weekly legislative update

This is a list of bills that passed the Pennsylvania House or Senate this week, and mention of any noteworthy resolutions. Standard caveats apply (resolutions not generally included, list of sponsors deleted if it was too long - three lines in the originally formatting).


Resolutions

Nothing struck me this week.

Bills

House

HB 143 Prior Printer's Nos. 169, 2017, 2530.Printer's No. 2589. An Act amending the act of July 2, 1984 (P.L.561, No.112), known as the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps Act, further providing for supervisors.

HB 958 HB 958 By Representatives CRUZ and YOUNGBLOOD. Prior Printer's No. 1124.Printer's No. 2803. An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for the judicial imposition of community service as a penalty.

HB 1723 Printer's No. 2282. An Act designating the bridge on State Route 322 joining Clearfield and Centre Counties as the Veterans' Memorial Bridge.

HB 1863 Printer's No. 2549. An Act designating a bridge on PA Route 120 crossing the railroad tracks at the east end of Renovo Borough in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, as the Western Clinton County Veterans Bridge.

Senate

SB 390 Prior Printer's Nos. 438, 1489.Printer's No. 1540. An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for the offense of phishing.

SB 1013 By Senators GREENLEAF, RAFFERTY, BOSCOLA, O'PAKE, RHOADES, MUSTO and FONTANA. Printer's No. 1266. An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in liability for tortious acts of children, further providing for monetary limits of liability.

Off Topic: The Sounds of Saturn

The wonders of the universe never cease to amaze and awe me.

I ran across this recently and listening to it did indeed, as the site promised, give me goosebumps. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft has recorded the natural sounds emanating from Saturn.

That's right, you can listen to the sounds of Saturn.

Very cool.

(hat tip ACM).

On to the Next!: State Treasurer

As you have probably read, current Montgomery County Commissioner Tom Ellis is throwing his hat in the ring for the state treasurer position.

See "Head of Montco board to run for Pa. treasurer," by Cheryl McEvoy, Inquirer, 11/15/07

Thanksgiving Video on PADems Site

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party has posted a great seasonal video on their website. Definitely worth a look. It is from the Miniature Earth group. If the world were defined as a community of 100 people only 25 would have a bed, a roof over their heads, and a closet. Very well done.

Follow Up on Gun-Related Bills

None of the three gun related bills I wrote about earlier this week made it out of committee today, despite a visit to the House Judiciary Committee from the governor. However, one other semi-related bill did. It increases the jail time for people who knowingly shoot at police officers. Read HB 2060 for yourself.

ERN Wants Montco Voter Feedback

From the inbox, the Election Reform Network would like to hear from Montgomery County voters.

Did the polls open promptly at 7 am and stay open until 8 pm? Was your polling place adequately staffed? Were poll workers knowledgeable and helpful? Were there problems with the machines? If you were a poll worker, were there difficulties in opening the back of the machines with the keys provided? Did there appear to be registration foul-ups, e.g., people in the same house registered in two different precincts or not registered at all, while claiming to have registered at the same time? Were there long lines or signs of attempts at voter intimidation? Did things run smoothly at your polling place, or was there confusion when questions arose?

Please let us know how things went, whether you worked at the polls or just came to vote. Include the number of your election district, or at least the site of your polling place.

There is a "contact us" page on their website (www.electionreformnetwork.us) that I think you can use to leave comments answering their questions.

Remember, they are only looking for Montgomery County voters right now. Maybe other areas will be requested later?

My polling place was quiet. The only problem was of our own making. Since we had some local offices to vote on as well as the statewide ones I made up a list of candidates running for various offices for Mr. J and me to work with. But just one copy so I had to wait for him to finish voting before I could get the list back. There was another booth open but I told the poll worker I had to wait for my list. He picked up a discarded GOP sample ballot that had been left on the poll workers' table and offered it to me; I told him that was not the list I needed. Chances are he wasn't supposed to do that but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was just trying to be helpful.

Bang Bang, Shoot'em Up!

This Tuesday the governor is taking the unusual step of speaking before the House Judiciary Committee. The subject will be a series of gun related bills. For those who have not been following the subject in the papers, I have provided brief descriptions of the bills with one or more points for and against. This is limited to my understanding of the arguments; please keep in mind that my understanding is certain to be incomplete and could also be faulty.

Should you have strong feelings on this matter, and especially if your representative is on the House Judiciary Committee, Monday would be the day to let them know, or early Tuesday.

You can link to the bills themselves for a full description.


House Bill 18, sponsored by State Representative Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia), would further provide for limitations on the regulation of firearms and ammunition by local municipalities. Includes wording on how these regulations may be made and what kinds of regulations may be made.

For: This would allow areas with serious crime problems (say, Philadelphia) to implement more stringent firearm regulations.

Against: Having different firearm regulations around the state would make it difficult, if not impossible, for legal owners of guns to keep track of what may be done where. Also, regulations that affect the sale of guns in one location (say, Philadelphia) would not stop people from walking across the city boundary and buying guns in surrounding counties.

House Bill 22, "one-gun-a-month" legislation, sponsored by State Representative John Myers (D-Philadelphia), prohibits citizens (but not dealers, collectors, security firms, those whose guns were stolen, or a number of other exceptions) from purchasing more than one handgun a month. Also calls for background checks on buyers.

For: will cut down on “straw purchases.”

Against: Restricts the rights of legal gun owners.

House Bill 29, "Lost or Stolen Firearms" legislation, sponsored by State Representative Jewell Williams (D-Philadelphia), would create a statewide registry of lost or stolen firearms and make it a crime to fail to report the loss or theft of a firearm to police within 24 hours of discovering the firearm missing.

For: This would prevent straw purchasers or criminals from saying guns that belong to them that were later involved in a crime had previously been lost or stolen

Against: Criminalizes those whose weapons have been lost or stolen.


For more information see:

NRA

Hand Gun Sanity (a project of CeaseFirePA)

“Rendell puts gun divide to the test,” by Thomas Fitzgerald and Amy Worden, Inquirer 11/18

“Rendell to speak to panel on gun control,” by Charles Thompson, Pennlive 11/16

(hat tips to CeaseFirePA and GrassrootsPA)

PA in the WSJ

This is a list of articles regarding Pennsylvania in this week's Wall Street Journal. Chances are I missed something, but these are the articles that caught my eye.

It should be noted that I routinely do not read the editorials in the WSJ. So any discussions of the state, its elected officials, businesses, or citizens, in editorials will not be mentioned here.

PA Politicians

Uh oh, Gov. Rendell gets the nod this week. In “How a business flop became political force,” by Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, John R. Emshwiller, Jonathan Cheng and Jim Carlton (11/12) Norman Hsu mentions Rendell’s support to nervous investors when Hsu’s questionable past and political bundling work becomes public. Later in the article it is mentioned that Hsu is a Wharton grad. Bet that won’t be mentioned on the next recruiting brochure.

PA Businesses

“Most of Hershey board replaced in shake-up, by Julie Jargon (11/12). See also, “Trust head may mold Hershey’s future,” by Julie Jargon (11/15)

Toll Brothers is not among the home builders cutting prices to move projects in progress, from “Home builders opt for mothballing,” by Michael Corkery (11/13)

Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing in York, PA is mentioned in “Writing the book on self-help: a publisher’s cautionary tale,” by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg (11/13)

Elliott Building Group is mentioned among the builders having filed for bankruptcy, in “When home builders hit the skids,” by Ruth Simon and Demba J. Dunham (11/14)

Other PA

Arthur Caplan, ethicist at Penn, is quoted in “Kidney shortage inspires a radical idea: organ sales,” by Laura Meckler (11/13)

Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester is again quoted, this time in “House passes bill curbing mortgage brokers,” by Damian Paletta and James R. Hagerty (11/16)

Krisi Essick compiled a series of “Profiles in retirement” (11/17). One is of a Swarthmore grad, Walter Ford Carter. Another is of Irvin Borowsky who founded the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia.

Other Interesting Tidbits

Nothing caught my eye.

weekly legislative update

This is a list of bills that passed the Pennsylvania House or Senate this week, and mention of any noteworthy resolutions. Standard caveats apply (resolutions not generally included, list of sponsors deleted if it was too long - three lines in the originally formatting).

Our accountant friends at PICPA have provided their usual informative weekly update. They have some interesting things to say this week about a possible increase in the sales tax.

Other updates this week:

PA GOP Senate
PA Democratic Senate
PA GOP House
PA Democratic House

Resolutions

Nothing caught my eye this week.

Bills

House

HB 848 By Representatives HALUSKA, ARGALL, CLYMER, CREIGHTON, FABRIZIO, HERSHEY, HORNAMAN, W. KELLER, KIRKLAND, MYERS, NAILOR, YOUNGBLOOD, KORTZ, GEIST, COSTA, THOMAS, PALLONE and CALTAGIRONE. Prior Printer's Nos. 962, 1444.Printer's No. 2807. An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, further providing for the sale of unused and unnecessary lands and buildings; providing for State reimbursement for mobile classroom facilities; and making editorial changes.

HB 1025 Prior Printer's Nos. 1290, 1988.Printer's No. 2724. An Act amending the act of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736, No.338), known as the Workers' Compensation Act, further defining "occupational disease."

HB 1033 Prior Printer's No. 1205.Printer's No. 2664. An Act designating September 11 of each year as "Pennsylvania Emergency Responders' Day."

HB 1129 Prior Printer's No. 1380.Printer's No. 2773. An Act providing for sexual violence awareness education programs for new students matriculating to institutions of higher education or private licensed schools that receive public funding and for duties of the Department of Education. (vote on final passage reconsidered)

HB 1622 By Representatives READSHAW, BELFANTI, BLACKWELL, BRENNAN, KORTZ, KULA, MARSHALL, McCALL, MUNDY, PETRARCA, RUBLEY, McILVAINE SMITH, SOLOBAY, VULAKOVICH, YOUNGBLOOD, CALTAGIRONE, MILNE, COSTA, M. SMITH and GALLOWAY. Prior Printer's No. 2075.Printer's No. 2720. An Act amending the act of December 18, 1984 (P.L.1004, No.204), entitled "An act extending benefits to police chiefs or heads of police departments of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth who have been removed from bargaining units by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board," further providing for salary of nonunion police officers.

HB 1693 By Representatives GERGELY, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, FRANKEL, GOODMAN, JOSEPHS, KORTZ, KULA, LONGIETTI, MAHONEY, McGEEHAN, READSHAW, SHIMKUS, SOLOBAY, YOUNGBLOOD, SIPTROTH and SEIP. Prior Printer's No. 2320.Printer's No. 2665. An Act amending the act of July 9, 1987 (P.L.220, No.39), known as the Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act, further defining "practice of social work"; defining "social worker"; providing for endorsement of out-of-State licenses; and further proscribing unlawful practice.

Senate

SB 721 By Senators PILEGGI, CORMAN, ERICKSON, PICCOLA, FONTANA, COSTA, RAFFERTY, M. WHITE, MUSTO, DINNIMAN, WAUGH, BAKER and WASHINGTON. Prior Printer's Nos. 788, 933, 1508.Printer's No. 1539. An Act amending the act of July 10, 1990 (P.L.404, No.98), known as the Real Estate Appraisers Certification Act, further providing for real estate appraiser certification required, for powers and duties of board, for application and qualifications, for reciprocity, for certification renewal and record, for disciplinary and corrective measures, for reinstatement, for reporting of multiple certification, for surrender of suspended or revoked certificate, for penalties, for injunctive relief and for scope of practice.

Stuart Rothenberg Says PA 7th & 8th Districts Safe

The Rothenberg Political Report today discussed the 30 congressional seats that switched from Republican to Democratic in the 2006 elections. Of those 30, he names 12 of them safe seats for the Democrats. Among the 12 are Pennsylvania's 7th district, held by Rep. Joe Sestak, and 8th district, held by Rep. Patrick Murphy.

Among the districts he thinks could return to the Republican column is the 10th, held by Rep. Chris Carney.

Read "Fate of '06 House Takeovers May Mirror '08 Party Prospects," 11/15

(hat tip to Capitol Ideas)

Josh Drobnyk at Pennsylvania Avenue writes on a similar theme today, "Murphy, Gerlach off the radar?"

Charlie Dent Feels Left Out

The Politico has a new-ish article on the SCHIP bill, which starts out with:

Democrats are considering giving Republicans a stark choice on the stalled children’s health bill: Cut a deal now or face a politically treacherous vote on the issue a month before next fall’s elections.

Pennsylvania's own Charles Dent, Congressman for the 15th district, has a complaint:

Republican Reps. Deborah Pryce of Ohio and Charles W. Dent of Pennsylvania sent a letter to Democratic leaders on Wednesday, complaining that “there is no official process for members of both parties to evaluate proposed changes to the various legislative proposals.”

This is a standard complaint from the minority party, especially late in the congressional session, when the schedule is tight and lots of legislation needs to be moved.

Read the entire article: "Republicans complain about SCHIP shutout," by Martin Kady II, Nov. 14

Regional Airport Forum Tomorrow

From the inbox:

Tomorrow the Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance is sponsoring a forum, "How to Capitalize on Our Region's Airports," from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the lower level of the PECO building. One of the topics to be discussed is State Rep. Bryan Lentz's proposal to create a Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Airport Authority. Also appearing will be Tom Morr, president and CEO of Select Greater Philadelphia, and airport managers from Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, Atlantic City and Delaware.

On to the Next: the 182nd House District

Another Pennsylvania State House race that is likely to be interesting is the Democratic primary for the 182nd district. The Philadelphia seat is currently held by Rep. Babette Josephs, who has represented the district since 1984.

In 2006 she faced a strong challenge from Larry Farnese, who appears to be going for a rematch.

Joining the fray is Peggy Banaszek.

Josephs has a long history and a number of supporters. Both Farnese and Banaszek have impressive resumes and issue statements on their websites. If have you are interested and have not met either, both also list events they will be attending.

Big News from Bill DeWeese

Democratic Majority Leader and State Rep. Bill DeWeese issued a press release today, notable for two reasons:

1) He shakes up his staff, with several long-time aides leaving, and hiring a number of other people, some of whom have impressive reform credentials.

2) The longest word in the press release, restructured, has only 12 letters, and the only two adjectives in his comments are administrative and additional. No unusual or uncommon words were used at all.

These two points, taken together, and not occurring on April 1, are somewhat baffling. If your favorite movie is "The Body Snatchers" you may go with the pod people theory. Those who prefer "A Christmas Carol" may favor a Tom Corbett as the ghost of Christmas future explanation.

See the Inquirer, "7 Democratic state House aids leave jobs," by Mario Cattabiani and Angela Couloumbis posted today, 11/13.

On to the Next!: The 165th House District

Republican William Adolph has represented Pennsylvania's 165th house district for about 20 years, since 1988. The district is in Delaware County, including Morton and parts of Marple, Radnor, and Springfield townships. I know absolutely nothing about him, but he has a fairly detailed website.

Democrat Tom Quinn has announced his intention to run for the office. I know absolutely nothing about him either, other than what is on his website. He has an interesting biography, background in theater, stay-at-home-dad, writer, history teacher and part-time professor. He has issue positions posted already.

Could be interesting.

A Reminder about AnySoldier.com

Some time ago I posted a note about a website, www.anysoldier.com. Time to refresh the memory, especially on Veterans' Day. A soldier serving abroad, but especially in war zones, can post a note on anysoldier.com, telling how many contacts they might have and what those contacts need. Mostly, they ask for things like toothpaste and soap and maybe some snacks, crackers, beef jerky and the like. The site tells you what sort of things you can send and how to send them. You can put together a small parcel and mail it off to the contact listed -- they will distribute the parcels to the people they run into, especially those who don't get much mail from home. It is a fantastic service. They've tightened up security since last time I went there -- now you have to give up your address to get one from the site, sounds like a few people misbehaved so they want to be able to track you down if you do.

The site says the most important thing you can send are letters. As I was looking at the list of contacts I ran across a woman from a unit whose home base is in Pennsylvania. She sounded sad. So I signed up for her address and wrote her a letter. Even used one of my nifty Nancy Drew note cards.

Really, people, for as long as the war has been going on, if you haven't done something for the troops over there you definitely need to. Even if it is just writing a short note to someone. Don't know what to say? Here, how's this:

Hi,

We really appreciate the work you are doing over there and the sacrifices you are making. Hope you are safely home soon.

Signed,
[Your name here]

That is not hard. Better yet, get some friends together and assemble a few care packages. Or if you don't want to do that you can order one and it will be mailed for you. There are links on the anysoldier site for doing that.

I'm serious. Do something.

Off Topic: Odd Literary (Sci Fi) Juxtaposition

A new movie, "The Martian Child," is out. I probably won't get a chance to see it for years, if then. If you do, tell me what you think of it. You might not know that it is based on a book. The author, the man who adopts the boy, is David Gerrold. When I saw that name on the cover in the bookstore I just stopped in my tracks. All you Star Trek fans out there recognize that name, right? It's the tribbles guy. He wrote the episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles," and then followed up with a book by the same name. I read that book years ago. So I bought The Martian Child. How could I not? You will get short blog posts tonight instead of anything longer, as I am skipping around, reading snippets of the book.

Another Bucks County Veterans Cemetery Update

I have a number of articles on this topic bookmarked, so let’s review them, most recent going back, for those who want to keep up with all the developments.

All articles are from the phillyburbs.com site and by Theresa Katalinas so only title, and date are included.

“Cemetery deal is almost complete,” 11/09

Toll Brothers and the Department of Veterans Affairs have inked a $10.5 million agreement of sale for the VA's purchase of 200 acres of bucolic Upper Makefield land where a long-awaited cemetery would be built. Department of Justice approval is the only remaining hurdle before the VA takes title, according to Bill Tuerk, VA undersecretary for Memorial Affairs, who confirmed the VA signed a contract with the luxury homebuilder.

“Guardians lead the charge for veterans in Bucks County,” 11/09

A brief history and outline of a citizens group in favor of the veterans cemetery.

“Melsky’s value in question,” 11/06

This is an interesting discussion about the real estate deal with the school board for the cemetery land.

“Future of Melsky tract in limbo,” 11/02

Whether Toll Brothers can buy land owned by the Council Rock School District and build 90 homes on it is in the hands of a Bucks County judge.

“Deal for two schools riles residents,” 10/29

This article outlines some residents’ objections to the real estate deals relating to the veterans’ cemetery.

“Veterans cautious, hopeful on cemetery,” 10/24

Jubilation. Excitement. Trepidation. Uncertainty.
Those were some of the feelings that Bucks veterans and residents expressed Tuesday after hearing that Toll Brothers received the approvals necessary late Monday to sell a piece of Upper Makefield farmland to the Department of Veterans Affairs for construction of a national veterans cemetery.

“Bucks one vote away from cemetery,” 10/18

Municipal approval is needed for the Upper Makefield portion of the 90-home Melsky development, which will be situated on Stoopville Road and split evenly between both townships.

The Nov. 1 deadline approaches and the residents’ lawsuits continues.

“Supervisors OK Toll’s 45 homes,” 10/11

The Newtown Township supervisors voted 5-0 to grant preliminary and final land development approval for Toll Brothers to build 45 homes in connection with the 200-acre veterans cemetery. The vote marked the halfway point for Toll's contingencies before the builder would sell Upper Makefield farmland to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Also mentions a lawsuit filed by some residents.

Philly Still Cookin' (Light)

Philadelphia pops up twice in the November issue of Cooking Light. On p. 254-260, the "Enlightened Cook" feature, Chris Rodell notes the 15th annual Native American Thanksgiving dinner at the White Dog Cafe on Nov. 18th. Executive chef Andrew Brown and owner Judy Wicks are featured. Of course, recipes abound, for those who want to add some authenticity to their holiday meal.

Were that not honor enough, Philadelphia is listed as one of 20 Cooking Light Best Cities, defined as "the 20 American cities that best fit our philosophy to eat smart, be fit, and live well." Philly is #9; Pittsburgh is #13.

PA in the WSJ

This is a list of articles regarding Pennsylvania in this week's Wall Street Journal. Chances are I missed something, but these are the articles that caught my eye.

It should be noted that I routinely do not read the editorials in the WSJ. So any discussions of the state, its elected officials, businesses, or citizens, in editorials will not be mentioned here.

PA Politicians

In “Banks fear Democrat bids to aid mortgage borrowers,” by Damian Paletta,” (11/05) we find this paragraph:

Sens. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) and Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) are working on a related bill in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee may take it up early next year, according to a panel aid.

While she is not mentioned in “House appears poised to approve Peru trade deal,” by Gary Hitt (11/07), Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-13) has said she helped lead efforts to pass the legislation.

PA Businesses

A holiday shopping tip in “Well wishes: Highmark’s gift cards can cover insurance, medical fees,” by Kris Maher (11/06). From the article:

Pittsburgh health insurer Highmark, Inc. is selling a Healthcare Visa Gift Card from $25 to $5,000 to cover prescription, co-payments, elective surgery, contact lenses and gym memberships.

Those of you who have watched comedian Wanda Sykes’ routine about health care in which she says she doesn’t want her auntie out “trickin’ for her ‘scripts” might see the potential for giving elderly or ill relatives health care gift cards.

“Nasdaq moves to buy Phil-Ex,” by Aaron Lucchetti and Jed Horowitz (11/07) looks at the sale of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

“Toll Brothers’ plunge in orders signals further housing woes,” by John Spence (11/10) has a self-explanatory headline.

Brief mentions: Medecision of Wayne (11/06)

Other PA

University of Pennsylvania Wharton School profs Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers are mentioned in “Marriage undergoes change, causing drop in divorces,” (11/05)

Norman Peltz, of Trian Fund Management LP, and Trairc Companies, is a Wharton School drop out. See “A bite at a time, Peltz reshapes food industry,” by Julie Jargon (11/07)

Even though I always state that I don’t read editorials, sometimes they jump out at me. Two this week focus on Philly. “Educational rewards,” by Paul E. Peterson and Matthew M. Chingos (11/07) looks at the city’s public school. “The other Philadelphia story,” by John J. DiIulio, Jr. (11/10) focuses on the city’s faith based initiatives.

The University of Pennsylvania and a Harriton (Rosemont) High School senior have unrelated mentions in “Big pain on campus: applying to multiple schools,” by Anjali Athavaley (11/08)

Other Interesting Tidbits

Of perhaps some interest to the blogosphere is “Whole Foods bars executives from web forums,” by David Kesmodel (11/07). Execs can no longer write about work on forums that aren’t sponsored by the company. This is in reaction to the current CEO’s past penchant to anonymously writing about Whole Foods and its competitors on stock market forums.

An interesting note on the effect of “paygo” on impending legislation in “Fiscal responsibility proves costly,” by Sarah Leuck (11/09)

Penn researcher and happiness expert Martin Seligman is quoted in “Except in one career, our brains seem build for optimism,” by Robert Lee Hotz (11/09). In case you couldn’t guess the one career where pessimists did better was law.