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Senate of Pennsylvania
SENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR
THE WEEK OF |
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The Senate voted 27-22 in favor of House Bill 446, which would make several changes to the state Liquor Code. The most controversial provision in this bill would allow Pennsylvania’s newly launched casinos to provide alcohol free of charge to any person actively playing a slot machine. House Bill 446 also seeks to fix a problem with Philadelphia’s existing system of issuing takeout beer permits, which are currently awarded by City Council. This legislation would create a separate hearing board under Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspection to review and approve licenses that are seeking a permit to sell malt or brewed beverages for consumption off-location. The bill would also allow the Liquor Control Board to extend the period of time a license may be held in safekeeping. The board can hold the license for three consecutive years but would be able to hold it for one additional year upon written request and payment of $5,000 or $2,500 depending on which class of city the license falls in. Once that year is up, additional years could be added on with the same process. Additionally, this bill would grant a special occasion permit license for a county tourist promotion agency in State College; extend the point system in Philadelphia, where points are assessed against a license for certain Liquor Code violations, for an additional six months, to expire on June 30, 2007; and eliminate a requirement that municipalities show an adverse effect on the health, welfare, peace and morals of the municipality when rejecting a license transfer or an economic development license. This legislation would remove the 30 percent food and non-alcoholic beverage sales requirement for a Sunday sales permit in Philadelphia and permit Philadelphia to transfer a liquor license to qualified, mixed-use town center developments located in Pennsylvania’s urban and suburban counties when it is determined that licenses are not available in that county at a reasonable market price. The measure now goes to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1166, itemizing more than $1 billion for public improvement, transportation assistance and redevelopment assistance capital projects under the state’s capital budget. Individual projects would have to be approved by various state agencies. The budget represents an increase of more than $300 million over last year. The bill was signed into law as Act 152 of 2006.
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The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 881, streamlining the inspection process for new homes and renovation work and making changes in the definition for “agricultural building.” However, provisions that would have forced local municipalities to issue occupancy permits within five days of a request were dropped before the final vote. It is expected that the permit process will be addressed in a future session. The bill now goes to the governor for his signature.
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The Senate approved House Bill 471 with a unanimous vote. The bill would authorize transfers between appropriations of state funds and would spell out how such transfers would be made with regard to public notice of such transfers. The bill would also extend the time period, until June 30, 2007, for the acceptance and consideration of Merchant Marine World War II Veteran Bonus Act applications by the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The bill would also establish the Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee. In addition, the legislation provides for biennial renewal of certain licenses for volunteer health services. The bill would also establish a statewide stroke database. The Department of Health would compile stroke care information and statistics relating to strokes in Pennsylvania and would be required to post the information on the department’s website. The measure now goes to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved a measure that would amend the Local Tax Enabling Act, which empowers local municipalities to use a variety of taxation options to raise revenue. House Bill 1427 would prohibit the city of Allentown from imposing a local amusement tax on the sale of admissions to sporting events. The measure is now in the Senate Rules and Executive Nominations Committee.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 811. The measure would amend the County Pension Law by extending to June 30, 2007, the window that was enacted in Act 43 of 2003 for county retirement boards to adopt enhanced benefit class options. That particular act authorized Second Class A through Eighth Class Counties to adopt 1/40th and 1/50th class options for members of a county retirement system employed after December 31, 1971 and before January 1, 1997. The measure is now before the governor for his consideration.
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The Senate approved Senate Bill 1285 overwhelmingly. The Senate Democratic-sponsored legislation would amend Title 71 (State Government) by adding language that would clean up who is eligible for paid leave for the purposes of serving as a full-time official or officer. This would be in reference to an elected full-time officer for a statewide employee organization that is a collective bargaining representative under the Policemen and Firemen Collective Bargaining Act or the Public Employee Relations Act. The new language would only apply to leaves of absence approved after December 31, 2006. The legislation would also permit an active member of the State Employees’ Retirement System who is a bail commissioner in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to elect to receive Class E-2 service credit for all periods of previous bail commissioner service. The measure now goes to the governor.
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The Senate voted 33-16 to approve legislation that would have prohibited Pennsylvania motorists from using a handheld cell phone while driving and provided for a $250 fine upon conviction. House Bill 1631 would have expressly permitted the use of hands-free technology, such as “Bluetooth” headsets, for drivers and would have made exceptions in situations like reporting an accident or calling 911. The bill would have made driving while talking on a cell phone a secondary offense only, similar to Pennsylvania’s seat-belt law. This bill also included language that would have permitted university maintenance vehicles that are used exclusively on campus to forego registration. The House retained this provision, stripped the cell-phone prohibition, and sent the bill back to the Senate, where it awaits consideration in its current form by the Rules Committee.
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The Senate voted unanimously in favor of legislation that would require motorists to turn on their headlights when windshield wipers are in use or a driver cannot see 1,000 feet ahead of the vehicle. House Bill 2133 also would create a state identification card, issued by the Department of Transportation, for children age 11 and older. In addition, the bill would make several other changes to the Vehicle Code, including a provision advanced by Senate Democrats that would help domestic steel producers. The bill has been sent to the governor for his approval.
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The Senate unanimously approved on House Bill 2296, which states that people entering military service would not forfeit his or her current license and would be exempt from any continuing educational requirements or in-service training requirements. The legislation also includes language relating to the disabled veterans real estate tax exemption; clarifies that the veterans may own the dwelling with his or her spouse; and would create a rebuttable presumption that an applicant with an income of $75,000 a year or less is in need of the exemption. The bill now moves to the governor’s desk.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 180, which would create the Credit Reporting Agency Law and provides for consumer report freezes. Through this legislation, Pennsylvanians would have the right to place a security freeze on their consumer report. The freeze would prevent consumer reporting agencies from releasing an individual’s consumer report for credit approval. The bill is now at the governor’s desk.
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The Senate overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 655, which would further provide for general powers of the state registration board for professional engineers, land surveyors and geologists and provide for continuing education requirements. The legislation would add requirements for continuing education to be fulfilled by individuals licensed and registered under the Engineer, Land Surveyor and Geologist Law. Individuals licensed and registered under the law will be required to complete 24 hours of mandatory continuing education during each two-year licensure period as a condition of biennial renewal. The bill is now at the governor’s desk.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 860, which would amend the Plain Language Consumer Contract Act to require under seal a signed statement which if omitted would create an irrebuttable presumption that the parties did not intend to create an instrument in writing under seal. The bill is now at the governor’s desk.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1104, which would set a new ten-year expiration date of Dec. 31, 2016, for the Underground Utility Protection Act. The legislation would also clean up existing language in the law by providing new definitions and deleting certain outdated language. Other amendments include changes to the duties of project owners, excavators, facility owners, designers, engineers, as well as changes in the duties of the One Call System. The bill would also increase penalties for non-compliance. The bill is now at the governor’s desk.
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The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 2134, which would limit the collection of Social Security numbers by state agencies and local governments and prohibit placing these numbers on health insurance cards. The bill would establish a general rule that in applying for a professional license or certification, occupational license or certification, or recreational license, applicants may provide their driver’s license number or non-driver ID card number as an alternative to providing their Social Security number. The bill now moves to the governor’s desk.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 770, a Senate Democratic proposal that would improve government efficiency by establishing use of the United States Postal Service Electronic Postmark (USPS EPM). The bill directs governmental agencies to set up policies and procedures for using the USPS EPM or similar services. Executive agencies must comply with standards published by the Office of Administration concerning the use of electronic postmarks. The bill is now at the governor’s desk.
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The Senate voted unanimously in favor of House Bill 105, which would allow for shared purchases of fire, rescue and ambulance company supplies. The Department of General Services would be required to take care of contracts to help buy supplies for volunteer fire, rescue, ambulance companies and nonprofit statewide, county or regional fire, ambulance or rescue support organizations. The bill has been passed by the House and will now go to the governor.
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The Senate voted unanimously in favor of House Bill 2003. This bill would remove the requirement that county commissioners get the approval of the court of common pleas when appointing special counsel. The bill has been passed by the House and will now go to the governor.
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The Senate voted 47–1 in favor of House Bill 2563. This bill would allow any person who is a law enforcement officer or has a valid license to have a weapon for protection while engaged in an activity regulated under the state Game Code. This legislation would remove any requirements for people who are allowed to carry a concealed weapon for personal protection to disarm while engaged in any activity, including all hunting seasons. The bill has been passed by the House and will now go to the governor.
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The Senate voted unanimously in favor of House Bill 854. This bill would create the “Public Utility Confidential Security Information Disclosure Protection Act” to set up procedures for identifying, submitting, challenging and protecting confidential security information. It would also prohibit disclosure of confidential security information and provide for penalties. Agencies would have to file records into two categories: Public (Right to Know Law) and Confidential (Right to Know Law, treated as confidential security information). Any person can challenge the confidential security information. Challenges to a public utility designation shall be made in writing to the agency in which the record was originally filed. A public official or public employee, who receives and is careless with a public utility confidential security information record, would be committing a second-degree misdemeanor. This person would have to pay a maximum fine of $5,000 plus the cost of prosecution or go to prison for up to one year, or both. The person would also lose their job. The bill has been passed by the House and will now go to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 183, which would amend Act 442 of 1967, further providing for local taxing options and land trusts. The current law provides for an additional earned income tax levy if approved by a referendum process within the local government. The amendments would allow revenue from the tax levy to be used for fees including but not limited to costs of appraisals, legal services, title searches, document preparation title insurance, closing fees and survey costs. The bill would also add a new section on land trusts. It states that if a local government body decides that it is for public benefit, it may provide money to a land trust for the acquisition or preservation of interests in real property for open space purposes, or it may transfer open space property interests to a land trust. A local government would also have the power to incorporate a local land trust as a domestic nonprofit corporation. The bill was sent to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 439, known as the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act, which would direct the Department of Health to oversee a statewide sexual assault evidence collection program. Prior to this bill, evidence collection for the prosecution of sexual offenses varied from location to location. This bill would require the performance of duties for which there is no current department capacity; develop a minimum standard for rape kits, which will be analyzed every three years; and oversee the development and delivery of evidence collection and management training to health care facility staff. The bill will now be sent to the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 514, which would make several changes to the state Fourth- to Eighth-Class County Assessment Law. This bill would eliminate the office of elected assessor in second-class townships and encourage the development of wind-energy projects in Pennsylvania. This legislation would exempt wind turbine generators or related wind energy equipment from being assessed as real property. The bill now awaits the signature of the governor.
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The Senate voted 48-0 in approval of Senate Bill 583, which would amend the Crimes Code. This Senate Democratic bill would forbid any person convicted of arson under any federal or state law from serving as a volunteer or paid firefighter and from being certified as a firefighter under the State Fire Commissioner Act. Additionally, the bill would provide for two methods to guarantee that applicants have no previous arson convictions. They include an official criminal history showing no convictions, or a signed and dated statement swearing that the person was never convicted of arson. The measure has been sent to the governor for approval.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 669, a Senate Democratic bill that would amend the Administrative Law and Procedure Code and the Judicial Code to standardize qualifications for those who interpret foreign languages or provide interpretation services for the deaf in Pennsylvania courtrooms and administrative proceedings. This bill would direct the Court Administrator and the Department of Labor and Industry to establish a program for identifying certified and otherwise qualified interpreters for persons with limited English proficiency and persons who are deaf. The bill would ensure that a listing of these interpreters is available to litigants statewide for all administrative, civil, and criminal proceedings. The legislation would also provide procedures for dismissing an interpreter whose services are inadequate and bringing in another interpreter. This bill will become law once signed by the governor.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1054, which would amend the Judicial Code by adding to the duties of the State Sexual Offenders Assessment Board and by adding required information to be posted on the public Megan’s Law website. Under the bill, the board would have to include a written description of the criminal offense that triggered the assessment. The bill would also make it mandatory to have additional information on the internet about the sexually violent predators including a special designation if the victim was a minor, where the offender resides, name of school, municipality of employer, description of offense, and release dates for those imprisoned. It would also include a physical description of the offender that includes any identifying characteristic and whether or not the offender is compliant with registration requirements. The bill would also amend Title 18 to acknowledge that employers of offenders should share in responsibility for the welfare of the children; Title 42 by increasing the statute of limitations for sexual criminal offenses when the victim is under 18, the statute is increased to 32 years after the victim’s 18th birthday. Finally, the bill would amend the Child Protective Services Law to require employers to perform background checks on all potential employees who would have regular contact with children. The bill now awaits the signature of the governor.
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The Senate voted 48-0 in favor of Senate Bill 944, which would toughen Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law statute and enact a version of Jessica’s Law in the state. This legislation would amend sections 3121 (relating to rape) and 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse) to increase the penalties for these offenses. In both cases, a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum sentence of 50 years would be imposed for an offense that involves a child under the age 13. Also, a person convicted of rape or involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child with serious bodily injury would be sentenced to a minimum term of 50 years and up to a maximum term of life in prison. The legislation would establish a new chapter in the Crimes Code to require the forfeiture of property used in the commission or to facilitate a violation of the crimes of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault or indecent assault or for the offense of failing to comply with the registration requirements of Megan’s Law. The bill would also require Megan’s Law registration for any Pennsylvania resident who was convicted of a crime in another state. It would also require that a sex offender include more specific residency information when registering under Megan’s Law, mandate that sexually violent predators wear a global positioning system bracelet for the remainder of their natural life, and make it a criminal to remove, tamper or alter such device. In addition, the bill would require the Pennsylvania State Police to establish an online, publicly accessible database that enables residents to see the location of sex offenders on a map relative to the resident’s home address. Information on the website must include a current photograph of the offender as well as a listing of all current criminal charges and information relating to the number of victims, their gender and ages. Finally, the legislation would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a comprehensive study of the monitoring and regulation of sex offenders and sexually violent predators and to make a full report of its findings annually to the Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate. The measure now awaits the governor’s signature.
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