Weekly Wrap
The Senate was the only chamber in Harrisburg this week.
On Monday, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a public hearing on energy affordability for consumers.
Tuesday, the Senate Institutional Sustainability and Innovation Committee held a public hearing on life sciences innovation.
Three bills were reported from the Senate Finance Committee:
- SB 253 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would allow resident business partners to receive a credit for pass-through entity taxes in other jurisdictions;
- SB 323 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would create the Keystone National Finance Authority to finance infrastructure and other public benefit projects; and
- SB 396 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would provide a pass-through entity the option to have the State and Local Tax (SALT) applied to the income of entity.
The Senate Labor and Industry Committee reported out SB 101 (Bartolotta, R-Washington), which would require the Department of Labor and Industry and the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis to share workforce data on wages, new hires, and unemployment compensation claimants with local workforce development boards.
Two bills of note were reported from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee:
- SB 115 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would provide skills competency examination opportunities to individuals seeking employment as a direct caregiver in lieu of successfully obtaining a high school diploma or GED equivalency; and
- SB 411 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would establish a statewide stroke registry system.
Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee held a public hearing highlighting the importance of career and technical education in Pennsylvania.
On the Senate floor, the following bills passed finally and will go to the House for consideration:
- SB 315 (Culver, R-Northumberland), which would require the data used to calculate the distribution of Career and Technical Education Equipment Grants to be fixed as of the first day of June preceding the school year in which the allocation of funds occurs; and
- SB 472 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would limit the maximum period an Acting Secretary may serve to 90 days, unless they are awaiting Senate confirmation.
The Week Ahead
The House of Representatives are back in Harrisburg for three session days.
There are three informational meetings scheduled for Monday:
- The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold an Informational meeting on the Older Adult Protective Services Act;
- The House Tourism, Recreation, and Economic Development Committee will hold an informational meeting on the America250PA Commission and the United States Semiquincentennial Celebration; and
- The House Gaming Oversight Committee will hold an informational meeting on online sweepstakes and social casinos.
The House Consumer Protection Committee will consider two bills of note: HB 322 (Ciresi, D-Montgomery), which would require the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to accept mailed or emailed public comments on proposed rate changes or system; and HB 543 (Young, D-Philadelphia), which would prohibit the PUC from disapproving an energy efficiency and conservation plan due to the inclusion of mechanical insulation.
The House Transportation Committee will consider: HB 541 (Fritz, R-Susquehanna), which would allow a legislator’s district staff to replace illegible license plates; and HB 1085 (Neilson, D-Philadelphia), which would give the State Police $125 million from the Motor License Fund (MLF) in FY 2025-26 then fully remove them from the MLF in the following year.
HB 109 (Vitali, D-Delaware) will be considered by the House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee. The bill would give the Department of Environmental Protection the authority to designate environmental justice areas in communities with increased pollution burdens and vulnerable populations.
Tuesday, the House Professional Licensure Committee will hold an informational meeting with the Department of State on licensing and enforcement.
HB 433 (Curry, D-Delaware) will be considered by the House Insurance Committee. The bill would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic imaging related to breast cancer.
The House Human Services Committee will consider bills including HB 561 (Madden, D-Monroe), which would allow county jails to utilize all FDA-approved medications for treatment of substance use disorder.
The House Housing and Community Development Committee will consider:
- HB 818 (Bizzarro, D-Erie), which would establish First-Time Homebuyers Savings Accounts in the Commonwealth;
- HB 986 (Cephas, D-Philadelphia), which would provide homeowners with consumer protections against unfair service agreements;
- HB 1020 (Twardizk, R-Schuylkill), which would enable municipalities to adopt ordinances to establish vacant property registration fees and compile lists of blighted property owner’s information;
- HB 1037 (Irvin, R-Huntingdon), which would allow municipalities the option to permit residential housing that is substantially the same in structure and use as the home that has been demolished to be built on the same site, to the previous structure’s setback requirements; and
- HB 1062 (Markosek, D-Allegheny), which would create a statewide blight data collection system using property code violations.
On Wednesday, the House Labor and Industry Committee will consider HB 721 (Donahue, D-Lackawanna), which would amend the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act by increasing penalties, expanding the scope of investigations and prosecution, and permitting misclassified workers to pursue a private right of action.
The House Local Government Committee will consider bills including:
- HB 50 (Borowski, D-Delaware), which would require a third-class city with a population less than 30,000 to seek approval of 75% of the municipalities they serve before the city sells their water system, sewer system, or authority; and
- HB 509 (Kazeem, D-Delaware), which would require distressed municipalities seeking to privatize their water or wastewater systems to receive approval from 75% of the surrounding municipalities that are dependent on these systems.
The House Health Committee will consider:
- HB 69 (Cutler, R-Lancaster), which would allow health care facilities and individuals to donate prescription drugs (other than cancer drugs) to the Cancer Drug Repository Program;
- HB 79 (Venkat, D-Allegheny), which would establish the Pennsylvania Medical Dept Relief Program; and
- HB 446 (Sanchez, D-Montgomery), which would allow patients to be discharged from a medical facility with unused portion of medications.
In Other News
- The Department of Human Services Secretary announced the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) season has been extended from April 4 to April 18.
- The Department of Aging announced that the public can now see information that shows how quickly Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are conducting investigations of suspected elder abuse.
- The Department of Revenue released March collections, which were $70.0 million, or 1.1 percent, more than anticipated. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $33.2 billion, which is $34.3 million, or 0.1 percent, below estimate.
