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

Senate

Ohiopyle Land Exchange: House Bill 2045 (Dowling-R-Fayette) providing for a land exchange between Ohiopyle Borough and Ohiopyle State Parks (House Fiscal Note & Summary) was passed by the Senate and now goes to the Governor for his action.

Bike Lanes: Senate Bill 565 (Farnese-D-Philadelphia) further providing for bike lane protections (Senate Fiscal Note & Summary) was reported from the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing: Senate Bill 5 (DiSanto-R-Cumberland) authorizes the General Assembly to kill any final regulation by doing nothing was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.   Read more here.

Repeal Regs With No Many Words: Senate Bill 119 (DiSanto-R-Cumberland) would amend the Regulatory Review Act to require the arbitrary repeal of at least two existing regulatory requirements for every new requirement proposed by any state agency. The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Read more here.

Office Of The Repealer: Senate Bill 251 (Phillips-Hill-R-York) would create a new bureaucracy-- Independent Office of the Repealer-- to review existing regulations from all state agencies and make recommendations to the General Assembly and Governor for the repeal or revision. The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Read more here.

Expensive Third Party Permit Reviews: Senate Bill 252 (Phillips-Hill-R-York) would require all state agencies to establish a third party permit review program to provide for the review of permits delayed beyond arbitrary deadlines set in the legislation.  The bill also requires the establishment of a permit tracking system with additional bureaucratic requirements.  The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Read more here.

Shielding Violators From Enforcement: Senate Bill 253 (Phillips-Hill-R-York) would create yet more bureaucracy in each state agency called an Agency Regulatory Compliance Officer to arbitrarily establish policies for waiving fines or penalties for violators of regulations and law administered by the agency.  The only requirement in the bill for a violator to be eligible for a waiver of fines or penalties is for “the regulated entity must report to the regulatory compliance officer the steps it has taken or will take to remedy the violation.” The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Read more here.

Review Of Economically Significant Regulations: Senate Bill 609 (Brooks-R-Crawford) would require a review of economically significant regulations every three years was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Read more here.

Land Trusts: Senate Bill 881 (Martin-R-Lancaster) setting aside state farmland preservation funding for local land trusts (sponsor summary) was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

7/6/2020