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Senate of Pennsylvania
SENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR
THE WEEK OF |
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The Senate unanimously approved legislation that would provide restitution to victims of identity theft. Under House Bill 222, an individual who is convicted of access device fraud or identity theft would be required to make restitution for all reasonable expenses incurred by the victim or on the victim’s behalf, in addition to any other restitution, sentence, or order authorized by law. Restitution would include the costs and expenses associated with investigating the theft of the victim’s identity, bringing or defending civil or criminal actions related to the theft and to take other efforts to correct the victim’s credit record or negative credit reports related to the theft of the victim’s identity. The bill now goes to the governor.
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By a vote of 38 to 9, the Senate passed a bill intended to allow the City of Philadelphia to address its fiscal problems through a temporary sales tax increase and altered pension fund payments. Philadelphia’s mayor and city council agreed in June to a budget deal that raises the city’s sales tax by one percent and defers some pension payments. The deal was approved by the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA) which, by state law, oversees Philadelphia’s budget. The deal also required approval by the General Assembly, which prompted House Bill 1828. Amendments to the original legislation addressed distressed municipal pension funds across the state by creating a Municipal Pension Recovery Program and a Cooperative Municipal Pension Program. The law dictates that any municipal pension plan below a 50 percent funding ratio would be taken over by the state. The bill goes back to the House for concurrence on the amendments.
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The Senate unanimously passed a Democratic-sponsored bill that would ensure that the families of public safety employees killed in the line of duty receive death benefits. Senate Bill 369 amends the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act to guarantee killed-in-service-death benefits to all spouses or minor children of a paid firefighter, law enforcement officer and ambulance service or rescue squad member equal to the amount of the decedent’s monthly salary. Under current law, pension and workers’ compensation payments now provide death benefits that cover a portion of the salaries of troopers, officers, firefighters and emergency personnel in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and third-class cities who are killed in the line of duty. Under the bill, the state would pick up the remaining share. Boroughs and townships currently pay the entire cost of benefits for their police. Senate Bill 369 would shift these costs to the state. A Senate actuarial study estimates the annual cost to the state to be $9,000 for each officer killed in the line of duty. The bill now goes to the House.
* * * The Senate voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 921, which would make it easier to add new lines of vehicles and require manufacturers to buy back more vehicles when a dealership closes. The bill would prohibit unreasonable site expansions on existing dealerships, construction or significant modification of dealer facilities or construction of a separate facility to showcase a new line of vehicles. SB 921 would also require the manufacturer to repurchase additional inventory in the event of termination, including current and prior model inventory and the repurchase of dealer trades. Manufacturers would have to repurchase current “heavy duty trucks,” as well as the past two years’ prior model inventory. The bill is now on the Governor’s desk.
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The Senate unanimously approved legislation that would amend the Rail Freight Preservation and Improvement Act to add broadening language when it comes to grant work. Currently, a railroad may use in-house employees to do a project that receives a Rail Freight Assistance Grant. Therefore, prevailing wage does not apply and the project does not have to be put out to bid. Senate Bill 1047 would broaden the language in the act to allow a wholly-owned railroad affiliates to do the work at their cost without putting the project out for contract. The bill now goes to the House.
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