The following bills were given final approval by the Senate and House and now go to the Governor for his action--

Flood Recovery: House Bill 1913 (Culver-R- Northumberland) providing for flood damage local property tax relief and passed by the Senate. A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.)  The bill now goes to the Governor for his action.

Storage Tank Cleanup: Senate Bill 1398 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne) extending the Storage Tank Cleanup Program was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House without amendment.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.  The bill now goes to the Governor for his action.

BioEnergy Crops: House Bill 608 (Brooks-R- Crawford) providing for the use of bioenergy crops in mine reclamation was passed by the Senate without amendment.  A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.  The bill now goes to the Governor for his action.

Regulatory Review: House Bill 1349 (Pickett-R-Bradford) providing for small business impact as part of regulatory review was amended on the Senate Floor and passed unanimously by the Senate and concurred in by the House.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.  The bill now goes to the Governor for his action.

“The complexity of state regulations, along with the undue hardships that sometimes follow many regulatory mandates, hamper the success of small businesses to compete in the business world, and it is time that the voice of small businesses be considered when forming regulations,” said Rep. Tina Pickett, a former small business owner. “This legislation gives small businesses a seat at the table so their input and experience are considered when regulations are drafted, debated and approved. This type of input is valuable to improve our business climate in Pennsylvania and attract more job creators.

“Ensuring that we have the proper regulations in place to protect the public is an important part of our role in state government, but we must also achieve a reasonable balance to ensure that the benefit of the regulation isn’t outweighed by unreasonable cost, bureaucratic red tape or redundancy,” she said. “Instead, this legislation allows a business to be given more flexibility in meeting paperwork deadlines or submitting paperwork electronically instead of through the mail.”

Biofuels Compliance: House Bill 807 (Sonney-R-Erie) further providing for the definition, content, registration and enforcement of the Biofuel Development and In-State Production Incentive Act was passed by the Senate.  A summary and Senate Fiscal Note is available.  The House then concurred in Senate amendments and sent the bill to the Governor for his action.

6/25/2012