Here are the Senate and House Calendars for the next voting session day and Committees scheduling action on bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--

Bill Calendars

House (Dec. 4): House Bill 1401 (DiGirolamo-R-Bucks) which amends the Tax Code to impose a sliding scale natural gas severance tax, in addition to the Act 13 drilling impact fee, on natural gas production was amended to divert all revenues to the General Fund and NO money for environmental programs and add provisions related to minimum landowner oil and gas royalties; House Resolution 284 (Moul-R-Adams) urging Congress to repeal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s MS4 Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (sponsor summary).  <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (Dec. 11): Senate Bill 234 (Blake-D-Lackawanna) would authorize local governments to create energy improvement districts to help fund energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation projects by commercial and industrial buildings to reduce their operating costs; Senate Bill 792 (Alloway-R-Franklin) requiring law fertilizer applicators to be certified in application techniques and creates an education program. <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meeting Agendas This Week

House: CANCELED: the Veterans Affairs And Emergency Preparedness Committee meets to consider House Bill 1412 (Barrar-R-Delaware) proposing a regulatory framework to encourage energy storage and microgrids to improve electric grid resiliency during disaster emergencies and other circumstances (sponsor summary); the Local Government Committee meets to consider House Bill 1850 (Cruz-D-Philadelphia) relating to enforcement of trash laws in Philadelphia related to dumping of waste tires (sponsor summary; the Appropriations Committee holds a hearing on special funds related to PennDOT.  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

Senate:   <>  Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Bills Pending In Key Committees

Check the PA Environmental Council Bill Tracker for the status and updates on pending state legislation and regulations that affect environmental and conservation efforts in Pennsylvania.

Bills Introduced

The following bills of interest were introduced last week--

House Republican Budget Reform Bills:

-- House Bill 1940 (Reed-R-Indiana): Requires an official revenue estimate by the Governor to insure an out-of-balance general appropriations act does not become law;

-- House Bill 1941 (Saylor-R-York): Limits the Budget Secretary’s blanket authority to waive lapsing provisions within amounts appropriated by the General Assembly;

-- House Bill 1942 (Dunbar-R-Westmoreland): In circumstances where revenue collections lag official revenue estimates, it would require the Budget Secretary to place an amount equal to the shortfall in budgetary reserve;

-- House Bill 1943 (Nelson-R-Westmoreland): Require quarterly reports from special funds on amounts committed and awarded for grants and subsidies; and

-- House Bill 1944 (Delozier-R-Cumberland): In circumstances were supplemental appropriations are requested, would require the Governor to recommend cost-savings measures or other reforms which address the cause of the supplemental.

Session Schedule

Here is the latest voting session schedule for the Senate and House--

Senate

December 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20

2018

January 2, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31

February 5, 6 (Governor's Budget Address), 7

Budget Hearings: Feb. 20 - March 9

March 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28

April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30

May 1, 2, 21, 22, 23

June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

House

December 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20

Governor’s Schedule

Gov. Tom Wolf's work calendar will be posted each Friday and his public schedule for the day will be posted each morning.   Click Here to view Gov. Wolf’s Weekly Calendar and Public Appearances.

12/4/2017