Here’s what’s coming up on the Senate and House agenda for next week, as well as the voting session schedule through June 30.

Session Schedule

The Senate and House will return to voting session on June 16.

House 2008 Session Days—

June 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30

Senate 2008 Session Days--

June 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30

You can watch the Senate Floor Session and House Floor Session live online.

Calendars/Committees

The Senate and House published committee schedules for next week and floor Calendars for June 16--

Calendars

House (June 16): Senate Bill 356 (M.White-R-Venango) establishing the PA Center for Environmental Education in law; Senate Bill 1020 (Wonderling-R-Montgomery) updating the 1945 Conservation District Law; House Resolution 546 (George-D-Clearfield) urging Congress to investigate gas and energy prices; House Resolution 627 (George-D-Clearfield) urging federal government to provide more heating assistance funding; House Bill 934 (Scavello-R-Monroe) authorizing counties to impose up to a $4/ton solid waste management fee to support local recycling, anti-litter programs; House Resolution 712 (Hutchinson-R-Venango) re-establishing the Forestry Task Force; House Resolution 719 (George-D-Clearfield) endorsing request for federal funding for PA river basin commissions.

Special Session House Bill 13 (Bennington-R-Mifflin) amends the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act to provide for increased use of energy efficiency, extends the compliance period from 15 to 21 years and provides additional milestones for the use of alternative energy; Special Session House Bill 17 (McIlvaine Smith-D-Montgomery) excluding purchase price of hybrid electric vehicles from sales and use tax; Special Session House Resolution 6 (Thomas-D-Philadelphia) designating November 15 as “Pennsylvania GIS Day” and the week of November 11-17 as “National Geography Awareness Week.”

Senate (June 16): Senate Bill 352 (Robbins-R-Mercer) providing for a Low-Income Energy Assistance Program allocation of funds; Senate Bill 1050 (Baker-R-Luzerne) providing funding for waste tire removal and recycling; Senate Bill 1408 (Wozniak-D-Cambria) and Senate Bill 1409 (Wozniak) authorizing the use of nonstructural alternatives to address flooding problems; House Bill 1705 (Harkins-D-Erie) adopting the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact; House Bill 1742 (Pashinski-D-Luzerne) prevention of scrap material thefts; House Bill 1329 (Kessler-D-Berks) further providing for appeals and challenges to zoning ordinances.

Committees

House: the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee to hear a presentation by DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis on the agency’s Carbon Management Plan and is set to consider House Bill 44 (Rubley-R-Chester) prohibiting the sale of mercury thermostats and House Resolution 788 (Longietti-D-Mercer) urging Congress to investigate the role of speculators related to rising oil prices; the Finance Committee meets to consider House Bill 1676 (Levdansky-D-Allegheny) earmarking a portion of the Sales Tax to fund the Game and Fish and Boat Commissions; the House Republican Policy Committee holds a hearing on the status of utility (natural gas, electric) infrastructure in the Commonwealth.

Senate: the Appropriations Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1341 (Musto-D-Luzerne) authorizing a $400 million voter referendum to finance drinking water, wastewater and stormwater projects, Senate Bill 1062 (Wonderling-R-Montgomery) providing for the reimbursement of developers for reuse of brownfield sites; the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1449 (Madigan-R-Bradford) establishing the Fair Share Nutrient Reduction Assistance Program for Farmers; the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee holds a hearing on electronics waste recycling; the Urban Affairs Committee holds a hearing on Senate Bill 1291 (Rhoades-R-Schuylkill) providing for neighborhood blight reclamation and revitalization.

Other: this month’s Environmental Issues Forum hosted by the Joint Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee features a presentation on services provided by the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP).

Bills Introduced

The following legislation of interest was introduced this week—

Fair Share Nutrient Reduction for Farmers: Senate Bill 1449 (Madigan-R-Bradford) establishes the Fair Share Nutrient Reduction Program for Farmers Act to help farmers comply with nutrient reduction mandates.

Electric Competition Moratorium: House Bill 2610 (George-D-Clearfield) would establish the Electric Utility Competitive Bid Moratorium Act and set up a Competitive Bid Solicitation Task Force to recommend changes in electricity purchase bidding.

Pipeline Rehabilitation: House Bill 2621 (Evans-D-Philadelphia) establishes the Pipeline Replacement and Rehabilitation Program to fund improvements to natural gas, wastewater and drinking water pipes.

Legacy Fund Infrastructure Proposal: House Bill 2638 (McCall-D-Carbon) a $760 million infrastructure program administered by the Commonwealth Finance Agency for financing capital projects related to tourism development, independent institutions of higher education, hospital facilities, vital community assets (water, wastewater, et al) and economic development projects, funded with Gaming revenues.

Electric Rate Impacts: House Resolution 784 (Beyer-R-Lehigh) a concurrent resolution establishing a task force to make recommendations on providing meaningful mitigation of electric rate increases.

Oil Speculators: House Resolution 788 (Longietti-D-Mercer) urging Congress to investigate the role of speculators in the rise of oil prices.

6/13/2008