The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 478, which creates the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act.
The measure requires outpatient psychiatric clinics to have a psychiatrist on site for two hours per week of psychiatric time for each full-time equivalent treatment staff member employed by the clinic.
Telepsychiatry provided by an offsite psychiatrist cannot be included in the required psychiatric time.
The bill became Act 25 of 2018.
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The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 1869, which creates the “Maternal Mortality Review Act” and establishes the Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
The Secretary of Health will appoint committee members, including people from several academic disciplines and professional specializations within the health care community and from different geographic regions in the state.
The committee will meet at least once a year to review cases of maternal death and make preventative recommendations. These recommendations must be provided at least every three years to the secretary of health, Senate and House chairs of the Health and Human Services committees, health care providers, health care facilities and the public.
The bill became Act 24 of 2018.
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The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 384, which would remove the certification exemption for assessors in Philadelphia. This legislation would give assessors in Philadelphia three years to become certified.
The bill was referred to the House Professional Licensure committee on April 26.
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The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 435, which would require all motorists clear snow and ice from their vehicles within 24 hours after snowfall.
Known as “Christine’s Law,” the legislation would exempt truck drivers who are en route to a facility to remove snow and ice. It would also exempt them if it would be too dangerous to try and remove snow or ice in inclement conditions.
Violators would be subject to a fine of $25-$75. When snow or ice falls from a vehicle and strikes another vehicle or pedestrian, causing death or serious bodily injury, the driver could face a fine of $200-$1,500.
The bill was referred to the House Transportation committee on April 26.
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The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 627 which would amend the tax code to add qualified air freight forwarding companies to the list of regulated businesses.
The bill was referred to the House Finance committee on April 26.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1041, which would create both a veteran-owned and disabled-veteran-owned small business logotype. These logos would be created by the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs and Office of Administration and used to promote veteran-owned and disabled-veteran-owned businesses.
The bill was referred to the House Veteran Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committee on April 26.
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The Senate approved of Senate Bill 1056 by a vote of 42-7. The bill would amend the tax reform code to allow for the entire cost of capital investments to be deducted from a corporation’s taxable income.
The bill was sent to the House Finance committee on June 14.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1070, which would establish a committee to develop a funding plan for county adult and parole departments by reviewing and awarding grant applications.
The committee would also analyze data and make recommendations for probation and parole personnel.
The bill was referred to the House Judiciary committee on April 30.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1071 which would amend sentencing guidelines by adding some criminal offenses to the list of sentences that do not qualify for short sentence parole.
The bill would also allow the Pennsylvania Board of Pardon and Parole to jail a technical parole violator for seven days or less for some violations; and allow for a violator to be detained on a 48-hour warrant.
This legislation renames the State Intermediate program as the State Drug Treatment Program and gives the Department of Corrections and judges the discretion to place eligible offenders in the program.
The bill would also direct the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing to adjust sentencing guidelines to include risk-related considerations and make recommendations related to intermediate punishment programs as a condition of probation.
The bill was referred to the House Judiciary committee on April 30.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1072 which would amend the Crime Victims Bill of Rights by mandating that the Office of Victim Advocate notify eligible victims of the Address Confidentiality program, which exempts victims providing an address and phone number.
The legislation would require law enforcement officers to provide basic information on the rights and services available to crime victims. Prosecutors would have to provide victim advocates with victim information on all personal injury cases where a state sentence was imposed so the advocate may submit input on release decisions.
The bill also amends the Right-to-Know Law by exempting victim advocate’s home address of employees and records relating to victims.
The bill was referred to the House Judiciary committee on April 30.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1091, which would establish the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund and enable someone renewing a driver’s license or vehicle registration through PennDOT’s website the option of contributing $5 to the fund. The contribution would be in addition to the regular fee and used exclusively for pediatric cancer research.
The bill was referred to the House Transportation committee on April 26.
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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1136 which would allow a school district in a municipality without a police department to receive police services from a part-time police unit from a neighboring municipality.
The bill was referred to the House Education committee on April 26.