The following bills of interest saw action last week in the House and Senate--

House

Terminating The Heart Of The COVID-19 Emergency Declaration: House Resolution 836 (Diamond-R-Lebanon) providing for the termination of Gov. Wolf’s disaster emergency declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was amended to treat non-live sustaining businesses like life-sustaining businesses and passed by the House in a party line vote- Republicans supporting.  The concurrent resolution now goes to the Senate for action.

Republicans believe if passed by the Senate it will go into effect.  The Wolf Administration disagrees, pointing to a provision in the state constitution requiring presentment of all concurrent resolutions to the Governor for his action.

[Note: The Resolution is sponsored by Rep. Diamond (R-Lebanon) who is self-quarantining due to a potential exposure to someone with COVID-19.  He is one of two House members in the middle of the political storm over whether he should have disclosed that fact to other members of the House for their safety.

General Fund Budget: House Bill 2387 (Saylor-R-York) providing for a five month General Fund budget through the end of November and deferring hard decisions until after the election (House Fiscal Note & Summary) given final approval and sent to the Governor for his action [he signed it into law].  Read more here.

Fiscal Code: House Bill 1083 (Sankey-R- Clearfield) providing for a continued ban on local ordinances banning single-use plastic bags and containers, transfers to and from the Marcellus Legacy Fund, Environmental Stewardship Fund, Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund and other provisions (Senate Fiscal Note & Summary) given final approval and sent to the Governor for his action [he signed it into law]. Read more here.

On-Lot Septic Systems: Senate Bill 1030-- to allow for the expanded use of alternate on-lot sewage systems for planning purposes (Senate Fiscal Note & Summary) given final approval and sent to the Governor for his action. Read more here.

Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling: Senate Bill 790 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) that would significantly reduce requirements for protecting the environment from conventional oil and gas drilling was passed by the House in a largely party line vote-- Republicans supporting-- and now returns to the Senate for concurrence.  Read more here.

Pipeline Emergency Plans: House Bill 2293 (Quinn-R-Montgomery) further providing for emergency plans by natural gas liquids pipelines (sponsor summary) was amended and reported from the House Consumer Affairs Committee and is now on the House Calendar for action.

Lyme Disease Awareness: House Resolution 760 (Brown-R-Monroe) recognizing May 2020 as Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Awareness Month (sponsor summary) was reported out of the House Health Committee and adopted by the full House.

Safe Digging Month: House Resolution 758 (Matzie-D-Beaver) designating April 2020 as Pennsylvania 8-1-1 Safe Digging Month (sponsor summary) was reported from the House Consumer Affairs Committee and is now on the House Calendar for action.

Senate

Nominations: The nomination of Yassmin Gramian, P.E. was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee and confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

Regulating Turf Fertilizer Application: Senate Bill 915 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) regulating the application of fertilizer on turf was amended and passed by the Senate.  The bill now goes to the House where a similar bill died last session.  Read more here.

Killing Regulations By Doing Nothing: Senate Bill 5 (DiSanto-R-Cumberland)-- that authorizes the General Assembly to kill any final regulation by doing nothing was reported out of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee by party-line vote-- Republicans supporting-- and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.  Read more here.

3 Year Review Of Regulations: Senate Bill 609 (Brooks-R- Crawford) that would require a review of economically significant regulations every three years was reported out of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee by party-line vote-- Republicans supporting-- and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.  Read more here.

Low-Head Dam Safety: House Bill 1003 (Gillespie-R-York) further providing for safety markings for low-head and other dams (House Fiscal Note & Summary) was reported out of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

HHW Collection Event Funding:  Senate Bill 766 (Leach-D-Montgomery) increasing the maximum grant amount to support household hazardous waste collection events from $100,000 to $250,000 (sponsor summary) was Tabled.

6/1/2020