Weekly Wrap
For the second week in a row the House of Representatives and Senate were in Harrisburg for session.
Monday began with the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee holding a joint public hearing on PJM reliability resource initiative planning and generation market updates. The House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committee held an informational meeting on PJM Regional Transmission Organization and Energy Markets.
The House Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations Committee reported out HB 276 (Delloso, D-Delaware), which would establish the Employee Misclassification Working Group and permit the Department of Revenue to share tax information with the Department of Labor and Industry to enhance enforcement.
Two bills were reported from the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee: SB 89 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would add EMS providers as required reporters to the Overdose Information Network (ODIN) system; and SB 95 (Phillips-Hill, R-York), which would permit EMS providers to leave naloxone with an on-scene caregiver of a patient who overdosed and was revived.
Then, on the House floor, three bills of note passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 433 (Curry, D-Delaware), which would require health insurance policies to cover diagnostic breast examinations;
- HB 818 (Bizzarro, D-Erie), which would establish homebuyer saving accounts for first-time homebuyers; and
- HB 1103 (Cephas, D-Philadelphia), which would allow mortgage lenders to offer discount points.
On Tuesday, the House State Government Committee reported out three bills of note:
- HB 280 (Solomon, D-Philadelphia), which would allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primary elections;
- HB 1018 (Burns, D-Cambria), which would require construction or repair projects done by a private entity that receives any taxpayer funding to use American-made steel; and
- HB 1084 (McAndrew, D-Allegheny), which would eliminate nonprofit filing fees for volunteer fire companies.
SR 27 (Brown, R-Monroe) was reported from the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. The resolution would require the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study other states that provide a no-fault fund for birth injury cases to guarantee medical payments for neurological injured infants and their families.
The Senate Local Government Committee reported out SB 311 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would prohibit a municipality from adopting a policy that restricts or prohibits connection or reconnection of a utility service based upon the type of source of energy to be delivered to an individual or entity within the municipality.
On the House floor, the following bills of note passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration:
- HB 721 (Donahue, D-Lackawanna), which would amend the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act to add protections for workers and increase penalties for employers;
- HB 1263 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would create the Keystone Saves Program, an automatic enrollment payroll deduction individual retirement account; and
- HB 1396 (McClinton, D-Philadelphia), which would make omnibus changes to the Election Code.
SB 90 (Mastriano, R-Franklin), which would provide that Firefighter I level testing may be completed by a test following completion of each module of the training program or a cumulative test following completion of the entire program, passed finally in the Senate and will go to the House for consideration.
Wednesday, the House Energy Committee held an informational meeting on electric transmission.
The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee and House Health Committee held a joint informational meeting on the registered nurse aid program. Then, the House Health Committee reported out HB 704 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna), which would establish the Pennsylvania Neurodegenerative Disease Research Program.
HB 1305 (Fleming, D-Dauphin), which would exempt length of service awards for volunteer firefighters from income, was reported from the House Finance Committee.
The House Judiciary Committee reported out HB 1425 (McNeill, D-Lehigh), which would create a directory comprised of legal Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).
HB 500 (Inglis, D-Allegheny), which would make changes to the Pennsylvania Economic Development for Growing Economy (PA EDGE) package of tax credits, passed finally on the House floor and will go to the Senate for consideration. The bill is part of the Governor’s Lightning Plan.
HB 561 (Madden, D-Lackawanna), also passed finally and heads to the Senate. The bill would establish the Medication-Assisted Substance Abuse Treatment Grant Program for county jails.
The Week Ahead
June 2 is the next session day for both chambers.
However, on Monday, the House Environmental and Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 501 (Otten, D-Delaware), which would establish the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS). PRESS would build on the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) while making it more inclusive—adding nuclear power and next generation technologies like fusion, and incentivizing lower emissions for gas-fired power plants. The bill is part of the Governor’s Lightning Plan.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- Shapiro Administration announces new statewide recruitment initiative to boost EMS workforce.
- Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman released a statement on PA Supreme Court’s review of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
