SENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR THE WEEK OF
July 13, 2009

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            The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 263.  The bill amends the “Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail Act” (Act 41 of 1978) to give municipalities along the Appalachian Trail an extra year to adopt and implement zoning ordinances that would protect the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the trail. 

The deadline for these municipalities is now extended to August 11, 2010.

The measure was signed into law as Act 23 of 2009.

The Senate voted 48-2 in favor of House Bill 703, which requires all landscape architects seeking registration in Pennsylvania to undergo examination, regardless of their years of active experience, and expands requirements for the continuing education of licensees.  

            Under the previous law, an applicant could receive registration without examination if he or she had 10 years of active experience as a landscape architect and was a graduate of an approved institution, or if he or she had 15 years of active experience without the education, if the board approved the experience.  It also stated that a licensee was required to complete 10 hours of continuing education every two years, while most states require 24 hours of continuing education. 

            The Act eliminates the option for landscape architects with prior experience and/or education to register without examination and increases the number of required continuing education credits every two years from 10 to 24.

            The bill was signed into law by the governor as Act 24 of 2009.

The Senate approved a bill that would create a new state department in charge of monitoring state revenue and spending projections. 

            Senate Bill 1 would create the Legislative Fiscal Office, designed to provide an assessment of budget estimates independent of the governor and the administration.

            The bill’s supporters said such an office would prevent political calculations from entering budget estimating, but opponents said it would provide a duplicate agency that the state could ill afford during the current budget crisis.

            The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote of 30-19, and it now goes to the House.

The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 282, which would allow one or more local governments to enter into an agreement with one or more municipalities.

The intergovernmental agreements would not allow delegation or transfer of local government powers or functions to a municipal authority.  It also would prohibit enlarging or diminishing powers of a municipality beyond those already permitted by law.

Agreements between local governments and municipalities would not be subject to review by the Local Government Commission.

The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

By a unanimous vote, the Senate passed legislation that would amend the “Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.”

Senate Bill 284 would grant local officials the authority to amend an intergovernmental cooperative agreement to extend the time available to implement that agreement. 

Currently, the Municipalities Planning Code mandates a two-year time frame for implementing a multi-municipal plan.

The legislation is currently in the House.

The Senate voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 896, which would require the Department of State to post registration and reporting forms on its Web site within seven days once they are received.

            The bill will now go to the House.

The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 917, which would increase the membership of the County Records Committee from 15 to 16.

The legislation would allow the governor to appoint a Clerk of the Orphans’ Court to the Committee.

The measure now moves to the House for consideration.

The Senate voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 925, which would accredit community college courses in massage therapy and permit those courses to be used to apply for licensure.

The legislation would also permit the Massage Therapy Board to approve other regionally accredited colleges or universities and Pennsylvania private licensed schools for the training.   

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