Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness 2023-2024

The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 and reported out the following:

    House Bill 2407 (Solomon) – makes updates the Fire/EMS Grant Program

    • Amendment A05942 (Mastriano) includes language from Senate Bill 1101 (provides additional testing options for fire and emergency services training at the Firefighter 1 level) and language from Senate Bill 1193, updating the loan thresholds available through the Fire and EMS Loan Program.  The amendment will also remove language from HB2407 that, when it passed the House, was drafted under the assumption that the additional $30 million in the grant program proposed by the Governor was going to be included in the final budget deal.
      • Amendment A05942 was adopted as amended by a unanimous vote
    • Amendment A05945 (Muth) amends the language in A05942 relating to the Fire Company and EMS Loan Program with the agreed to maximum loan amounts and language from the Office of the State Fire Commission. The amendment requires OSFC to annually update the loan amounts to reflect inflation and indicates that equipment loans cannot be used to purchase gear/equipment that contains PFAS.
      • Amendment A05945 to amendment A05942 was adopted by a unanimous vote
    • Amendment A05864 (Muth) adds the language of House Bill 1463 defining 911 dispatchers as first responders.
      • Amendment A05864 was tabled by a 6-5 vote (all Dems and Sen. Pennycuick voted against the motion to table)
    • House Bill 2407 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

     

    House Bill 1304 (Solomon) – Modernizes the Commonwealth’s 911 emergency communications services law to assist with the implementation of Next Generation 911 (NG911) and align the law with other technological advances.

    • Amendment A05659 (Mastriano) gut-and-replace amendment regarding the modernization of the 9-1-1 system to update several definitions and update the law generally to account for current technology being utilized.
      • Amendment A05659 was adopted by a unanimous vote
    • House Bill 1304 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    House Bill 843 (D. Miller) – Consolidates portions of the Counterterrorism Planning, Preparedness and Response law and amends it to provide for a statutorily required Type 1 urban search and rescue (US&R) response team in Philadelphia, which exists today, and a Type 3 US&R response team in Allegheny County by 2026; directs the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study and assessment of the Commonwealth’s US&R system needs; and makes additional changes.

    • House Bill 843 was reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 1278 (Stefano) – Amends Title 35 (Health and Safety) to expand the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act to extend those same benefits to an emergency responder or law enforcement officer who contracted or was diagnosed with COVID-19 and by reason of COVID-19 died between January 2, 2020, and December 31, 2023.  The bill also repeals a COVID-related section of Title 35 that dealt with compensation for individuals that contracted COVID-19 or were subject to quarantine during the pandemic.

    • Reported as committed by a party-line vote (7-4).

    Senate Bill 1316 (Mastriano) Establishes the Global War on Terrorism Veterans’ Compensation Act which would award a monetary bonus ranging from $500 to $1,000 to all qualified veterans who were Pennsylvania residents at the time of their service during the Global War on Terror between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2022. The program would be funded, if approved in a ballot question, by a bond issue of up to $50 million.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

     

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Wednesday, June 26, 2024:

    The Committee unanimously reported out the following General Officer nominees with a favorable recommendation:

    • Brigadier General John Pippy, PA Army National Guard
    • Colonel Frank McGovern, PA Army National Guard
    • Colonel Francis Montgomery, PA Army National Guard
    • Colonel Shawn Wray, PA Army National Guard
    • Colonel Scott Harron, PA Air National Guard
    • Colonel Lynn Lee, PA Air National Guard
    • Colonel Brian Lehew, PA Air National Guard
    • Colonel Jamie Ramirez, PA Air National Guard
    • Colonel Traci Wallace, PA Air National Guard 

    The Committee also reported out the following resolution:

    Senate Resolution 311 (Pennycuick) urges Congress to pass HR3023, the Treatment and Relief through Emerging and Accessible Therapy for PTSD Act, which directs the US Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the US Secretary of Defense to furnish stellate ganglion block (SGB) therapy to veterans and members of the armed forces with PTSD.

    • Reported as committed by a party-line 7-4 vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 1160 (Mastriano) – Designates March 29 of each year as Vietnam War Veterans Day in Pennsylvania.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

     Senate Bill 1192 (Gebhard) – would expand the ability for DMVA to lease land at Fort Indiantown Gap by allowing leases for emergency response training, and for projects that are intended to improve the quality of life of service members, veterans, and their families. The bill also creates the Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families Fund with the revenue generated from the leases.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Bill 1193 (Mastriano) – Updates the Volunteer Service Credit Program to allow members of volunteer HAZMAT Teams to be eligible for tax credits from counties, school districts, councils of governments.

    • Amendment A04794 (Muth) updates the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Loan Program by increasing loan limits and changing the loan payback terms that can be offered by the Office of the State Fire Commissioner.
      • Adopted by a unanimous vote.
    • Amendment A04867 (Mastriano) adds additional stipulations for HAZMAT eligibility for the Volunteer Service Credit Program.
      • Adopted by a unanimous vote.
    • Reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 973 (Pennycuick) – would afford any Pennsylvania resident who is an American citizen, was an active-duty member of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in the Vietnam War between the dates of January 9th, 1962, and May 7th, 1975, and received an honorable discharge or equivalent discharge from military service the same rights and state benefits as their American military veteran counterparts.

    • Amendment A03843 (Pennycuick) to require that verification of eligibility is handled by the federal VA
      • Adopted by a unanimous vote
    • Reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Bill 1139 (Mastriano) – Would require licensed funeral directors, funeral entities or cemetery companies to notify the county veterans affairs director of a deceased serviceperson having legal residence in the county and to notify the decedent’s family with the contact information for the county veterans affairs director

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Resolution 263 (Mastriano) expresses the Senate’s support and urges the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to select Pennsylvania as the state partner with Sweden under the State Partnership Program.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Monday, March 18, 2024 and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 1099 (Mastriano) would reauthorize the Fire & EMS Grant Program for an additional 10 years, through December 31, 2034. It is currently set to expire on June 30, 2024. The bill would also repeal all language related to the COVID-19 recovery grant programs that are no longer active. The bill would also make changes to the Firefighter 1 incentive and a few other small changes. 

    • Senator Mastriano offered Amendment A03595 which gives the Fire Commissioner the authority to establish a certification bonus point system to award additional grants to fire companies; gives the Commissioner, in consultation with the Bureau of EMS, the authority to establish a bonus point system to award additional grants to EMS companies; gives fire and EMS companies an opportunity to seek an extension for the grant filing deadline if they demonstrate hardship that prevented them from applying in time; clarifies that a provider must be registered or designated as a provider of fire or rescue services with a municipality; and changes the effective date of the act to 30 days. The amendment was unanimously adopted.
    • Senator Muth offered Amendment A03638 which was a technical amendment suggested by DCED to remove mention of DCED Single Application for Assistance and replace it with the Commonwealth’s Electronic Single Application for Assistance. The amendment was unanimously adopted.
    • SB1099 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Bill 1101 (Mastriano) would provide additional testing options for fire and emergency services training.

    • Senator Mastriano offered Amendment A03630 to clarify that the testing options would only apply to Firefighter 1 training modules. The amendment was unanimously adopted.
    • SB1101 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Resolution 251 (Mastriano) urging Governor Shapiro to offer the services of the Pennsylvania National Guard to the state of Texas in support of Operation Lone Star.

    • SR251 was reported as committed by a party-line (7-4) vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Monday, February 5, 2024 and reported out the following:

    House Resolution 279 (Bellmon) would extend the disaster declaration related to the collapse of I-95 in Philadelphia for an additional 90 days from February 29, 2024.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Bill 1054 (Mastriano) would require the PA Department of Health to submit data related to a known or suspected overdose already reported by EMS providers through existing networks to the overdose information network system.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    House Bill 358 (Mackenzie) would create the “Keystone First Responders” award

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

     

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Monday, November 13, 2023 and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 194 (Pennycuick) would exclude federal VA Aid and Attendance benefits as income when calculating eligibility for the 100 percent Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemption.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    House Bill 1086 (Takac) allows the DMVA to transmit information collected under the voluntary veterans registry to veteran and community outreach partners who participate in community outreach under the PA VETConnect program.

    • Reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    House Bill 1304 (Solomon) Increases the Uniform 911 surcharge from $1.65 to $1.97 and annually adjusts the surcharge based on inflation. The bill also extends the surcharge’s sunset date to January 31, 2029 – the surcharge is currently set to sunset on January 31, 2024.

    • Senator Mastriano offered amendment A02924 which removed the surcharge increase and reauthorizes the 911 law through September 30, 2025. The amendment also calls for a joint study about the 911 system.
      • Amendment A02924 was adopted by a party-line vote and HB1304 was unanimously reported as amended.

     

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 501 (Baker/Kearney) which would allow for the creation of county-wide Public Safety Authorities for EMS.

    • SB501 was reported as committed by a 7-3 vote (Williams/Kane/Tartaglione voted no)

    House Bill 269 (Webster) would lengthen the required time that county recorders of deeds may not disclose veterans’ records of discharge, reports of separation, or other similar documents to 85 years from 75 years.

    • Senator Mastriano offered amendment A02640 to remove the 50-cent fee. The amendment was adopted by a unanimous vote.
    • HB269 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 and reported out the following:

    House Resolution 197 (Gallagher) – would extend the emergency declaration related to the collapse of I-95 in Philadelphia through February 29, 2024. The current disaster declaration is scheduled to expire on November 1, 2023.

    • Unanimously reported as committed.

    House Bill 404 (Watro) – would add the Department of Health and Department of Agriculture to the list of Commonwealth agencies that allow for any issued license or certification to remain current upon return for anyone called into active duty or enlisting in the military during a time of war or national emergency.

    • Unanimously reported as committed.

    Additionally, pursuant to Senate Rule 14 e (1) (iii), Senator Muth made a motion to add Senate Bill 924 to the voting agenda. The motion was tabled by a party-line vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee met  on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 792 (Robinson/Costa) – bill would create a Type 3 Urban Search and Rescue Team in Allegheny County

    • SB792 was reported as committed by an 8-2 vote (Tartaglione, Dush voted no; Muth on personal leave)

    Senate Bill 933 (Mastriano) – bill would reform the structure and appointment guidelines for the advisory councils that oversee each of the state veterans’ homes

    • Senator Mastriano offered amendment A02022 which clarified certain appointments to the advisory councils.
    • Amendment A02022 was unanimously adopted and SB 933 was unanimously reported as amended (Muth on personal leave)

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Monday, June 26, 2023, and reported out the following:

    House Bill 804 (Burns): Guarantees in-state tuition at public institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania for dependents of members of the military, veterans, and civilian defense employees in cases where the family relocates between the time the student accepts admission and the first semester begins.

    • House Bill 804 was unanimously reported as committed.

    Senate Resolution 136 (Dillon) – extending the disaster declaration for the I-95 collapse in Northeast Philadelphia to June 12, 2024.

    • Sen. Mastriano offered Amendment A01327 which extends the disaster declaration to November 1, 2023. The amendment was unanimously adopted.
    • Senate Resolution 136 was unanimously reported as amended.

    The Committee also reported the nomination of Acting State Fire Commissioner Tom Cook with a favorable recommendation by a unanimous vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Monday, June 19, 2023, and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 438 (Bartolotta) – would require the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to design an official Commonwealth logo for veteran-owned businesses. Eligible veteran-owned businesses would be required to pay a $250 initial registration fee and a $100 annual renewal fee for the use of the logo and 50 percent of those proceeds would be transferred to the Veterans Trust Fund and the other half would cover administrative costs.

    • Senate Bill 438 was unanimously reported as committed.

    Senate Bill 531 (Baker) – would establish a Grant Evaluation Committee under the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to review and evaluate applications for grants under the Veterans’ Trust Fund. The Grant Evaluation Committee would include the majority and minority chairs of the House and the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committees.

    • Senate Bill 531 was reported as committed by a 7-4 vote (party-line)

    Senate Resolution 46 (Pennycuick) – concurrent resolution that would direct the Joint State Government Commission to establish the Task Force on Women Veterans’ Health Care to study the health care needs of women veterans.

    • Sen. Pennycuick offered Amendment A01042 which changes the resolution from a concurrent resolution to a Senate Resolution and makes other clarifying changes. The amendment was adopted by a unanimous vote.
    • Senate Resolution 46 was unanimously reported as amended.

    The Committee also reported out the following General Officer promotion nominees by a unanimous vote:

    Air National Guard
    Brigadier General Mark A. Goodwill TO Major General
    Colonel Edward J. Fink, Jr. TO Brigadier General
    Colonel Rebecca A. Gray TO Brigadier General
    Colonel Deane E. Thomey TO Brigadier General

    Army National Guard
    Brigadier General Jeffrey S. Heasley TO Major General
    Brigadier General Laura A. McHugh TO Major General
    Colonel Reece J. Lutz TO Brigadier General
    Colonel Robert C. Jorgensen TO Brigadier General
    Colonel Jon D. Farr TO Brigadier General

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 81 (Phillips-Hill) would permanently permit EMS providers to leave a dose package of naloxone with the on-scene caregiver of a patient who overdosed on opioids and was revived by the EMS, providing a standing prescription has been issued by the Department of Health.

    • Sen. Mastriano offered amendment A00332 to remove language regarding insurance billing. The amendment was adopted unanimously.
    • SB81 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Bill 189 (J. Ward) would increase the monthly pension amounts for the Blind Veterans Pension Program and the Amputee and Paralyzed Veterans Pension Program from $150 to $180 per month. 

    • Sen. Muth offered amendment A00295 to increase the monthly benefit for both programs to $200 per month. The amendment was adopted by a unanimous vote.
    • SB189 was reported as amended by a unanimous vote.

    Senate Resolution 82 (Robinson) urges the Secretary of the Navy to designate Philadelphia and portions of the Delaware River as the site of the main celebration of the 250th birthdays of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps in October and November, 2025.

    • SB189 was reported as committed by a unanimous vote.

    The Committee also reported out the nomination of Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler as Adjutant General by a unanimous vote.


    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met today, March 8, 2023 and reported out the following:

    • Senate Bill 433 (Baker) would require Senate confirmation of the PEMA Director.
      • Reported as committed by a vote of 8-3 (Muth, Kane, Tartaglione voted no)
    • Senate Bill 508 (Mastriano) establishing an emergency grant program for PA residents and small businesses impacted by the train derailment and chemical release.
      • Unanimously reported as committed.
    • Senate Resolution 59 (Mastriano) recognizing the impact of the train derailment and chemical release on PA and calling on Congress and US DOT to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
      • Unanimously reported as committed.
    • Motion to Subpoena to Norfolk Southern asking for specific documentation, data and test results regarding the train derailment, controlled burn/chemical release.
        • Motion passed by a unanimous vote.

    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met today, March 1, 2023 and reported out the following:

    • SB 162 (Hutchinson) Would broaden the definition of ‘health professional’ in the Medical Officer or Health Officer Incentive Program to include additional health professionals.
      • SB162 was unanimously reported as committed
    • SB 446 (Mastriano) Language states that members of the PA National Guard and PA Air National Guard will never be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccination
      • SB446 was reported as committed by a party-line vote (7-4)
    • SB 447 (Mastriano) Would formally establish the DMVA “Vet Connect” program in law
      • SB447 was unanimously reported as committed.
    • A motion to authorize the issuance of a subpoena to Norfolk Southern president Alan Shaw to appear before the Committee to discuss the train derailment.
      • Senator Muth made a Subsidiary Motion to command Alan Shaw to also produce to the Committee any and all testing data done by Norfolk Southern since the train derailment; modeling data and information related to the decision that a controlled burn was the safest course of action to deal with the substances on the train; and information about the contents of all train cars. Senator Muth’s Subsidiary Motion was tabled by a party-line 6-4 vote (Sen. Langerholc recused himself from the vote).
      • Senator Collett made a motion to table the motion to subpoena and that motion failed by a party line 6-4 vote (Sen. Langerholc recused himself from the vote).
      • The motion to subpoena Norfolk Southern president Alan Shaw to appear before the Committee next Wednesday, March 8 was approved by a 9-1 vote (Sen. Pennycuick voted against the motion, Sen. Langerholc recused himself from the vote)


    The Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee met on January 10, 2023, and reported out the following:

    Senate Bill 126 (Mastriano) provides for the exclusion of 100% of a veteran’s federal disability compensation or pension from income calculations for any Commonwealth program or benefit.

    • The bill was unanimously reported as committed.

    Senate Bill 141 (Mastriano) provides the ability to recognize civilians and members of the military of a friendly foreign nation with the awarding of the Pennsylvania Distinguished Service Medal and the Pennsylvania Meritorious Service Medal.

    • The bill was unanimously reported as committed.