The House Appropriations Committee met to vote on a number of bills. HBs 689, 705, 740, and 1324 were reported as committed. SB 206 was also reported as committed. HB 816 was reported as amended. The hearing was highlighted by Chairman Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) calling a brief recess of the committee in order to get the answer to questions posed by Rep. Douglas Reichley (R-Lehigh) from the Department of Education regarding HB 689. The full details will be in the Capitol Toolbox.

The House and Senate Finance Committees held a joint public hearing regarding the Independent Fiscal Office as proposed in Act 50 of 2009. Mary Soderberg, Secretary of the Office of the Budget, testified and said that the Independent Fiscal Office would be duplicating a variety of functions and is unnecessary. Robert Powell, Senior Advisor of Government Policy for Cansler Fuquay Solutions, Inc. discussed how South Carolina started its Fiscal Office and made several recommendations for how Pennsylvania can successfully implement the proposed Office. Check the PLS Capitol Toolbox later today for the full story.

LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR MORATORIUM ON STATE FOREST LEASING

A coalition of House lawmakers and environmental advocates said Tuesday that Governor Ed Rendell should abandon plans to lease more state forest land for drilling because the natural gas extraction could ravage the environment. But an administration spokesman countered that the plan to make more state land available for drilling is one of the few politically viable ways to raise badly needed revenue as Pennsylvania grapples with a multi-billion revenue shortfall. The governor proposes using $180 million from the leases to help fill next year’s budget, a plan similar to one used last year, when the state leased 32,000 acres to raise $60 million for the current fiscal year’s budget. Click here to read the latest News and Views article.

PENNENVIRONMENT CALLS FOR INCREASED UTILIZATION OF SOLAR ENERGY

PennEnvironment today unveiled a new report, Building a Solar Future: Repowering America’s Homes, Businesses and Industry with Solar Energy, that outlines a vision for utilizing solar power to meet ten percent of the country’s total energy needs by 2030.  Adam Garber, Field Director for PennEnvironment, explained solar is an increasingly cost competitive energy source that builds the economy, protects the environment, and reduces reliance on fossil fuels. Check the PLS Capitol Toolbox to read the full story.

CONKLIN TO RUN FOR LT. GOVERNOR

Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre) officially announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania yesterday.  Conklin said he is humbled by the outpouring of support he has received and plans to take his reform message state-wide.   “It is because I believe in servant leadership. We have come a long way over the last few years, 31 reform measures, we have an office of open records so the public can see what is going on, but we need to do more,” Conklin said. Check out the Press Releases section of the PLS Capitol Toolbox to read the full announcement.

METCALFE TO ANNOUNCE BID FOR LT. GOVERNOR

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) is expected to announce his bid for Lt. Governor at press conference today at 10:00 a.m. in the East Wing Rotunda today.

PLS IS GROWING AGAIN!

As PLS continues to expand, we are happy to report we are looking to add the following to our team:
Manager of IT
We are searching for a self-motivated individual to maintain and develop various websites, online databases and internal office network. The experienced candidate will have .Net, msSQL, mySQL, ASP and Microsoft networking experience. Dot Net Nuke experience is a plus. Candidate must be able to work on rapid development and deployment timelines and feel comfortable working collaboratively with clients and staff. This is a full time, permanent position, compensation and benefits package is commensurate with experience. This is not an entry level position. Please send resume to eric@mypls.com or mail to Pennsylvania Legislative Services, 240 North Third Street, 11th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101.

Upcoming Meetings

House Education
9:00 a.m., Room G-50, Irvis Office Building
To consider: HB 1090 Curry Amends Public School Code re social work srvs HB 1863 Payton Amends Public School Code re certificates

House Finance Senate Finance
9:00 a.m., Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Joint public hearing on the proposed Independent Fiscal Office

House Local Government
9:00 a.m., Room 205, Ryan Office Building
Public hearing on: HB 2020 Seip Amends re Selective County Assessment Law HB 2021 Seip Amends Public School Code re powers of boards HB 2022 Denlinger Amends 3rd Class County Assessment Board Law HB 2023 Gergely Amends General Cnty Assessment Law re muncpl. And to consider: SB 908 Robbins Amends 3rd Class City Code re civil service SB 909 Robbins Amends 1st Class Twp Code re exam provisions SB 910 Robbins Amends Borough Code re police & firemen exams SB 911 Robbins Amends act re officer & fire dept. employees SB 912 Robbins Amends act re fire apparatus operators SB 913 Robbins Amends act re police force in 1st class twp.

House Aging and Older Adult Services
9:30 a.m., Room 60, East Wing
Public hearing on: HB 122 Casorio Act establishing the Senior Alert System HB 726 Youngblood Act re senior citizen silver alert program

House Judiciary
9:30 a.m., Room 418 Main Capitol
To consider: HB 2221 Gabig Amends Title 42 re exemptions from jury duty HB 2075 Johnson Amends Title 18 re online impersonation HB 967 Cohen Amends Title 23 re petition to adopt

House Professional Licensure
9:30 a.m., Room 39, East Wing
To consider: Regs. 16A-619 Regs. 16A-4620

House Consumer Affairs
10:00 a.m., Room G-50, Irvis Office Building
To consider: HB 1812 Sainato Amends Title 18 re theft offense grading HB 1747 Kotik Amends Title 66 re public convenience certif. HR 606 Mundy Resolution re Grant PUC increase NXX area code

House Appropriations
Off the Floor, Room 140 Main Capitol
Agenda to be announced

Would you like additional details about these stories and more? You can try PLS free for one month. Give us a call at 717-236-6984 or send us an email at mypls@mypls.com to sign up.

The House Aging & Older Adult Services Committee conducted a public hearing on legislation establishing a senior alert system to aid in the recovery of missing endangered adults with mental impairments. Testimony was presented by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association; the Pennsylvania State Police; and the Department of Aging. All three testified in support of the concept of such a system but offered suggestions on how to strengthen the legislation. Check the Capitol Toolbox later for the full story.

The House Local Government Committee met this morning to consider a package of Senate Bills that would bring PA law into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Law and the PA Human Services Act, which was reported with amendments, and to discuss a package of bills that would affect the ability of school boards to appeal property tax assessments.

Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox later this afternoon.

The House Judiciary Committee, in an attempt to move HB 2189, was the forum for much debate on the bill dealing with “sexting.” The ultimate decision was to hold the bill over for additional work and the bill is set to be voted on again by the committee next Tuesday. Much of the debate on HB 2189 focused on confusion between transmission and dissemination as well as a desire to make sure children’s lives are not ruined by the imposition of penalties too stiff for the situation. The committee also held over HB 2075. HB 2221 and SB 126 were reported as amended, while HB 967 was reported as committed. The full story will be available in the Capitol Toolbox later this morning.