Weekly Recap
The Senate returned to Harrisburg this week for the first time since July for three days of voting session.
Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out HB 1409 (Kulik, D-Allegheny), which would extend the Fish and Boat Commission’s ability to establish license and permit fees through 2035.
Two bills of note passed finally and will go to the House of Representatives for consideration:
- SB 667(Robinson, R-Allegheny), which would modernize the Local Option Small Games of Chance Act to allow fire companies, churches, and other charitable organizations to accept mobile payments for raffle tickets; and
- SB 1255(Farry, R-Bucks), which would amend the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act by updating the definition of an “advanced practice professional” to allow a physician assistant to provide outpatient services under a written agreement with a psychiatrist.
Also, the House Education Committee held an informational meeting on adult education. The Committee met the following day as well for an informational meeting on college affordability.
On Tuesday, the Senate Transportation Committee held a public hearing on optimizing Pennsylvania’s multimodal transportation system.
The House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee held two public hearings this week. The first focused on HB 2189 (Matzie, D-Beaver), which would reauthorize PA One Call/811. PA One Call—you know it as “Call Before You Dig”—will sunset on December 31, 2024, without being reenacted prior to that date.
The Committee discussed two bills at the second meeting:
- HB 116(Ciresi, D-Montgomery), which would amend the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law to address the automatic renewal of subscription services by requiring companies to provide a notification before each automatic renewal, be transparent about renewal terms, and allow subscribers to cancel their subscription services exclusively online if they initially subscribed over the Internet; and
- HB 2557(Borowski, D-Delaware), also amending the Unfair Trade Practices Act, requiring companies that provide a subscription trial to allow an “opt-in” at the end of the trial, instead of forcing a consumer to opt-out.
Two bills of note were reported from the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee:
- HB 2381 (Markosek, D-Allegheny), which would allow licensing boards and commissions that are subject to an interstate licensure compact to promulgate one-time temporary regulations necessary for the implementation of each licensure compact; and
- SB 1237 (Baker, R-Luzerne) which would reauthorize the PA One Call law and provide for other minor changes.
The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee also reported out two bills of note:
- SB 967 (Aument, R-Lancaster), which would provide portable benefits for app-based workers; and
- SB 1320 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would amend the Money Transmitter Act to explicitly cover virtual currency.
SB 1058 (Yaw, R-Lycoming) passed the Senate finally and heads to the House for consideration. The bill would abrogate the regulations whereby the Commonwealth entered the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Wednesday, the Senate Aging and Youth Committee and Senate Banking and Insurance Committee held a joint public hearing on protecting seniors from financial exploitation.
Also, the House Finance Committee held a public hearing on two bills:
- HB 2536(Sappey, D-Chester), which would amend the state Constitution to allow counties to establish “Longtime Owner-Occupant Programs” that provide property tax relief by exempting or deferring property tax increases for homeowners who have lived in their homes for at least ten years, even if their home assessment value has increased; and
- HB 2565 (Samuelson, D-Northampton), which would provide updates to the Semiconductor Manufacturing Tax Credit Program to allow more companies to participate in the program.
The Senate Transportation Committee reported out SB 787 (Dush, R-Jefferson), which would require PennDOT to install a dry hydrant, if certain conditions are met, when a bridge that crosses a body of water is built, modified, or rehabilitated.
HB 2328 (Harris, D-Philadelphia) passed finally in the Senate and will go back to the House for a concurrence vote before it can go to the Governor’s desk for his signature. The bill would establish the maximum amount of debt the Commonwealth may incur for capital projects specifically itemized in a capital budget project itemization act.
Lastly, two executive nominations were confirmed by the Senate:
- Ralph Yanora – Public Utility Commission Commissioner
- Douglas Farnham – Turnpike Commission Commissioner
The Week Ahead
The House of Representatives has three non-voting session days scheduled for next week. Both chambers will return to Harrisburg for voting session on September 30.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- Two Special Elections took place in Philadelphia: Keith Harris (D) will replace former Rep. Donna Bullock (D); and Andre Carroll (D) will replace former Rep. Stephen Kinsey (D).
- Governor Josh Shapiro and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding launched the Agricultural Innovation Grant Program, which will offer grants to farmers and other agriculture businesses to implement new agricultural technologies, conservation, and renewable energy innovations.
- Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt certified the official list of candidates for the November General Election and counties can now print and send out mail ballots.
- Attorney General Michelle Henry announced an online portal to streamline the process for companies and other entities reporting data breaches impacting more than 500 Pennsylvania residents — which is required under Pennsylvania law beginning on September 26, 2024.
