Monday, February 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 Municipal Services Tax. Among other
provisions, the bill would:
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Change the name of the Emergency and Municipal Services Tax to the Local Services Tax (LST);
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Require a political subdivision levying the LST at a rate exceeding $10 to exempt, by ordinance or
resolution, any person whose total income from all sources 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 persons with income less 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; and,
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.
Passed: 47-3.
Senate
Resolution 34
(O’Pake) recognizes the Pennsylvania Amber Alert System on the
occasion of its fifth anniversary on February 20, 2007. Adopted by Voice Vote.
Senate Resolution 35
(Brubaker) designates the week of February 17 through 24, 2007 as
“FFA Week” in Pennsylvania. Adopted by
Voice Vote.
Senate Resolution 36
(Fontana) recognizes the week of February 5 through 9, 2007 as
“National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week” in
Pennsylvania. Adopted by Voice Vote.
Senate Resolution 37
(Stack) declares March 2007 as “Irish American Heritage Month” in
Pennsylvania. Adopted by Voice Vote.
Executive Session
Nominations to Various Boards
and Commissions. (See Attached) Confirmed: 50-0.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Senate Bill 10 (Regola)
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 for the 2006-07 Fiscal Year and
no later than August 8 of each year thereafter.
Written instructions and guidelines for the grants would be
distributed by PEMA within 30 days of the effective date for the
fiscal year commencing July 1, 2006 and no later than September 1
for each year thereafter. Applications would have to be
distributed within 60 days for the fiscal year commencing July 1,
2006 and no later than September 8 for each year thereafter.
Applications for assistance would have to be completed and returned
by May 15, 2007 for the 2006-07 Fiscal Year. The application
period would be 45 days for future years. 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 2011. The
Legislative Budget and Finance Committee would be required to
conduct a performance review of the program and submits it
evaluation and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than
February 28, 2011. Passed: 48-0.
Senate Resolution 14 (Orie) is a concurrent resolution resolving that it is the intent of
the Pennsylvania General Assembly to appropriate no additional funds
for the construction of the North Shore Connector, the twin tunnels
which are slated to be built under the Allegheny River in
Pittsburgh. Adopted: 47-1.
Senate Resolution 29 (McIlhinney) designates the month of March 2007 as “Professional
Social Work Month” in Pennsylvania.
Adopted by Voice Vote.
Senate Resolution 33 (Wonderling) designates March 6, 2007 as “Lymphedema D-Day” in
Pennsylvania. Adopted by Voice Vote.
Senate Resolution 38 (Madigan) recognizes the contributions of the Pennsylvania
Federation of Sportsmen’s clubs, Inc., on the occasion of its 75th
anniversary. Adopted by Voice Vote.
