The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 49, which would protect a person from civil liability for damaging a vehicle if they forcibly entered it to save a child from imminent danger

This legislation would provide this protection if:

  • the child is in imminent danger;
  • the automobile is locked;
  • the person contacts 911, police or fire department;
  • the person remains with the child near the vehicle until the police arrive; and
  • uses no more force than necessary

The bill would not protect persons who render aid beyond what is stipulated in the bill or exercise gross negligence or misconduct in removing or attempting to remove the child.

The bill was referred to the House Judiciary committee.

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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 86, which would add urgent care centers to the list of places a parent can leave a newborn without facing criminal charges.

The legislation would mandate that urgent care centers have the same rights and responsibilities as hospitals in these instances.

The bill was referred to the House Judiciary committee.

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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 115, which would provide for CPR curriculum in high schools.

The Department of Education would be required to work with the Department of Health to develop this curriculum by the 2019-2020 school year. Schools could use this curriculum or develop their own.

The bill was referred to the House Education committee.

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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 127 which would make changes to the law Title 35 (Health and Safety) regulating 911 Emergency Communication Services. These amendments include:

  • Expansion of the 911 Advisory Board to include the state fire commissioner and the chair of the state Geospatial Coordinating Board as voting members;
  • Expansion of the 911 advisory board to include a representative from the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Governments as non-voting members;
  • The legislation outlines how counties would have to cooperate to ensure required geographic information system information would be made available and maintained to support next generation 911 call delivery;
  • The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency would be allowed to use money from the 911 fund for a statewide system to enable people to associate their numbers with personal health information to aide first responders when they respond to a call;
  • A telephone service supplier would provide for the synchronization of required GIS database layers for geospatial call routing with the master street address, the ALI data and site and structure locations; and
  • The Legislative Budget and Finance committee would be required to review annual reports and make any recommendations regarding reauthorization of the chapter by December 31, 2021.

The bill was referred to the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committee.

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The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 298, which would amend Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and Title 51 (Military Affairs) to require fines collected under these laws to be allocated to the Veterans Trust Fund.

This includes the offenses of wearing the uniform or insignia of a branch of the armed services to obtain aid, profit or soliciting contributions or subscriptions. This also includes the offense of fraudulently representing oneself to be a veteran for personal benefit.

The bill was referred to the House Veteran Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committee.