Senate of Pennsylvania
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SENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR THE WEEK |
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HARRISBURG
-- In an effort
to ensure that Pennsylvania taxpayers are treated fairly and given clear
notice of their rights and responsibilities, the Senate has unanimously
approved legislation that would make the Taxpayers’ Rights Advocate a
permanent part of the Department of Revenue. Senate Bill 33 would
re-establish the "Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights," which was
initially created in 1996 and scheduled to sunset this year.
The bill would also require the board of Finance and Revenue to report to the General Assembly every six months. The report would contain recommendations from the board on how the Taxpayers ’ Bill of Rights is performing and how in could be improved. The bill now goes to the House for concurrence. ***** The Senate has unanimously approved legislation that would increase the statute of limitations for legal actions involving injuries from asbestos exposure. Under Senate Bill 216, the statute of limitations would not begin until an injured party is informed by a licensed physician that an injury was caused by asbestos exposure. Since it sometimes takes longer than two years to determine an injury or disease was caused by asbestos exposure, the current two-year statute of limitations leaves some Pennsylvania families without legal recourse. The legislation now goes to the House. ***** The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 253, which would increase the statute of limitations from two years to five years for the crimes of attempt to commit murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder, regardless of whether the murder actually occurred. The bill will now be sent to the House. ***** The Senate unanimously passed legislation that would create a new test to determine if two business names are distinguishable from each other. Senate Bill 215 would make amendments to the Names Code and the Associations Code reflecting recent court cases and current business practices. The bill now goes to the House. |