HARRISBURG-- The Senate this week unanimously passed Senate Bill 1324, creating the Interstate Adoption Compact Act.

Under this Act, the Department of Public Welfare could enter into agreements with other states’ social service agencies to ensure that children with special needs receive medical and other benefits when they are adopted by a family in another state or when their adoptive family moves to another state.

The Act also provides for medical assistance to children with special needs who reside in this state and who are the subject of an adoption assistance agreement with another state.

The bill has been referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee

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The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 96, which amends the Advanced Directives for Health Care Act to extend advance directives to emergency medical service (EMS) health care.

Declarants, including emancipated minors, who provide do-not-resuscitate (DNR) procedures, by wearing an EMS-DNR bracelet, necklace or by presenting an EMS-DNR order, will direct emergency medical service providers to withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation and related procedures in the event of respiratory or cardiac arrest.

The bill was returned to the House for concurrence in Senate amendments.

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The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 481, requiring municipalities that don’t have emergency service providers within their borders share in the workers’ compensation costs for emergency providers who respond to calls in their municipality. The share will be determined by the relative size of the populations served by the emergency service provider. Municipalities are also free to negotiate terms independently.

The bill goes back to the House for concurrence on amendments.

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The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 1237, tightening restrictions on the handling of propane and other liquefied petroleum gases. The bill repeals the old Liquefied Petroleum Gas act and replaces it with the Propane and Liquefied gas act.

Under the bill, distributors would have to seek state approval to build or expand operations off more than 9,000 gallons. The bill also calls for training of LPG handlers, record keeping, and inspection schedules for LPG facilities, and mandatory insurance coverage. The measure creates a seven-member Liquefied Petroleum Gas Advisory Board. Fees set by the State Department of Labor and Industry would pay for enforcement of the new regulations.

The bill goes back to the House for concurrence on amendments.

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The following bills also passed the Senate unanimously this week:

• Senate Bill 1402, which would update the Crimes Code to make forged "electronic signatures" illegal. The bill now goes to the House.

• House Bill 529, which authorizes the display of the U.S. flag over a casket, memorial and/or funeral procession for an individual who served as a police officer, firefighter, ambulance worker, or rescue squad member. The bill now goes to the Governor.

• House Bill 1546, which would increase the penalty for identity theft from a misdemeanor to a felony. The bill also increases the penalty if the victim is at least 60-years-old, increases the statute of limitations from four years to the discovery of the crime, and enables the victim to change the venue for prosecution. The bill now goes to the House.

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