HB 808, PN 3947 (Mehaffie) – The bill amends Title 30 (Fish) by authorizing the PA Fish & Boat Commission to set their fees. A vote of 44-5 was recorded.
HB 1003, PN 3134 (Gillespie) – The bill amends Title 30 (Fish) to address the marking of low head or “run-of-the river” dams and establishes new criminal penalties. A vote of 49-0 was recorded.
HB 1185, PN 3862 (Mentzer) – The bill amends Title 30 (Fish) by clarifying penalties relating to damage to Fish and Boat Commission property; operating motorboats while under the influence; aggravated assault by watercraft, littering; and boating education. The bill also removes the phase “written in ink” from Section 2710. A vote of 49-0 was recorded.
SB 1188, PN 1802 (Blake) – Clarifies that local taxes authorized by Act 47, Act 205, or home rule powers shall not be included in the calculation of Act 511 aggregate tax limits. A vote of 49-0 was recorded.
HB 1188, PN 1385 (Wentling) – The bill amends Title 34 (Game) by removing the current statutory restriction on the use of thermal and night vision equipment for hunting. A vote of 48-1 was recorded.
HB 1597, PN 3909 (Gillen) – An Act designating the highway interchange of U.S. Route 222 with Mohns Hill Road, Cumru Township, Berks County, as the Corporal Mahlon L. Fink Iwo Jima Memorial Highway Interchange. Senator Sabatina offered amendment A06158 which makes technical corrections to the memorial designation for State Route 1015 in the City of Philadelphia. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote and the bill went over in its order.
HB 2418, PN 3902 (O’Neal) – This bill amends the Administrative Code to provide for a COVID-19 debt cost reduction review, conducted by the Treasury Department by October 30, 2020. Senator Corman offered amendment A06396 which clarifies that an actuarial note is required for bills or amendments which could have a material actuarial impact on a public employee pension or retirement plan. Under the IFO statute, the “actuarial impact” of bills or amendments triggers a note from IFO. Currently, the statute requires the IFO to deliver a note on a bill or amendment within 20 days from the date of the legislative request, but the statute does not require PSERS or SERS to get information to the IFO within a specified period of time. This amendment requires PSERS and SERS to provide the IFO with all information necessary to complete an actuarial note within 14 days of the request of the IFO. In order to help with IFO’s ongoing work related to both PSERS and SERS, they request that both systems supply 30 year projections to the IFO on an annual basis. This amendment requires the submission of baseline data by PSERS and SERS to the IFO no later than October 1, 2020, July 31, 2021 and July 31 of each year thereafter. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote and the bill went over in its order.
SB 459, PN 1803 (Costa) – This legislation amends the Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) by requiring law enforcement agencies to maintain records of all incidents involving a use of force by a law enforcement officer. Senator Costa offered amendment A06400 which makes technical corrections to the bill. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote and the bill was re-referred to the Appropriations committee.
SB 1205, PN 1804 (Street) – The legislation amends the Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) by banning the use of chokeholds by law enforcement officers and requires law enforcement agencies to develop written use of force policies. Senator Costa offered amendment A06404 which makes technical corrections. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote and the bill was re-referred to the Appropriations committee.
HB 2171, PN 3915 (Sonney) – Developed and amended in the House, in consultation with PASSHE, to help elevate the financial burdens and declining enrollment that were multiyear issues in some SSHE institutions but that were exasperated by COVID – 19. Senator Martin offered amendment A06415 which does the following:
- Clarifies the language on the Board’s powers on the creation, expansion, consolidation, transfer or affiliation of an institution and the institution exclusion language. This provision does not include the power to close an institution.
- Adds a 3-year expiration date starting on the subsection’s effective date for the Board’s authority to approve a final implementation plan.
- Reinstates the current provision prohibiting the System, the Board or an institution from modifying, repairing or renovating any facility erected by the Department of General Services without providing prior written notice to the Department.
- Removes the ability for an institution’s Council of Trustees to reject by a 2/3 vote an eliminated shared service contract or collaboration
- Changes the expiration for the provisions on the Board’s redesign powers to the conclusion of the chancellor’s quarterly reporting requirement to the committee chairpersons, and requires joint transmission of the provisions’ expiration by the Board and the chairpersons to LRB for publication. The bill provides for a 3-year expiration date from the effective date of the section.
The effective date of the act is changed to immediately. The balance of the amendment is technical in nature. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote and the bill was re-referred to the Appropriations committee.
HB 1564, PN 3901 (Emrick) – Amends the county assessment process for valuating mobile homes and manufactured homes to optionally incorporate depreciation; provides for temporary extensions of the county assessment appeals process under certain conditions, and provides for extensions of appeals board member training requirements under certain conditions. A vote of 49-0 was recorded.
HB 364, PN 3908 (Gabler) – An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in other required equipment, further providing for visual signals on authorized vehicles (school). Senator Bartolotta offered amendment A06397 which makes technical corrections to the language that was offered in the Senate Transportation Committee regarding school bus camera violations for meeting or overtaking a school bus under section 3345.1 of the Vehicle Code. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote and the bill went over in its order.
The Senate confirmed the following executive nominations by a vote of 49-0:
Stephen L. Washington, Jr., Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education (new appointment)
Walter A. Eisenhauer, State Board of Medicine (new appointment)
Gregg A. Perez, Major General, Pennsylvania Air National Guard (new appointment)
Mark A. Goodwill, Brigadier General, Pennsylvania Air National Guard (new appointment)
Laura A. McHugh, Brigadier General, Pennsylvania Army National Guard (new appointment)
Stephen M. Radulski, Major General, Pennsylvania Army National Guard (new appointment)
John R. Slagle, State Board of Pharmacy (new appointment)
Erika Evans, State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors (new appointment)