Weekly Wrap
After two weeks away, the House of Representatives and Senate were back in Harrisburg for the start of “budget season”.
Monday, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee held a public hearing on HB 1310 (Bizzaro, D-Erie), which would set a minimum Budget Adjustment Factor (BAF) floor at $.90 for nursing homes that provide care to individuals on Medical Assistance (MA).
The House Environmental and Natural Resources Committee reported out HB 501 (Otten, D-Chester), which would establish the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS), which builds on the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) by adding nuclear power and next generation technologies and incentives lower emissions for gas-fired power plants. The committee also reported out SB 349 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would provide for the decommissioning of solar energy facilities.
SB 95 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would permit EMS providers to distribute Naloxone to a caregiver of a patient that overdosed, was reported from the Senate Appropriations Committee. SB 731 (Farry, R-Bucks) passed finally and heads to the House for consideration. The bill would extend the moratorium on the inclusion of the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment when determining eligibility for benefits under the PACE and PACENET programs.
Two bills of note passed finally on the House floor and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 960 (Hill-Evans, D-York), which would allow individuals subject to lifetime disqualifications of Commercial Driver’s License privileges to apply for reinstatement; and
- HB 1058 (Shusterman, D-Chester), which would remove the requirement for a percentage of the lottery sales revenue to be dedicated to property tax relief and free or reduced transit service for the elderly.
On Tuesday, the House Labor and Industry Committee reported out HB 1549 (Dawkins, D-Philadelphia), which would gradually increase the minimum wage up to $15 an hour in 2028.
The House Health Committee reported out:
- HB 425 (Marcell, R-Bucks), which would establish a J-1 Visa Waiver Primary Care Physician Grant Program for international medical graduates to work in underserved areas;
- HB 583 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would establish a benefit package for dental services for MA recipients 21 years of age or older; and
- HB 1460 (Borowski, D-Delaware), which would require approval from the Department of Health and Office of Attorney General before certain transactions involving health care entities.
HB 1347 (Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks), which would enable counties to enact tourism improvement districts (TID), was reported from the House Tourism, Recreation and Economic Development Committee.
On the House floor, two bills of note passed finally and will make their way to the Senate:
- HB 282 (Briggs, D-Montgomery), which would allow the Department of Human Services to establish a reentry program under the MA program; and
- HB 1140 (Krueger, D-Delaware), which would require health insurance companies and MA and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) managed care plans to cover contraceptives.
Likewise, the Senate finally passed two bills of note that will go to the House for consideration:
- SB 89 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would add EMS providers as required reporters to the Overdose Information Network system; and
- SB 411 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would require the Department of Health to establish a statewide stroke registry.
Wednesday, the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee reported out:
- SB 245 (Coleman, R-Lehigh), which would establish a Regulatory Relief Office to review state laws and regulations that may inhibit the creation and success of companies or industries;
- SB 333 (Keefer, R-Cumberland), which would establish an enhanced review process for regulations that have a fiscal impact of over $1 million; and
- SB 444 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would provide for a one-time automatic review of all regulations that have a fiscal impact of over $1 million.
The Senate Transportation Committee reported out:
- HB 238 (Bennighoff, R-Centre), which would require PennDOT to accept additional documentation to verify an applicant’s Social Security number when reviewing an application for a REAL ID;
- HB 240 (Benninghoff, R-Centre), which would remove the requirement for a school bus driver’s hearing aid to receive an electroacoustic analysis test;
- SB 205 (Rothman, R-Cumberland), which would allow a county to use Act 89 funds for county and municipal bridges; and
- SB 468 (Langerholc, R-Cambria), which would establish an interstate compact for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) safety, testing, training and education.
The following bills of note passed finally in the House and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 463 (Matzie, D-Beaver), which would amend the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law to ban speculative ticketing;
- HB 704 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would provide grants and support infrastructure for neurodegenerative disease research;
- HB 1332 (Harris, D-Philadelphia), which would authorize up to a total of $1.57 billion in additional principal debt to be issued to pay for capital projects specifically itemized in a capital budget project itemization bill; and
- HB 1500 (Isaacson, D-Philadelphia), which would make comprehensive changes to the laws governing cyber charter schools.
The Senate adopted SR 27 (Brown, R-Monroe), which would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study as to the feasibility of establishing a no-fault catastrophic loss fund to provide payment for claims brought as the result of birth-related neurological injuries. They also passed SB 377 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which heads to the House. The bill 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.
The Week Ahead
Both chambers are in session for three days again next week.
Monday, the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee will hold a public hearing on SB 657 (Coleman, R-Lehigh), which would remove regulatory barriers and provide individuals with an intellectual and developmental disability greater access to residential and vocational settings.
In the House, the House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee will hold an informational meeting on “natural gas 101: from generation to distribution”. Also, the House Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 502 (Steele, D-Allegheny), which would establish the Reliable Energy Siting and Electric Transition (RESET) Board; a cohesive central authority able to consider and approve applications for large reliable energy generating facilities.
On Tuesday, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold a public hearing on financial exploitation of older adults.
The House Communications and Technology Committee will consider:
- HB 129 (Borowski, D-Delaware), which would require a service company to clearly and conspicuously provide the consumer with the option to opt into, rather than opt out of, said service;
- HB 1063 (Malagari, D-Montgomery), which would prevent scalpers from using software to purchase items over the internet in bulk for the purpose of resale and not personal use; and
- HB 1299 (Ciresi, D-Montgomery), which would require companies to provide a notification before each automatic renewal, to be transparent about renewal terms, and to allow subscribers to cancel their subscription services exclusively online if they initially subscribed over the Internet.
The House Health Committee will consider two bills: HB 1442 (Borowski, D-Delaware), which would require autopsies to include an inquiry to determine whether the death was a direct result of a seizure or epilepsy; and HB 1527 (Davidson, D-Dauphin), which would extend the Rare Disease Advisory Council sunset.
Wednesday, the House Commerce Committee will consider: HB 1512 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would provide consumers the ability to repair their own electronics or have them repaired by independent repair technicians; and HB 1553 (Sanchez, D-Montgomery), which would provide overdraft protections for bank and credit union customers.
Lastly, on Thursday, the House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee will hold a public hearing on plugging and abandonment of oil and gas wells.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- The Senate unanimously confirmed the reappointment of Chairman Stephen M. DeFrank to a second term as Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission.
- The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Darryl Lawrence to serve as Pennsylvania’s Consumer Advocate.
- Governor Shapiro announced his Administration filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for terminating Pennsylvania’s Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program agreement — a $13 million commitment that directly supports 189 farms and supplies 14 food banks.
