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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Thomas Caltagirone |
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House Judiciary Committee approves four bills
HARRISBURG, Nov. 17 – State Rep. Tom Caltagirone, D-Berks, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the committee today approved four bills, sending them to the full House of Representatives for consideration:
House Bill 745, introduced by state Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, would reinstate the protections provided to Pennsylvanians under a state law that went into effect in 2002 but was subsequently overturned by the state Supreme Court on a technicality unrelated to the substance of the bill. Shapiro's bill would expand the state's existing hate-crimes law to again include crimes motivated by malicious intent toward an individual's or group’s ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or gender or gender identity.
House Bill 1281, introduced by state Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-Lawrence/Beaver/Butler, would require any vendor seeking a contract with the state to operate a community corrections facility to hold a public hearing to explain how the facility would operate and allow the public to comment. A transcript of the hearing, including the comments, would have to be included with the bid the vendor submits to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
House Bill 1762, introduced by state Rep. Craig Dally, R-Northampton, would give the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission the power to grant waivers of mandatory basic training to federal law enforcement officers who have successfully completed previous equivalent training or who have acceptable full-time police or law enforcement experience, or both.
House Bill 1797, introduced by state Rep. Curtis Thomas, D-Phila., would relieve parents of children convicted of committing crimes of personal injury, theft and destruction of property from the responsibility of paying restitution liabilities once the child turns 21. At that time, the liability would fall onto the child. The bill would only apply to crimes where fines are up to $1,000 for injuries suffered by one person; and $2,500 for injuries suffered by more than one person.
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