Monday, November
21, 2005
Senate Bill 178 (Corman) would amend the Crime
Victims Act to require the Office of Victims'
Services to cooperate with other Commonwealth and
law enforcement agencies to ensure that victims of
the crime of identity theft receive the
appropriate information to assist them with the
resolution of any financial issues arising from
the commission of the crime. The bill would also
expand the number of gubernatorial appointees to
the Victims' Services Advisory Committee from nine
members to eleven members and require that one of
the gubernatorial appointees represent the
interests of victims of identity theft. Passed:
49-0.
Senate Bill 987 (Corman) would authorize the
Department of General Services to convey three
tracts of land totaling approximately 135 acres in
Benner Township, Centre County to the Centre
County Industrial Development Corporation for $1.
No portion of the property could be used for a
licensed gaming facility. The grantee would have
to initiate a project to place the property into
productive use within five years or it would
revert to the Commonwealth. Passed: 49-0.
Senate Resolution 204 (M. White) designates
the week of January 22 through 28, 2006 as
"Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists Week" in
Pennsylvania. Adopted by Voice Vote.
Senate Resolution 205 (C. Williams) remembers
Robert Montgomery Scott, on the occasion of his
death on October 13, 2005, at 76 years of age, as
"The Quintessential Philadelphian." Adopted by
Voice Vote.
House Bill 1400 (O'Brien) would amend the
Crimes Code to expand the definition of indecent
assault to include instances when a person causes
the complainant to come into contact with seminal
fluid, urine or feces for the purpose of arousing
sexual desire in the person or the complainant.
The measure would also provide for increased
penalties for certain offenders. Passed: 49-0.
House Bill 2082 (Allen) would create the
Taxpayer Fairness Act to restrict the growth in
state appropriations. Under the bill, the growth
would be limited to the lesser of the average
percentage change in personal income in
Pennsylvania for the three preceding calendar
years or the average percentage change in
inflation for the three preceding calendar years
plus the average percentage change in state
population for the three preceding years.
The
measure provides for three exceptions, as
follows:
-
To
respond to an emergency declared by the
President, the spending limit could be exceeded
by a simple majority vote of the General
Assembly;
-
To
respond to an emergency declared by the Governor
and if the Governor requests, the spending limit
could be exceeded by a three-fifths vote of the
General Assembly; and,
-
In other
situations, if approved by a two-thirds vote of
the General Assembly.
The excess
spending authorized by exceeding the appropriation
limit could not be included in the computation base
of the appropriation limit for any subsequent fiscal
year unless the excess spending represents a
recurring obligation of Commonwealth and an act of
the General Assembly authorizing the excess spending
specifically authorizes the excess spending to be
incorporated in the base. The act would set aside
35 percent of any surplus into the state's Budget
Stabilization Reserve Fund (Rainy Day Fund.) The
other 65 percent would go into the new Taxpayer
Fairness Fund and be returned to taxpayers via a
one-year reduction in the personal income tax. In
any fiscal year in which the balance in the Rainy
Day Fund equals or exceeds 7.5 percent of General
Fund appropriations in the preceding fiscal year,
100 percent of the surplus would be deposited into
the Taxpayer Fairness Fund.
The monies
in the Taxpayer Fairness Fund would be distributed
to taxpayers through a temporary reduction in the
rate of the personal income tax effective for
January 1 through December 31 of the upcoming
calendar year. The Secretary of the Budget, in
conjunction with the Secretary of Revenue, would
certify the temporary rate for the upcoming calendar
year no later than September 30. The temporary rate
would be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin,
posted on the state's website and reported to the
Chairmen and Minority Chairmen of the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees. No monies could
be distributed from the Taxpayer Fairness Fund until
such time as the monies deposited in the fund are
sufficient to provide a temporary reduction of at
least 0.01 percent in the rate of the personal
income tax. The General Assembly could at any time
provide additional amounts from any funds available
to the Commonwealth as an appropriation to the
Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund. Passed: 31-18.
Executive Session
Nominations
to Various Boards and Commissions. (See Attached)
Confirmed: 49-0.
Tuesday, November
22, 2005
Senate Bill 713 (Wonderling) would create the
Telephone Subscriber Directory Express Consent Act
to prohibit commercial mobile service providers from
publishing or providing the name and telephone
number of a mobile service customer without his or
her consent. The provider would have to disclose
that by consenting, the subscriber agrees to have
his or her number sold or licensed as part of a list
of customers and that the information may be
included in a publicly available directory. A
provider could not charge a customer for choosing
not to be listed in the directory. A subscriber
could revoke the consent at any time. The provider
would have to comply with the revocation within 60
days. The bill would not apply to certain entities,
such as law enforcement agencies and public health
agencies. The Attorney General would be authorized
to bring a civil action for an intentional violation
of the act. An individual could also bring an
action for damages or injunctive relief. An
official or employee of a telephone corporation
would not be subject to criminal or civil liability
for release of customer information. Passed: 47-0.
Senate Bill 798 (Browne) would amend the
Judicial Code to provide that all prisoners have the
right to bail except for those accused of capital
offenses, offenses for which the maximum sentence is
life, or when no condition or combination of
conditions other than imprisonment will reasonably
assure the safety of any person and the community.
Under current law, only those accused of capital
offenses have no right to bail. The Pennsylvania
Constitution was amended in 1998 to allow for these
changes. Passed: 47-0.
Senate Bill 995 (M. White) would amend the
Vehicle Code to add a section to further provide for
exemptions from registration for snowmobiles and all
terrain vehicles (ATV). Under the bill, the
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
would be required to establish a process for issuing
special event passes to the organizer of an off-road
vehicle event, to be sold to nonresident snowmobile
or ATV riders. The Department could not consider
the request for a special event pass unless it is
submitted in accordance with the procedures
established by the Department and it is made at
least 15 days before the start of the event. The
Department would charge the organizer a fee of $10
per each special event pass. An organizer of an
event could not charge a participant a fee in excess
of $10 for the special event pass. A special event
pass would only be valid while the operator of the
snowmobile or ATV is participating in the organized
off-road event. The section would expire June 30,
2006. Passed: 44-4.
Senate Bill 999 (Lemmond) would extend the
voting standards adopted for the 2004 General
Election to all primary, municipal, special and
general elections in 2006 and 2007. Passed: 47-0.
House Bill 1049 (Yewcic) would amend the
Barbers' License Law to make a number of changes.
The bill would permit the barber-teacher
examinations to occur at least four times per year,
rather than in specific months. The measure would
also permit barber shops to be supervised by another
licensee designated by the owner of the shop. The
name of the shop and the designated person in charge
would have to be posted in a conspicuous place in
the shop. The measure would also remove the
requirement that class and instruction hours not be
less than seven nor more than eight per day when a
barber school is open. An additional change would
remove the requirement that an applicant for a
barber-teacher's license provide with the
application a notarized statement from a physician
that the individual is free from all contagious and
infectious diseases. Passed: 47-0.
House Bill 1539 (Nickol) would amend the Fiscal
Code to modify the reporting requirements for city
and county officers to submit their revenue reports
to the Secretary of Revenue. The bill would also
establish the Emergency Energy Assistance Fund.
Under these provisions, not more than one mill of
the utilities gross receipts tax would be
transferred from the General Fund to the Emergency
Energy Assistance Fund for the 2005-06 Fiscal Year
for the purpose of providing emergency energy
assistance if the Governor issues a declaration that
either weather conditions, man-made or natural
disasters, high energy prices, or a combination of
any of these has created a threat to public health
and available federal home energy assistance funds
are not sufficient to meet this need. The Governor
would be required to publish the emergency
declaration in the Pennsylvania Bulletin along with
the criteria and emergency regulations for the
program. Copies of the declaration would also have
to be transmitted to the Chairmen and Minority
Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees. Concurrence in House Amendments, as
Amended: 48-0.
