Community and Economic Development Committee 06/26/06

The Senate Community and Economic Development Committee met on Monday, June 26, 2006, and unanimously reported out the following bills as committed:

Senate Bill 1232 (Piccola) – This bill, known as the Historic Preservation Incentive Grant Act, would create a program within the Department of Community and Economic Development to provide grants to historic building owners to undertake certain improvements.

Senate Bill 1242 (Ferlo) – This Democratic-sponsored legislation would amend the Port of Pittsburgh Commission Act to include Blair County as a member of the port district.

Community and Economic Development Committee 04/25/06

The Senate Community and Economic Development Committee met on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, and reported out the following bill as committed:

House Bill 1992 (Herman) - This bill would amend the Local Government Capital Project Loan Fund Act to increase the maximum amounts of loans under the program.  According to Sen. Punt, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors supports this legislation.

Community and Economic Development Committee 03/13/06

The Senate Community and Economic Development Committee met on Monday, March 13, 2006, reported out the following bill unanimously as amended:

House Bill 983 (T. Stevenson) – This bill would have created a film production tax grant program (replacing the existing tax credit program). Sen. Armstrong offered amendment A6359, which gutted the bill and replaced it with language to amend the Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program (IFIP), which provides grants for the debt service of convention centers, hospitals, hotels, manufacturers, industrial enterprises, retail enterprises, and research and development enterprises.   The amount of grant funding is calculated on the basis of the anticipated amount of state sales tax, hotel occupancy tax, and employer withholding of personal income tax to be generated by a project.  The amendment would allow applicants to defer the commencement of such grants until construction has been completed and the facility has begun operating.  Also, the Armstrong amendment would make changes with regard to grants in their fifth year.  Lastly, the amendment would allow municipalities to abate local taxes owed without interfering with an applicant’s eligibility for an IFIP grant.  The Department of Community and Economic Development supports the amendment.  A vote of 10-1 was recorded on the amendment.

Community and Economic Development Committee 02/14/06

The Senate Community and Economic Development Committee met on Tuesday, February 14, 2006, and reported out the following bills unanimously as committed:

Senate Bill 659 (Orie) – This bill would provide for grants to performing arts organizations to assist with operating and administrative costs, as well as facility construction and improvements.  These grants would be funded through state tax credits.

Senate Bill 816 (Orie) – This bill would amend the definition of “commercial lending institution” under Title 64 (Public Authorities and Quasi-Public Corporations) so that a farm credit system institution would not be required to offer deposit services. 

A vote of 10-1 was recorded on the following bill, and the bill was reported out as amended:

Senate Bill 1063 (Pileggi) – This bill would appropriate $625,000 for the creation of additional Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs).  Sen. Don White offered an amendment that would ensure existing SBDCs are held harmless.  Sen. Wozniak expressed concerns with several of the criteria for selecting locations for new SBDCs and the fiscal responsibility of the proposal.  Sen. Ferlo asked that the State Director look at the scope of services offered by SBDCs and examine their performance, in addition to the need-assessment study called for in the bill.

Community and Economic Development Committee 10/24/05

The Senate Community and Economic Development Committee met on Monday, October 24, 2005, and reported out the following bill as committed:

Senate Bill 261 (Robbins) – This bill would create the position of Deputy Secretary for Local Government Services within the Department of Community and Economic Development.  A vote of 9-1 was recorded.

The following bills were reported out unanimously as committed:

House Bill 218 (Reed) – This bill would encourage state agencies to locate facilities in downtown areas in the Commonwealth. 

House Bill 1361 (Hasay) – This bill would extend the sunset provision of the Community Services Block Grant Act until December 2011.

The following bill was tabled:

Senate Bill 659 (Orie) – This bill would create a program within the Department of Community and Economic Development to provide grants to performing arts organizations.

Community and Economic Development Committee 6/28/05

The Senate Community and Economic Development Committee met on Tuesday, June 28, 2005, and unanimously reported out the following bills as committed:

Senate Resolution 142 (Greenleaf)   This resolution would urge the state to establish relations with the Ukraine in the areas of arts and culture, economic development, and travel and tourism.  Ukraine was the site for last year’s “Orange Revolution,” where protesters filled the streets of Kiev in response to presidential election results that suggested corruption.  The Orange Revolution reached a successful and peaceful conclusion when Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Western reformer, became Ukraine’s president in January 2005.  Ukraine had a gross domestic product of $65 billion in 2004 and was long known as Europe’s breadbasket.  Pennsylvania has the second largest number of Americans of Ukrainian descent, with a population of 122,150.

House Bill 157 (Godshall)   This bill would clarify the appropriate uses of the hotel tax and hotel room rental tax in third- through eighth-class counties.  The bill would also require tourist promotion agencies to provide an audited report of income and expenditures to county commissioners.  Lastly, the bill would define a “permanent resident” as an individual occupying a room for 30 consecutive days (currently, 60 days).

Community and Economic Development Committee 3/15/05

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 and reported out the following bill:

As Committed (unanimously):