Monday, June 11, 2007
Senate Bill 413 (Browne)
would amend the Second Class County Code to prohibit counties covered by
the act and municipalities in those counties from assessing signs and sign
structures as real property for real estate tax purposes regardless of
whether the structure has become affixed to the real estate. This
change would apply retroactively to assessments used for purposes of
real property taxes levied and collected for fiscal periods of political
subdivisions beginning on or after January 1, 2005.
Passed: 50-0.
Executive Session
Jeanne M. Rogers –
Pennsylvania Cancer Control, Prevention, and Research Advisory Board.
Confirmed: 50-0.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Senate Bill 218 (Browne)
would amend the Local Tax Enabling Act to make a number of changes to
the imposition and collection of the Emergency and Municipal Services
Tax. Among other provisions, the bill would:
- Change the name of the
Emergency and Municipal Services Tax to the Local Services Tax (LST);
- Require a political
subdivision levying the LST to exempt from the tax blind, paraplegic,
and disabled veterans and any person who serves as a member of a reserve
component of the armed forces and is called to active duty at any time
during the taxable year;
- Require a political
subdivision levying the LST at a rate exceeding $10 to exempt, by
ordinance or resolution, any person whose total earned income and net
profits from all sources within the political subdivision is less than
$12,000 from paying the LST. Political subdivisions levying the LST at
a rate of $10 or less would have the option of exempting these
individuals;
- Allow an individual to file an exemption certificate with the political
subdivision and his or her employer affirming that the individual
reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all
sources within the political subdivision of less than $12,000 during the
calendar year.
- Make provisions for the
collection of the tax from individuals who file an exemption certificate
and ultimately earn more than $12,000;
- Require that the tax be
withheld on a payroll-period basis;
- Limit the maximum tax that
a person is required to pay to $52 regardless of the number of taxing
jurisdictions in which the person is employed;
- Clarify that only one
municipality could levy and collect the tax on an individual and outline
which taxing jurisdiction has priority in imposing the tax;
- Authorize a school
district that levied an emergency and municipal services tax on the
effective date of the act to continue to levy a local services tax;
- Provide that where a
municipality and a school district levy the tax, the school district
could only collect a $5 tax;
- Prohibit school districts
that did not collect the tax on the effective date of the act from
levying one;
- Clarify that an employer
would not be held liable for payment of the LST in an amount exceeding
the amount withheld if the employer has complied with the requirements
of the act or if an employee provided incorrect information regarding
his or her principal place of employment;
- Require a municipality to
use the proceeds of the tax for emergency
services including police, fire and emergency medical services; road
construction and maintenance; property tax reduction; and/or, property
tax relief through the use of a homestead/farmstead exemption;
- Require a municipality to
use no less than 25 percent of the funds derived from the local services
tax for emergency services;
- Require the Department of
Community and Economic Development to provide suggested forms and
technical assistance to facilitate the administration of the local
services tax for political subdivisions and to reduce the burden of
implementation, accounting and compliance for employers and taxpayers;
and,
- Prohibit the collection of
an amusement tax on sales of admission to professional baseball events
in a third class city with a population of not less than 160,000 and not
more than 170,000 based on the 2000 federal decennial census
(Allentown). Concurrence in House Amendments: 48-2.
Senate Bill 385 (Corman)
would amend the Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act to include
interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. The bill
would establish a $1 per month fee to be collected by VoIP service
providers for each telephone number or successor dialing protocol
assigned by a provider to a VoIP service customer. The fee would have
to be stated separately in the customer's billing and collected apart
from, and in addition to, any fee levied by the VoIP provider for the
provision of 911 services or E-911 services. Fee provisions are
included for customers who purchase multiple lines. The fees would not
be subject to taxation or considered revenue of the VoIP provider for
any purpose. The VoIP provider would be permitted to
retain two percent of total fees collected for administrative costs. A
VoIP provider would have no obligation to take any legal action to
enforce the collection of the fees. Collected fees would be remitted
quarterly to the State Treasurer to be placed in the VoIP 911 Emergency
Services Fund created in the bill. Monies in the fund would be
appropriated to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) to
make semi-annual appropriations from the account to each county in an
amount equal to the amount of fees collected from VoIP services
customers in that county. The funds could be used by the counties to
assist with the implementation of any PEMA-approved county 911 plan.
Passed: 50-0.
Senate Bill 834
(Rhoades) would amend the Library Code to expand the membership of the
Advisory Council on Library Development from 12 members to 14 members.
The two new members would be municipal officers who represent
municipalities that make appropriations or levy taxes on behalf of a
local library. Passed: 50-0.
House Bill 876 (D. Evans)
would amend the State Employees Retirement Code to provide for a
permanent minimum employer contribution rate. Under the changes,
Section 5508 would be amended to make the current four percent employer
contribution rate permanent. The bill would also require the State
Employees Retirement Board to re-certify the 2007-08 Fiscal Year
employer contribution rate to reflect the four percent minimum.
Passed: 50-0.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Senate Bill 437 (Regola)
would amend the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act to modify the requirements relating to
concrete and masonry foundations. Specifically, the bill would exclude
the provisions from the Pennsylvania Construction Code (contained in the
International Residential Code which took January 1, 2007), which
require floor framing systems to include bracing every nine inches, and
restore the 2003 International Residential Code requirements.
Concurrence in House Amendments: 50-0.
Senate Bill 799 (M.
White) would amend the Rural Pennsylvania Revitalization Act to further
provide for the board of directors of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania
and for the grants provided under the act. The bill would clarify that
the governor appoints two members to the board from "among the
memberships of" the statewide organizations listed in the bill. The
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau would be added to the list of organizations.
The measure would further clarify that a simple majority of the duly
qualified members of the board would constitute a quorum. Additional
changes included in the bill would make faculty members at the regional
campuses of the University of Pittsburgh eligible for grants, increase
the maximum amount of the grants from $50,000 to $60,000, and expand the
list of eligible grant subject areas to include agriculture and health
and welfare concerns. Passed: 50-0.
Senate Bill 844
(Tomlinson) would amend the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act
to clarify provisions relating to the handling of deposits and escrows.
The bill would add a new section that requires all deposits and other
escrows accepted by a broker to be retained by the broker pending:
consummation of the transaction; termination prior to consummation if
there is either no dispute as to entitlement to the deposit or escrow or
there is a prior written or electronic agreement as to the disposition
of the funds; receipt by the broker of written or electronic
instructions signed by all parties directing the broker to release some
or all of the deposit or
escrow; or, a
court order specifying disposition of the funds. Deposits and escrows would
have to be accounted for in the full amount at the time of consummation,
termination or release. If less than the full amount of the deposit is
released, notice must be given to all parties.
A broker
would be prohibited from commingling deposits and would be required to
deposit money or property in a separate custodial or trust fund account at a
recognized depository by the end of the business day following receipt. If
a deposit in connection with an offer to buy or lease real estate is in the
form of a check, the broker could hold the check pending acceptance if
agreed to by the buyer and seller. If no offer is made, the check must be
returned promptly. If accepted, the broker must deposit the check into a
custodial or trust account on the day of acceptance. Passed: 50-0.
Senate Bill 877 (Earll) would
amend the Public Welfare Code to require the Department of Public Welfare to
continue to provide medical assistance services
through the mandatory (Health Choices) and voluntary managed care programs
and to provide pharmaceutical services through the managed care plans.
Specifically, the Department would be required to continue to provide
medical assistance services through the mandated and voluntary managed care
programs unless the termination of such programs is approved by the General
Assembly. The Department would be required to provide the Chairmen and
Minority Chairmen of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the
House Health and Human Services Committee with a copy of any state plan
amendment and any waiver requests no later than 48 hours prior to submission
to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The bill would also add
several definitions relating to the medical assistance programs. Passed:
50-0.
Senate Resolution 136
(Kitchen) observes June 16, 2007 as "Juneteenth National Freedom Day"
in Pennsylvania. Adopted by Voice Vote.
House Bill 906
(Lentz) would amend the Volunteer Fire Company and Volunteer Ambulance
Service Grant Act to extend the grant program. Grants to volunteer
fire and rescue companies, which would range from a minimum of $2,500 to a
maximum of $15,000, could be used for construction or renovation of the fire
company's facilities; purchase or repair of firefighting, ambulance or
rescue equipment; debt reduction associated with construction or renovation;
or training and certification of members. Grants to volunteer
ambulance services, ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, could be used for
similar purposes. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA)
would continue to administer the grant program. PEMA would be required
to publish notice of the grant program availability through the Legislative
Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin within 30 days
of the effective date of the bill for the fiscal years beginning July 1,
2006 and July 1, 2007 and by August 8 for fiscal years beginning after June
30, 2008.
Written instructions and guidelines for the grants would be distributed by
PEMA within 30 days of the effective date of the act for the fiscal years
commencing July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007, and no later than September 1 for
each year thereafter. Applications would have to be distributed within
45 days for the fiscal years commencing July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007 and no
later than September 8 for each year thereafter. The application for
the fiscal years commencing July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007 would be a
combined application. The application period would be 45 days each
year. All applications would be approved or disapproved within 60 days
of the submission deadline. Applications which have not been approved
or disapproved within 60 days would be deemed approved. An additional
change would provide that if two or more volunteer fire or volunteer
ambulance organizations consolidated within the five years preceding the
date of the current year application submission deadline, the consolidated
entity would be eligible to receive a grant not to exceed the amount of the
combined total for which the individual companies would have been eligible
had they not consolidated.
An applicant for a grant who is delinquent in
loan payments under the Pennsylvania Volunteer Loan Assistance Program would
be required to agree to use its grant funds to pay any arrears or it would
not be qualified to receive a grant. Any organization agreeing to this
arrangement who fails to make the payment would be disqualified from
applying to the grant program for a period of three years. An applicant
would have to demonstrate that it complied with all the terms of its grant
agreement in the previous year or it would not be eligible for a grant in
the current year. An additional change would extend the authorization for
the grants until 2012. The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee would
be required to conduct a performance review of the program and submit it
evaluation and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than
February 28, 2012. Passed: 50-0.
