Weekly Wrap
Although it wasn’t a session week, there are still some committee meetings to report on.
First, on Monday, the House Education Committee held a public hearing on HB 1701 (Fiedler, D-Philadelphia). The bill would charge the Department of Education with: (1) maintaining a public-school facility inventory; (2) ensuring school entities regularly complete a building condition assessment and a district-wide facilities study; (3) assisting school entities with assessing their infrastructure needs and leveraging federal, state, and local resources; and (4) coordinating school facility planning and improvement across agencies. Next week, on Tuesday, the Committee will hold a voting meeting on the bill.
Tuesday, the House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committee held an informational meeting to discuss the dangers of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products and legislative solutions.
The Senate Game and Fisheries Committee held a public hearing on Thursday to discuss the Game Commission’s land acquisition process.
The Week Ahead
The House of Representatives return to Harrisburg on Monday for three session days.
On Monday, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold an informational meeting on the PA Carekit Program, which provides tools, information, and resources to unpaid caregivers.
The House Local Government Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1291 (Freeman, D-Northampton), which would allow public notices to be published in digital newspapers if a print version is unavailable.
Two bills are scheduled to be reported from the House Housing and Community Development Committee:
- HB 1492 (Siegel, D-Lehigh), which would prohibit landlords from considering drug distribution convictions older than seven years and to require individualized assessments that consider the unique circumstances of such convictions; and
- HB 1874 (Powell, D-Allegheny), which would allow redevelopment authorities to receive future financial support for its continued operations after a Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID) is terminated.
Tuesday, the House Health Committee will consider HB 880 (Frankel, D-Allegheny), which would amend the Clean Indoor Air Act to eliminate loopholes that expose workers to smoke, expand the definition of smoking to include e-cigarettes, and give localities the ability to enact smoke-free ordinances that are more protective than state law. The Committee will also consider HR 271 (Benham, D-Allegheny), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to assemble an advisory committee and conduct a study on indoor air quality for children and senior citizens.
Three bills are on the House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee voting meeting agenda:
- 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;
- HB 1496 (Abney, D-Allegheny), which would prohibit price gouging during local disaster emergencies; and
- HB 1530 (Burgos, D-Philadelphia), which would create greater transparency between genetic testing companies and consumers, require express consent prior to using consumer data, and allow customers to have direct control of their genetic data through deletion requests and other privacy measures.
The House Labor and Industry Committee will consider HB 145 (Krajewski, D-Philadelphia), which would allow employees to collect unemployment compensation benefits if their unemployment is due to a stoppage of work that is a result of a labor dispute.
The House State Government Committee will consider one bill of note; HB 1322 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna). The bill would require a trustee, board member or appointed or elected official who stands in a fiduciary relationship to a state, county or local pension system, or to a fund of the Commonwealth, to obtain two hours of initial training and one hour of annual training in fiduciary law. The bill would also provide for payment of legal fees in certain circumstances for fiduciaries who incur expenses in defending themselves in legal actions related to their fiduciary duties.
Wednesday, the House Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1539 (Madsen, D-Dauphin), which would establish a grant program to support school districts in transitioning from internal combustion engine school buses to electric school buses.
Thursday, the House Tourism, Recreation, and Economic Development Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1286 (Young, D-Philadelphia), which would require human trafficking training for employees of hotels, motels, and all other public lodging establishments.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- Governor Shapiro convened the “Summit on the State of PJM Interconnection” in Philadelphia — bringing together representatives from all 13 PJM states and more than 450 key stakeholders from across the region to confront rising energy costs, grid reliability challenges, and PJM’s governance structure.
- The Shapiro Administration released new recommendations to provide clear, evidence-based guidance to ensure vaccines remain accessible for Pennsylvanians who want them.
- The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs announced that $12 million in grant funds are available to expand access to evidence-based diversion, treatment, and recovery services.
- The Treasury Department announced the availability of $500 million for Head Start providers and county governments through a short-term, investment loan effort.
