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Senate of Pennsylvania
SENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR
THE WEEK OF |
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Following a bipartisan Senate vote this week that would have delivered substantial property tax cuts to senior citizens and all homeowners, House Republicans fled town without allowing a vote on the historic property tax relief measure. The Senate voted 40-9 in favor of Special Session House Bill 39, a bill that would deliver property tax relief to all Pennsylvanians without raising any state taxes. It is estimated that the measure would provide the average Pennsylvania homeowner with a 36 percent cut in their property taxes. The compromise plan would also more than double the size of the Property Tax & Rent Rebate Program and make 420,000 new seniors eligible for relief. Once implemented, the proposal would enable more than 750,000 seniors to be eligible for larger property tax and rebate assistance. The bill also would put taxpayers in control by letting voters decide if they want to garner additional property tax relief by shifting some of the local school tax burden to the earned income tax. The legislation also features reasonable school district spending controls. Many Senate Democrats criticized the House Republican inaction as a shallow political stunt to deprive Gov. Ed Rendell of a new property tax relief law in a gubernatorial election year.
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By a 48 to 1 vote, the Senate approved House Bill 750, which would amend the Judicial Code to raise the limit from $35,000 to $50,000 for civil cases to be submitted to arbitration before going to trial before a county court. The bill now goes to the Governor.
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By a unanimous vote, the Senate approved Senate Bill 238, allowing the Department of State to charge a $5 fee for authentication of a document for recognition by a foreign government, or certification required in an international adoption proceeding. The bill now goes to the House.
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The Senate approved Senate Bill 809 by a unanimous vote. The measure would amend the Second Class Township Code to permit auditors to be compensated for up to 8 hours per day when attending a conference, institute, school, or convention. The Code currently permits auditors to be compensated at these meeting for up to 5 hours per day. The bill now goes to the House.
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With a unanimous vote, the Senate passed Senate Bill 810. The move would eliminate from the Administrative Code the requirement that DCED annually provide uniform budget forms to municipalities, and for those municipalities in turn to file those budget forms with the Department. The measure is now in the House.
* * * The Senate approved Senate Bill 1114 with a unanimous vote. The measure would increase the amount that a second-class township official may receive as reimbursement for their attendance at a county association’s annual or semi-annual meeting. This measure now goes to the House.
The Senate passed a more voter-friendly edition of a bill making changes to election regulations. With onerous voter identification provisions removed at the insistence of Senate Democrats, Senate Bill 999 was unanimously approved. The old version, House Bill 1318, was vetoed by Gov. Rendell. This bill now tightens regulations on polling places, absentee voting, posting notices of voters’ rights, and improves compensation for election officials. After the House amended the bill, it passed the Senate again, 36-13. Some Democrats still opposed the bill because it would still make it difficult for citizens and seniors in urban areas to vote. The bill now goes to the Governor.
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The Senate voted 47-2 to permit judges to require convicted drunk drivers to attend victim impact panels. House Bill 15 would provide judges with option of sentencing DUI offenders to attend these forums, which have been created in cooperation with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. This bill would also clarify the good-faith exception to the DUI law’s two-hour rule. According to newspaper reports, defense lawyers in some parts of the state have argued that a DUI suspect’s blood must be tested within two hours of being drawn. The District Attorneys Association has argued that the law was intended to require that blood be drawn within two hours, but can be tested much later. The bill would conform state law to the argument advanced by prosecutors and close this legal loophole.
The bill now heads to the governor.
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By a vote of 46-2, the Senate approved House Bill 983, which would make several changes to the Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program (IFIP), a program first created with Act 23 of 2004. This program provides multi-year grants for debt service on 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. This bill would allow applicants to defer the commencement of such grants until construction has been completed and the facility has begun operating. The bill would also permit local governments to abate local taxes owed without interfering with an applicant’s eligibility for an IFIP grant.
In addition, this bill would convert the state’s existing Film Production Tax Credit Program into a grant program. This program provides $10 million annually in state funds to films that are produced in Pennsylvania. The bill now heads to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved legislation that would prohibit the use of illegal immigrant labor on state-funded projects. Under House Bill 2319, also known as the “Prohibition of Illegal Immigrant Alien Labor on Assisted Projects Act, grant recipients who are found to have knowingly employed illegal workers would be required to repay the grant in full. A loan recipient would be required to pay the difference between the interest rate given and 6 percent. In addition, violators would be ineligible to apply for any state grant or loan for two years. This bill was introduced in response to a November 2005 raid by state police and federal agents at a Wal-Mart warehouse construction site in the Schuylkill Economic Development Corp.’s Highridge on 81 Business Park. More than 100 workers were detained on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, and 22 arrests were made. The bill now heads to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 261, which would create a new Deputy Secretary-level position, within the Department of Community and Economic Development, for the current executive director of the Center for Local Government Services. The bill has been sent to the House Local Government Committee.
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The Senate voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 723. This bill amends the Agricultural Area Security Law to encourage financial partnerships between State and local governments with local nonprofits to increase the funds available for agricultural conservation easement purchases in the state’s Farmland Preservation Program. A county would have the option of permitting participation by eligible nonprofits and describing the requirements for participation in their county program. A county farmland preservation board must recommend the purchase of an easement jointly with an eligible nonprofit entity. The bill now goes back to the House.
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