The Senate and House committee schedules and floor calenders are listed here--

Session Schedule

With only three voting days left until the session ends and all bills die, there is little likelihood that any bill that has not passed at least one chamber (Senate or House) will have a shot at becoming law. Here's the schedule as of now—

House

October 6, 7, 8

November 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 24, and 25

Senate

October 6, 7, 8

November 20-21 (tribute to retiring members, certain nominations)

You can watch theSenate Floor SessionandHouse Floor Sessionlive online.

Calendars/Committees

The Senate and House committee schedules and floor calendars are summarized here on environmental issues--

Calendars

The following bills of interest are on the House and Senator voting Calendars--

Senate (October 6) :House Bill 44(Rubley-R-Chester) banning the sale of thermostats containing mercury; Senate Bill 1291(Rhoades-R-Schuylkill) providing additional authority for blight reclamation projects.

House (October 6): House Bill 2043(Haluska-D-Cambria) making changes to the provisions requiring the registration of snowmobiles and ATVs;House Resolution 883(Harper-R-Montgomery) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to review where grants were made under the Growing Greener II program;House Resolution 845(Petrone-D-Allegheny) directing the Joint State Government Committee to study the impacts of regional significant developments, expanding the work of the task force expanding theKilbuckLandslide in Allegheny County.

Special Session (October 6):Special Session House Bill 13(Bennington-D-Allegheny) further providing for alternative energy portfolio standards; Special Session House Bill 17(McIlvaine-Smith-D-Montgomery) providing a sales tax exclusion for hybrid vehicles;Special Session House Resolution 6(Thomas-D-Delaware) recognizing November 11-17 as "National Geography Awareness Week;"Special Session House Resolution 107(Cohen-D-Philadelphia) resolution calling for the holding of a conference on the use of alternative energy sources in honor of Benjamin Franklin.

Committees

House:t heIntergovernmental Affairs Committee meets to considerHouse Resolution 856(Petrone-D-Allegheny) urging the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to designate the Allegheny River as its headwaters in Pennsylvania.

Senate: theAppropriations Committee meets to considerHouse Bill 1214(Surra-D-Elk) providing for changes to the terms of members of the Game Commission board;House Bill 420(Hickernell-R-Lancaster) expanding the Main Street Program;House Bill 2233(Freeman-D-Lehigh) repealing the expiration date for the Elm Street Program.

Bills Introduced

The following bills of interest were introduced this week--

Land Banks:House Bill 1774(J.Taylor-R-Philadelphia) authorizing the creation of land banks for the conversion of vacant or tax-delinquent properties into productive use.

Geologist-In-Training:House Bill 2806(Markosek-D-Allegheny) amending the Engineer, Land Surveyor and Geologist Registration Law adding provisions for a geologist-in-training.

Electric Rate Mitigation:Senate Bill 1599(Mellow-D-Lackawanna) providing for electric rate cap mitigation.

10/3/2008