Weekly Wrap
The House of Representatives was in session for the first two days of the week.
On Monday, the House Health Committee reported out:
- HB 1234 (Mayes, D-Allegheny), which would expand Medical Assistance programs to cover blood pressure monitors for home use as a pregnancy-related service on a per pregnancy basis; and
- SB 411 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would require comprehensive stroke centers, thrombectomy-capable stroke centers, primary stroke centers, and acute stroke-ready hospitals to submit stroke care data to the Department of Health bi-annually.
SB 89 (Mastriano, R-Franklin) was reported from the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. The bill would add EMS providers as required reporters to the Overdose Information Network system.
Tuesday, the House Insurance Committee reported out HB 1445 (Warren, D-Bucks), which would prohibit an insurer from denying what would otherwise be a service covered by the policy simply because the health care service was received in a school setting.
The House Professional Licensure Committee reported out SB 115 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would require the Department of Human Services to establish skills competency exams in lieu of the current high school diploma or GED requirements for individuals seeking employment as direct care staff in personal care homes or assisted living residences.
Two noteworthy pieces of legislation were reported from the House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee:
- HB 1599 (Rabb, D-Philadelphia), which would require any electric utility that is a member of PJM to disclose to the PUC any recorded vote they make within that organization and a brief description explaining how that vote is in the public interest; and
- HR 254 (Steele, D-Allegheny), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to study the issue of underground electrical lines.
HB 1610 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia) was reported from the House Finance Committee. The bill would require multi-state corporations to use combined reporting to determine their tax responsibilities; paying the corporate net income tax based on the share of their U.S. income that is equal to the share of their U.S. sales in Pennsylvania.
The House finally passed HB 1364 (Neilson, D-Philadelphia), which will go to the Senate for consideration. The bill would fund mass transit by increasing the current Sales and Use Tax (SUT) transfer to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%. The bill would also authorize the Commonwealth Financing Agency to issue bonds, notes, or other financial obligations up to $500 million to fund road and bridge projects. A 0.25% transfer from SUT revenue would be utilized for debt service payments. Lastly, the bill would establish the Transportation Funding Advisory Commission in order to develop a comprehensive proposal to address infrastructure needs.
The Week Ahead
The Senate returns to Harrisburg next week, along with the House, with the hope of finishing the budget before the June 30 deadline.
On Monday, the House Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1537 (Scott, D-Montgomery), which would exempt distributions from non-qualified deferred compensation plans from taxable income.
The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will consider HB 1606 (Sanchez, D-Montgomery), which would increase the personal needs allowance deduction for nursing facility residents.
The House Environmental and Natural Resources Committee will consider HB 364 (Vitali, D-Delaware), which would restore the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Quality Board to adjust bonding amounts for conventional oil and gas wells.
The House Judiciary Committee will consider HB 1434 (Brown, D-Philadelphia), which would increase the penalties for retailers who sell electronic cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems to children.
Tuesday, the Senate Law and Justice Committee will hold a public hearing on hemp products.
The House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 505 (Donahue, D-Lackawanna), which would modernize energy efficiency in the Commonwealth by providing more money for consumers when they shop for new appliances, increasing the flexibility of utilities to encourage larger efficiency investments by industrial customers, and catalyze investments that increase energy efficiency while preventing power outages during extreme weather events.
Wednesday, the House Health Committee will consider:
- HB 348 (Bonner, R-Butler), which would provide a standard notice to each nursing home resident at the time of their admission that they have the option of having legal representation to assist with the application for Medicaid benefits; and
- HB 446 (Sanchez, D-Montgomery), which would allow patients to be discharged from a health care facility with the unused portion of medications when needed for ongoing care.
The House Communications and Technology Committee will consider the following two bills:
- HB 1063 (Malagari, D-Montgomery), which would prohibit the use of software known as “Grinch Bots” to automatically buy up products and resell them for higher than the list price; and
- SB 377 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would require contractually procured “end point devices” and related services to meet the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines or industry best practices for computer security.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- Governor Josh Shapiro announced the new “Let Freedom Ring” license plate is now available for all Pennsylvanians to order.
- Attorney General Dave Sunday announced, along with 54 other Attorneys General, a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, with Pennsylvania estimated to receive as much as $200 million over a period of 15 years.
