Session Weekly Wrap-Up

The Senate voted 43-6 in favor of House Bill 153, which would reduce the size of the House of Representatives from 203 members to 151 members. To change the size of the legislature, a constitutional amendment must pass through both the Senate and the House of...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 158, which amends the Public School Code to give the Secretary of Education more options to issue an emergency declaration concerning schools. This legislation also assists schools and other educational institutions in...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 1332, which amends the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) codes to comply with federal changes made to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).  If the state had not...

The Senate voted 44-6 in favor of House Bill 1198, which amends the Tax Reform Code on the filing process of amended net tax income returns. This legislation amends corporate net income tax forms to improve guidelines and assist procedure and feedback for out-of-state...

The Senate voted 40-10 in favor of House Bill 530, which would make several changes to the law impacting public and charter schools. Under the bill, the Charter School Funding Advisory Commission would be created to “exam the financing of charter school entities.”...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 907, which amends the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL) to amend the notice requirements for tax delinquent properties. The RETSL is designed to inform both the owner of tax delinquent property and the general public of the...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 907, which amends the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL) to amend the notice requirements for tax delinquent properties. The RETSL is designed to inform both the owner of tax delinquent property and the general public of the...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 477, which allows caregivers of children in out-of-home placements to approve or disapprove their child’s participation in age-appropriate activities without prior approval. This bill provides foster children more...

The Senate voted 36-13 in favor of House Bill 89, which amends Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) to change the automatic retirement age for judges from 70 to 75 years old. This bill is a companion bill to House Bill 90, which provided the constitutional...

The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 526, which would amend the Second Class Township Code to change the dates of when the Annual Township Report and Financial Statements need to be completed and published. This bill would change the Annual Township Report and...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 138, which amends Title 35 (Health and Safety) to allow first responder organizations to solicit contributions alongside roads and highways. First responder organizations include: fire companies, emergency medical service...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 239, which amends county pension law to clarify how cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) should be calculated. COLAs are a type of adjustment method for the changes in the cost-of-living index. Under the legislation, COLAs do...

The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 33, which amends the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) to allow up to three community members to be appointed as alternate members to the planning commission. The Pennsylvania MPC provides for the planning,...

The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 33, which amends the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) to allow up to three community members to be appointed as alternate members to the planning commission. The Pennsylvania MPC provides for the planning,...

The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 75, which amends the Pharmacy Act to require out-of-state pharmacies to register with the State Board of Pharmacy to provide services to citizens of Pennsylvania. The previous Pharmacy Act did not address out-of-state...

The Senate voted 45-1 for Senate Bill 404, which would create the Correctional Officers Investigation Procedure Act to provide guidelines and procedures for investigations of correctional officers. The bill defines how the investigation process would be conducted. The...

In a party-line vote, the Senate voted 30-19 in favor of the 2015-16 state budget legislation. The $29.59 spending plan (House Bill 1192) would have appropriated $1.01 billion more than the previous year. Two of the larger appropriation changes would have been the...

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 131, which removes the residency requirement for non-resident veterans, spouses of veterans, and dependants of veterans to receive in-state tuition rates. This would be applied at state universities and community colleges....

The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 182, which amends the Pharmacy Act to allow pharmacists to give flu shots to children 9-years-of-age or older, with parental consent. The legislation also permits pharmacy interns to administer the shots to children, if...

  The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 293, which regulates so-called navigators who provide information and advice on health insurance enrollment options. Called the “Navigator Accessibility and Regulation Act,” the measure requires those who help enroll...