 (Delloso, D-Delaware), which would establish a medication-induced movement disorder program;
- HB 2162 (Borowski, D-Delaware), which would allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to apply for a state license at the same time they seek FDA approval; and
- HB 2341(Ortitay, R-Allegheny), which would create the Health Care Facility Threat Assessment Grant Program.
The Senate State Government Committee reported out SB 1183 (Culver, R-Northumberland), which would increase the charitable audit threshold from $750,000 to $1 million.
SB 866 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would schedule medetomidine as a Schedule III controlled substance and criminalize illicit possession, with an exemption for veterinary purposes, was reported from the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. The companion bill, HB 2529 (Scott, D-Montgomery), will be considered by the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee next Tuesday.
On the House floor, HB 2425 (Rusnock, D-Berks), which would establish the Career and Technical Education Curriculum Modernization Grant Program, passed finally and will head to the Senate for consideration.
In the Senate, SB 1287 (Keefer, R-York) passed finally and heads to the House for consideration. The bill would amend the Municipalities Planning Code to require evidence of adequate water supply before subdivision or land-development approval.
Wednesday, the House Republican Policy Committee held a public hearing on making childcare affordable.
The House Professional Licensure Committee reported out HB 75 (Venkat, D-Allegheny) and HB 76 (Venkat, D-Allegheny), which would allow for dual recognition of physician assistants. The Committee also reported out HB 2173 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would provide regulations and licensure of medical imaging professionals.
The House Finance Committee reported out two bills: HB 1678 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would establish a digital advertising tax; and HB 2550 (Marzocco, D-Allegheny), which would establish a small business healthcare premiums contribution tax credit.
The House passed the following bills of note, which will head to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 69 (Cutler, R-Lancaster), which would expand the Cancer Drug Repository Program to a Prescription Drug Repository Program;
- HB 306 (Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks), which would provide for state and federal government access to public utility confidential security records in cases
where there are public safety concerns; - HB 2117 (Hill-Evans, D-York), which would broaden the scope of asthma and epinephrine medications a school entity may authorize a trained employee to administer; and
- HB 2314 (Ciresi, D-Montgomery), which would require the Office of Attorney General to conduct a public education campaign on artificial intelligence.
Lastly, two House Resolutions were adopted:
- HR 134 (Cerrato, D-Montgomery), which directs the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study and issue a report on home and community-based services provided to individuals with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism and other developmental disabilities with a focus on streamlining the application process and improving service delivery; and
- HR 361 (Matzie, D-Beaver), which directs the Joint State Government Commission to undertake a comprehensive study to evaluate the costs and benefits of Pennsylvania’s membership in the PJM Interconnection.
The Week Ahead
Both chambers are back at the Capitol for session next week.
On Monday, the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee will hold a public hearing on the rising costs of fire apparatus.
The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will consider HB 1611 (Madden, D-Monroe), which would provide updates to the Older Adults Protective Services Act.
Two bills of note will be considered by the House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee: HB 84 (Vitali, D-Delaware), which would prohibit land spreading of oil and gas wastewater; and HB 1567 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would establish host fees and environmental safeguards for power plants and their surrounding communities.
The House Transportation Committee will consider: HB 2214 (Bellmon, D-Philadelphia), which would provide supplemental bridge funding for Philadelphia County; and HB 2437 (Davidson, D-Dauphin), which would permit counties to use the funding established under Act 13 to improve county or municipal bridges.
Tuesday, the House Human Services Committee will hold an informational meeting on complex care assistant programs.
The House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities will consider several bills of note, including:
- HB 1780 (Guzman, D-Berks), which would require clear disclosure of credit card surcharges;
- HB 2184 (Otten, D-Chester), which would require the consideration of the public interest in PUC proceedings;
- HB 2224 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would provide for return on equity for utilities; and
- HB 2512 (Carroll, D-Philadelphia), which would prohibit ride share companies from using surveillance pricing.
Wednesday, the House Health Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 2270 (Matzie, D-Beaver), which would move Pennsylvania to a single Pharmacy Benefit Administrator model.
The House Education Committee will consider HB 2602 (Schweyer, D-Lehigh), which would establish the Cyber Student Safety Act.
On Thursday, the Senate Labor and Industry Committee will hold a public hearing on nursing workforce shortages and the role of private universities in developing a talent pipeline.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
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