Weekly Wrap
Legislators returned to Harrisburg this week with the hope of getting a budget deal done before the June 30 deadline. However, both chambers left on Thursday without a compromise. The House of Representatives have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as scheduled session days next week, while the Senate currently only has Monday scheduled for session.
This week, on Monday, the House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee reported out 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 following three bills of note passed finally in the House and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 1048 (Cerrato, D-Montgomery), which would provide for the maintenance of private lateral lines and municipal water and sewer systems;
- HB 1216 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia), which would require that the total price of an event ticket, lodging, or food delivery be prominently displayed when the consumer is first shown the product or service; and
- HB 1425 (McNeill, D-Lehigh), which would establish an Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Directory and requires annual manufacturer and product certifications.
SB 527 (Farry, R-Bucks) passed finally in the Senate and will go to the House for consideration. The bill would repeal the Sterling Act and provide that earned income tax dollars paid by non-residents would go to the municipalities where they live, rather than where they work. Under current law, Philadelphia retains 100% of the 3.44% wage tax paid by commuters who live in surrounding communities.
Tuesday, the House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committee held 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
The House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee reported out:
- SB 90 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would allow Firefighter I level testing to be completed by a test following completion of each module or a cumulative test following completion of the entire program;
- SB 95 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would require certain price disclosures by a pharmacy; and
- SB 466 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would allow an individual to use fire suppression training credit hours toward their credit hours for Firefighter I certification.
The House sent the following three bills of note over to the Senate:
- HB 583 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would expand the coverage of dental services provided to adults in the Medical Assistance (MA) program;
- HB 1347 (Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks), which would establish tourism improvement districts and give counties the authority to impose a special assessment fee on hotels for the purpose of providing tourism activities; and
- HB 1590 (Williams, D-Chester), which would repeal regulatory requirements that restrict MA reimbursement for behavioral health services delivered outside the physical premises of a licensed outpatient clinic.
SB 88 (Farry, R-Bucks), which would require insurance coverage for costs associated with mammographic examinations, magnetic resonance imaging, and other forms of breast imaging, passed finally in the Senate and was then reported from the House Insurance Committee on Wednesday.
SB 205 (Rothman, R-Cumberland) was also sent to the House for their consideration. The bill would permit counties to dedicate supplemental bridge funding allocations and fuels tax revenue to municipalities for construction and maintenance of bridges owned by municipalities in the county.
On Wednesday, the House Energy Committee reported out HB 1239 (Hanbidge, D-Montgomery), which would prevent homeowners associations from prohibiting or restricting the installation or use of a solar energy system on a detached roof or townhouse.
The House Health Committee reported out:
- 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 hospital or ambulatory surgery facility with the unused portion of medications when needed for ongoing care.
The Senate Aging and Youth Committee reported out HB 1058 (Shusterman, D-Chester), which would decrease the amount of the PA Lottery’s profits that benefit seniors from 20% to 10% beginning in FY 2025-2026.
On the House floor, HB 825 (Ryncavage, R-Luzerne), which would require the Public Utility Commission to commence a rulemaking regarding double utility poles, passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration. Same goes for HB 1445 (Warren, D-Bucks), which would require health insurance policies to cover school-based services.
The House also passed HB 1527 (Davidson, D-Dauphin), which would extend the sunset date of the Rare Disease Advisory Council until June 30, 2028 and add four members. A similar bill, SB 715 (Ward, R-Blair), passed in the Senate and will go to the House for consideration.
Furthermore, the House sent HB 1610 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia) to the Senate for their consideration. The bill would make numerous changes to the Tax Reform Code, including:
- Establishing combined reporting;
- No personal income tax on tips, gratuities, and overtime pay;
- Establishing the Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit (30% of the federal earned income tax credit); and
- Establishing a tax credit for resident partners and S corporation shareholders.
The Senate finally passed SB 840 (Laughlin, R-Erie), which would reduce the required number of slot machines in operation at a Category 1 or Category 2 casino from 1,500 to 1,000. The bill was then reported from the House Gaming Oversight Committee on Thursday.
Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out SB 381 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would provide for comprehensive changes to how testing on dogs and cats is done in the Commonwealth.
The House finally passed HB 1650 (Powell, D-Allegheny), which will go to the Senate for consideration. The bill would establish a grant program for local governments to improve existing housing stock.
HB 640 (Williams, D-Chester) finally passed in the Senate and will go back to the House for concurrence. The bill would expand the information required in the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’ annual report and extend the sunset date for surcharges collected by the courts for the Judicial Computer System.
Lastly, the following bills of note passed both chambers and once signed will go to the Governor’s desk for his signature before becoming law:
- HB 240 (Benninghoff, R-Centre), which would require that a physical examination for a school bus driver may include hearing test;
- SB 89 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would add EMS providers to those required to report overdoses to the Overdose Information Network;
- SB 202 (Gebhard, R-Lebanon), which would incorporate virtual currency into the statute governing money transmitters; and
- SB 411 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would establish a statewide stroke registry.
The Week Ahead
Both chambers are back at the Capitol on Monday.
The House Finance Committee will consider HB 1129 (Friel, D-Chester), which would allow early-stage businesses to sell their net operating losses and unused research and development tax credits.
Tuesday, 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
- The Senate confirmed Jessica Shirley as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
- DEP announced that they will formally begin accepting applications for the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) program beginning on June 30, 2025.
- The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission announced the largest investment in State Museum history.
