Aging & Youth 2019-2020

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The Senate Aging & Youth Committee met on Monday, September 21, 2020 to consider the following:

SB 983 – Updates Pennsylvania’s Newborn Child Screening and Follow-up Program by expanding the list of disorders for which newborns are screened for. A07276 was adopted unanimously and the bill was reported out unanimously as amended.

SB 1279 – Establishes the Essential Family Caregiver Designation Act and provides for essential family caregivers in long-term care facilities during disaster emergencies related to communicable diseases. A technical amendment was adopted, and the bill was reported out unanimously as amended.

The Senate Aging & Youth Committee met on Monday, November 18, 2019 to consider the following:

SB 368, PN 410 (Boscola) – Requires the data reporting of any infant born with an addiction to opioids or other illegal substances to be publicly accessible on the Department of Human Services website. The bill was unanimously amended to align reporting deadlines to the General Assembly to coincide with the DHS Child Abuse Report. The bill was unanimously reported out as committed.

HB 1051, PN 1457 (Stephens) – Amends the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) to increase the penalties for mandated reporters who continue to fail to report suspected child abuse and broadens the “continuing course of action” provision. The bill was unanimously reported out as committed.

The Senate Aging & Youth Committee met on Monday, September 23, 2019 to consider the following:

SB 819, PN 1906 (Mensch) – This bill updates the Older Adult Protective Services Act (OAPSA) by repealing and replacing Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7 and 51of the act of November 6, 1987 (P.L.381, No.79).The bill updates the existing automatic employment bans ruled unconstitutional by Commonwealth v. Peake and includes a waiver request process to comply with the ruling. It provides new prevention measures for financial exploitation of older adults. It also cleans/clarifies existing statutory provisions. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

HB 956, PN 2191 (Murt) – This bill temporarily reduces the PA Lottery’s minimum rate of return from 25% to 20% for the next five years. The minimum rate of return is the amount of lottery proceeds that must go to programs benefiting older Pennsylvanians. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

HB 775, PN 848 (Diamond) – Requires the Department of Aging to cross-reference beneficiaries with death records maintained by the Department of Health on a monthly basis to better prevent cases of fraud and abuse. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

The Senate Aging & Youth Committee met on Monday, June 3, 2019 to consider the following:

HB 375, PN 348 (Goodman) – Excludes veterans’ disability and state benefit payments when calculating income eligibility for PACE and PACENET prescription drug programs. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

HB 684, PN 697 (Sonney) – Excludes savings bonds’ principal and interest when calculating income eligibility for PACE and PACENET prescription drug programs. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

HB 754, PN 804 (Thomas) – Extends the current moratorium on increases in income due solely to a Social Security cost-of living adjustment (COLA) for PACE and PACENET enrollees. The current Social Security COLA is set to expire on December 31, 2019. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

SB 669, PN 813 (DiSanto) – SB 669 amends Title 67 the Human Services Code by reinstating the extension of permanent legal custodian and adoption assistance subsidies to children from 18 to 21 years of age, with consideration to a retroactive effective date of July 18, 2018 when the PA Supreme Court struck down the Act as enacted for violation of the rule on three day notice. The bill was reported as committed (unanimous).

Senator Maria Collett

Committee Chair