General Assembly passes budget

Speaker of the House Keith R. McCall, D-Carbon; House Majority Leader Todd A. Eachus; D-Luzerne, and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans, D-Phila., issued the following statements on the recent votes in the legislature needed to approve the state's 2009-10 budget:

"This is a day of relief, but it's not a day to pat ourselves on the back or celebrate," McCall said. "While the state House and Senate have approved the bills needed to pass the budget and end the impasse and sent them to the governor, the delay put an undue burden on a lot of people. This budget isn't perfect, but it's a worthy compromise that gets the job done."

"This is a responsible budget that holds true to House Democrats' key priorities of ensuring that our children, our seniors, our veterans and our most vulnerable citizens are protected," Eachus said. "It also keeps our commitment to properly investing in our children's education rather than shifting the burden to our local property taxpayers."

"On both sides of the aisle, legislators had to make painful choices about supporting programs they consider vital to their constituents and to their communities," Evans said. "But we held the line on state spending, and, in fact, will spend less than last year. What's more, the budget preserves this legislature's commitment to education and it allows us to maintain services to Pennsylvanians who need them the most: our children, our elderly, our veterans, our chronically ill and our disabled. We've done our very best to maximize the dollars we can put in our programs in spite of the limited resources."

-- Visit www.pahouse.com for more information on the 2009-10 state budget.

Longietti legislation enables United Way's Success by Six Program to qualify for tax credits

State Rep. Mark Longietti's legislation to allow businesses to receive a tax credit for supporting additional education programs, including a popular pre-kindergarten program for needy children in Mercer County, was included in the state budget package. The new program allows pre-kindergarten educational programs that run at least 20 days with at least 40 hours of instruction to qualify for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit. Previously, programs had to run at least 60 days with at least 120 hours of instruction for businesses to receive a tax credit for financially supporting it. Longietti, D-Mercer, said the previous requirement disqualified many summer programs because they usually run for fewer than 60 days. Longietti introduced H.B. 1615 in response. The language in Longietti's bill was eventually included in the Tax Code bill, Act 48 of 2009, which was one of several parts needed to craft the final state budget.

"Success by Six is certainly a program worthy of financial support by the local business community," Longietti said. "It has a proven track record of preparing many of our local children for kindergarten and beyond."

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Boyle's effort to expand survivor benefits becomes law

State Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, D-Phila./Montgomery, announced that the House and Senate have passed legislation that would increase survivor benefits in Pennsylvania for the families of police and emergency service personnel who die in the line of duty. The Senate bill (Act 51 of 2009) is similar to legislation (H.B. 1938) introduced in the House by Boyle. Under the legislation, the surviving spouse of paid police officers, firefighters, hazardous materials response team members, ambulance service or rescue squad members who die in the line of duty would receive a monthly benefit. The benefit would be equal to the first responder's monthly salary at the time of death, and would increase annually based on the Consumer Price Index. If there is no surviving spouse, the benefits would go to any surviving children.

"By passing and sending this legislation to the governor, we're trying to make sure the families of fallen officers and emergency personnel know that Pennsylvania is grateful for their loved one's sacrifice and that we honor their family's loss," Boyle said. "By making sure survivor benefits are adequate, we can at least make sure families can survive financially while dealing with their incredible loss."

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Caltagirone constable reform bill signed by governor

State Rep. Tom Caltagirone, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the full House of Representatives has voted to agree on Senate amendments to his legislation updating and consolidating numerous state constable laws, sending the bill to the governor for a signature. Caltagirone said his bill (Act 49 of 2009) would update state laws concerning constables, and consolidate under one statutory title the numerous constable laws that currently exist across 13 separate titles in Pennsylvania's legal code. He noted some of the constable duties currently set by state law date back several hundred years. More recently, constable duties have included providing security for court rooms and polling places, and transporting prisoners.

"Constables have played a role in upholding the law since Pennsylvania was a colony," Caltagirone said. "Their duties are many, but their responsibilities today no longer match up well with many of the freestanding laws governing them that remain on the books. If we want to maintain the system in Pennsylvania as a viable force, and I think we should, it needs a facelift. Part of that process is to put everything into one legal code, which has never been done before. This is what my bill would achieve."

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General Assembly passes workers comp fund investment legislation

The state's Fiscal Code law (Act 50 of 2009), recently signed by the governor as part of the 2009-10 budget package, includes language introduced by House Labor Relations Chairman Robert E. Belfanti Jr., that allows the state Workers' Insurance Fund to resume investing an increased portion of its surplus funds in equities. The fund, known as SWIF, makes workers' compensation insurance available to employers in Pennsylvania that are unable to obtain it through the private insurance market. Under a state law enacted in 2005, the board that administers SWIF was permitted to invest up to 20 percent of SWIF's surplus funds or reserves in equities. However, the 2005 law included a sunset date of June 30, 2009. The new law removes the sunset date and reauthorizes SWIF surplus investments at the increased rate.

"Before the 2005 law was passed, SWIF was severely limited in its ability to grow the fund through market investments because of the strict limits placed on how much it could invest," Belfanti said. "Allowing the board to invest a greater portion of its assets in the market, when appropriate, is good for the fund and good for the employers and workers that rely on SWIF for workers' compensation coverage."

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PASSED THE HOUSE

House passes Matzie's bill to eliminate health insurance discrimination

State Rep. Robert F. Matzie, D-Allegheny/Beaver, said his legislation (H.B. 1593) to create a Health Insurance Coverage Parity and Non-Discrimination Act in Pennsylvania has passed the House. The legislation would bring Pennsylvania's insurance law in line with new federal requirements and give the Pennsylvania Insurance Department authority to enforce those laws in the state's insurance market.

"This bill is important because it would prevent discrimination in Pennsylvania's insurance industry and ensure that the state Insurance Department would continue to regulate the industry," Matzie said. "I am pleased that my colleagues in the House recognize the importance of this measure and I hope the Senate will work swiftly to pass it as well."

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COMMITTEE ACTION

House Insurance Committee approves DeLuca bill to help landslide victims

State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, said the House Insurance Committee has reported out legislation he introduced that would establish a Pennsylvania Landslide Insurance and Assistance Program within the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The legislation, H.B. 523, would create a statewide program consisting of three parts: an insurance fund; a revolving loan program, which would include a $2.5 million low-interest loan fund; and a grant program to help residents with repairs.

"I know many people in western Pennsylvania have lost their homes to landslides because they did not have an opportunity to purchase insurance to protect their homes," DeLuca said. "This program would give them an opportunity to buy landslide insurance, which is not offered right now by the private insurance companies."

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