HARRISBURG -- Less than three months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 1000, which would toughen penalties against terrorists and their conspirators by creating three new offenses: terrorism, soliciting or supporting terrorism, and hindering prosecution related to terrorism. The bill would also allow victims and their families to recover damages from the assets of terrorists and those who knowingly aid terrorists. The measure now goes to the House.

In a related move, the Senate also unanimously passed Senate Bill 1014, which would shorten the presumption of death waiting period for families who lost loved ones in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Under current probate law, the families must wait seven years before death can be legally declared. The measure overhauls the state's guidelines for trustees and how the law governs the distribution of various forms of property and investments. The bill now goes to the House

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The Senate this week voted 50-0 to approve House Bill 1633, which adds Hepatitis-C to the list of occupational diseases under the Workers' Compensation Act and extends the Act's coverage to professional and volunteer emergency workers who may contract the disease while performing their duties.

Specifically, those protected are: professional and volunteer firefighters, volunteer ambulance corps personnel, volunteer rescue and lifesaving squad personnel, emergency medical services personnel and paramedics, Pennsylvania State Police officers, other police officers certified under state law, state and county correctional employees, and forensic security employees of the Department of Public Welfare. 

The bill establishes conditions under which an employer may contest the presumption that Hepatitis-C was contracted on the job. 
The bill was returned to the House for concurrence in Senate amendments

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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1213, the Capital Budget Projects Itemization Act. The bill itemizes projects for which the Commonwealth will incur debt. The bill contains the following categories and totals:

Public Improvement: $2,179,919,000
Furniture & Equipment: $94,741,000
Transportation Assistance: $1,121,916,000
Redevelopment Assistance: $1,861,948,000
Flood Control: $119,541,000
Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation: $64,679,000
Environmental Stewardship Fund: $28,815,000
Fish and Boat Fund: $19,370,000
Motor License Fund Current Revenue Projects: $15,750,000
Manufacturing Fund Current Revenue Projects: $3,887,000

Total: $5,510,566,000

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The Senate unanimously concurred in House amendments to Senate Bill 372, which raises the cap on the number of State Police troopers. Since 1972, the trooper contingent has remained limited to 3,940 officers and troopers; the legislation raises the cap to 4,310 persons. A Democratic amendment to eliminate the cap entirely failed in the Senate Appropriations Committee. State police personnel assigned Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission or as resident state troopers do not count toward the limit.  The bill awaits the Governor's signature.

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The Senate unanimously concurred in House amendments to Senate Bill 100, the Infant Hearing Education, Assessment, Reporting and Referral Act. 
The measure requires the Department of Health is required to establish a program to screen all newborns and infants in the Commonwealth for hearing loss before leaving a hospital, and to screen all newborns and infants not born in a hospital within the first 30 days of life. Every health care facility must provide an information packet to parents instructing them on the importance of screening and follow-up care. 
The Governor signed the bill into law as Act 89 of 2001.

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The Senate this week voted 48-2 to approve Senate Bill 238, which amends Title 75 of the state's Motor Vehicle Code. The bill changes current fines and penalties for the offenses of "homicide by vehicle" or "homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence;" closes a loop-hole exempting an under-21 DUI driver from the mandatory 90-day license suspension; requires ignition interlocks for second offense drunk drivers; increases school bus violations from $100 to $250, and clarifies disabled person parking area violations.
The bill has been referred to the House.


--LEGISLATIVE NOTEBOOK-

The Senate unanimously concurred in House amendments House Bill 1219, which allows for members of planning commissions to be compensated unless they are elected or appointed officers or employees of the municipality. The bill would also require that a notice of a public hearing proposing zoning ordinance amendments be mailed 30 days in advance to all owners of record. The bill returns to the House for concurrence in Senate amendments.

The following bills passed the Senate unanimously and have been sent to the House:

· Senate Bill 1180, which adds Indiana County to the definition of "port district" under the Port of Pittsburgh Commission Act. 
· Senate Bill 985, amending the County Code to raise the per diem from $110 to $175 for elected county officers attending annual meetings of their associations. The bill also would reduce the minimum population required for classification as a fourth-class county from 150,000 to 145,000. 
· Senate Bill 1100, amending the Municipal Authorities Act to require that all authority board members live or operate a business in the borough where they serve. 
· Senate Bill 1215, which restores board member eligibility language to the Municipal Authorities Act to allow a board member to be a citizen, taxpayer or maintain a business in the municipality or service area of the authority. The bill also exempts borough business improvement districts from the provision that a majority of board members be residents of the incorporating borough. 
· Senate Bill 978, which allows counties, in lieu of creating a Tax Claim Bureau, to use an alternative method (i.e. private sector entities) to collect delinquent real estate property taxes. This bill would not apply to counties of the first or second class. Two or more counties would be allowed to enter into a joint agreement to provide for an alternative form of tax collection.