United States: News From 2nd & State

Weekly Wrap

As the June 30 budget deadline gets closer, the action at the Capitol continues to surge. This week, both chambers were in session, and they will continue to be until the end of the month.

Just the Senate was in session on Monday. Most notably, the Senate Finance Committee reported out S.B. 721 (Mensch, R-Montgomery), which would decrease the corporate net income tax rate from 9.99% to 8.99% in 2023, 7.99% in 2024, and 6.99% in 2025 and each year thereafter.

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported out S.B. 522 (Baker, R-Monroe), which would require prenatal parents and children ages one and two to receive blood lead level testing that is covered by insurance. Additionally, the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee reported out H.B. 2097 (Hamm, R-Lycoming), which would address minimum staffing requirements for basic life support ambulances.

The House of Representatives joined the Senate in Harrisburg on Tuesday.

The House Health Committee and House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a joint public hearing on oil and gas byproducts: powering modern medicine and the healthcare system. Furthermore, the House State Government Committee and Senate Communications and Technology Committee held a joint public hearing to discuss S.B. 696 (Laughlin, R-Erie), which would provide updates to the Breach of Personal Information Notification Act pertaining to state agencies. The House State Government Committee will consider the bill on Wednesday.

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out two bills: H.B. 2528 (Struzzi, R-Indiana), which would require the Department of Environmental Protection to prioritize eligible Pennsylvania businesses for well plugging jobs; and H.B. 2644 (Causer, R-McKean), which would allocate federal funding to support orphaned oil and gas well plugging and update bond amounts.

Five bills were reported from the House Finance Committee:

• H.B. 1709 (White, R-Philadelphia), which would give partnerships and S-corporations the option to be taxed on income generated at the entity-level rather than the existing pass-through methodology;
• H.B. 2640 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which would exempt traffic signals and foundations, poles, and mast arms from the sales and use tax;
• H.B. 2645 (Peifer, R-Pike), which would clarify the calculation of the bank and trust company shares tax;
• S.B. 347 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would allow for the deferral of like-kind exchanges and allow a medical marijuana organization to deduct business expenses from the corporate net income tax; and
• S.B. 562 (Scavello, R-Monroe), which would establish the airport land development zone program to promote the creation of new jobs and accelerate economic activity.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee reported out S.B. 571 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would establish a uniform, statewide time period for the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The companion bill, H.B. 629 (Toohil, R-Luzerne), will be considered by the House Health Committee on Monday. Other bills reported from the Committee include:

• H.B. 2401 (Wheeland, R-Lycoming), which would authorize certified registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants to order and oversee orders for home health services;
• S.B. 1198 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would allow the Commonwealth to offer a fully array of facility-based options to seniors; and
• S.B. 1202 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would provide insurance coverage for medically prescribed pasteurized donor human milk.

H.B. 1947 (O'Neal, R-Washington) was reported form the Senate Local Government Committee. The bill would prevent a municipality from restricting or prohibiting the connection of a utility service to a consumer based on the source of energy.

On the House floor, H.B. 2485 (Grove, R-York) passed finally and will now be considered by the Senate. The bill would require agencies to provide the Treasury Department with a copy of any contract involving $10,000 or more. The House also passed H.B. 2585 (Pickett, R-Bradford), which would prevent the Department of Human Services from utilizing bidding or service zones that limit a health service corporation or a hospital plan corporation contractor from submitting a bid for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Senate passed the companion bill, S.B. 1235 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), on Wednesday.

Then, the full Senate passed S.B. 597 (Stefano, R-Fayette), which would provide for water and wastewater asset management plans. The bill will head to the House for consideration.

Wednesday, the House Insurance Committee held an informational meeting on H.B. 2499 (Pickett, R-Bradford), which adopt the National Association of Insurance Commissioners model law requiring licensees, with exceptions for small insurers, to conduct an annual risk assessment. The House State Government Committee and Senate Communications and Technology Committee held a joint public hearing on blockchain technology and its impact on government operations.

The House Transportation Committee reported out H.B. 2398 (Oberlander, R-Clarion), which would provide for the deployment of highly automated vehicles. In addition, H.B. 2272 (Mihalek, R-Allegheny), which would amend the state Constitution by privatizing the state run liquor system, was reported from House Liquor Control Committee.

In the Senate, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out H.B. 2075 (Knowles, R-Schuylkill), which would suspend the Pennsylvania Heavy-Duty Diesel Emissions Control Program. They also reported out S.R. 285 (Gordner, R-Columbia), which would direct the Joint State Government Commission to conduct an assessment and analysis of public and private recycling infrastructure and operations across the state. Lastly for committees, the Senate State Government Committee reported out S.B. 1029 (Yaw, R-Lycoming), which would require in-person state agency meetings unless there is a declared state of emergency.

Finally, the House sent H.B. 2157 (Farry, R-Bucks) over to the Senate. The bill would provide for the sale, operation, and setback requirements for fireworks.

The Week Ahead

Monday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will consider two bills: H.B. 2153 (Boback, R-Luzerne), which would direct $300 million in American Rescue Plan dollars to assist communities with Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) compliance; and H.B. 2331 (Gleim, R-Cumberland), which would allow for active water test results to be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection to show federal standard compliance.

The House Education Committee will consider H.B. 2639 (Nelson, R-Westmoreland), which would cut funding to the University of Pittsburgh, require the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study to establish a process for removing a state-related designation from a school, expand the eligibility requirements for Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency grants, and create a college voucher program. They will also vote on: H.B. 2619 (Topper, R-Bedford), which would create a performance-based funding incentive for state-related universities; and H.B. 2646 (Schroeder, R-Bucks), which would allow teachers holding a career and technical instructional certificate by another state to be used an equivalent Pennsylvania certificate.

A five bill agenda will be considered by the House Health Committee:

• H.B. 1475 (Krajewski, D-Philadelphia), which would allow minors to access their birth certificates;
• H.B. 2357 (Pennycuick, R-Montgomery), which would prohibit the sale or distribution of kratom products to individuals younger than 21 years of age;
• H.B. 2293 (Bonner, R-Mercer), which would require contract health care service agencies who provide temporary employment in nursing homes, assisted living residences, and personal care homes to register with the state;
• H.B. 2579 (Roae, R-Crawford), which would require the Department of health to create state written and/or computer examinations for EMT's, EMR's and paramedics in order to be state licensed; and
• H.B. 2604 (Twardzik, R-Schuylkill), which would amend the requirement for photo I.D. badges in health care facilities to allow health systems and registered names with the Department of State to be used on the badges.

On Tuesday, the House Urban Affairs Committee will consider S.B. 797 (Robinson, R-Allegheny), which would expand eligible municipalities and projects within the Neighborhood Improvement District Act.

Furthermore, the Senate State Government Committee will consider:

• H.B. 2447 (Benninghoff, R-Centre), which would require the divestment of investments in assets relating to Russia and Belarus by the State Treasurer, the State Employees' Retirement System, the Public School Employees' Retirement System, and the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System; and
• S.B. 1203 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would prevent companies from receiving state contracts, grants, or state tax credits if they do business with Russia or Belarus.

The House Commerce Committee will consider: S.B. 635 (Yudichak, I-Luzerne), which would expand the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (C-PACE) to include indoor air quality projects and resiliency improvement projects as eligible projects; and S.B. 1167 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would authorize financial institutions and insurers to provide services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses and prohibits adverse state regulatory or legal actions.

Wednesday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss H.B. 1789 (Sankey, R-Clearfield), which would facilitate the process when consumers switch from default electric and natural gas providers and ensure transparency in pricing.

The House State Government Committee will consider: H.B. 2648 (Lawrence, R-Chester), which would establish the position of Special State Prosecutor under the Office of Inspector General to investigate unemployment compensation fraud; and H.B. 2649 (Grove, R-York), which would add two appoints from the two majority leaders to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission.

A full list of committee meetings can be found here:

House

Senate

In Other News

• Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman announced the mandatory statewide recount confirmed Mehmet Oz as the winner of the U.S. Senate Republican race.
• The Department of Health provided a monthly update on COVID-19 trends.
• Governor Wolf named 245 housing and community development initiatives that will share a portion of the total $48.4 million in Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) funding for fiscal year 2021-22.