| The Legislative Week in Review |
An
update of recent legislative activity by May 25, 2007
"The House Majority Democratic
Caucus supports a budget that represents a responsible starting point and
reflects our priorities, including education, health care, services to children
and the elderly, helping working families, and being good stewards of the
environment," said Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington. "We are united in our commitment to achieve Pennsylvanians'
priorities and live up to our responsibilities, including adopting a budget in a
sensible and timely fashion." "This week our Democratic majority
removed the word 'fake' from the state budget process, and we sent the Senate a
real, comprehensive budget which includes no tax increases to begin the
negotiation process," said Majority Whip Keith McCall, D-Carbon. "We have every
intention of working closely with the Senate and Governor Rendell to develop a
bipartisan budget that works for all Pennsylvanians, and tackles the issues they
care about: health-care reform, property tax cuts, transportation, energy
independence and education." "This legislation takes the
staffing needs of our hospitals and other health-care facilities into account,
but also recognizes that patient care suffers and our state's nurses suffer
when mandatory overtime is used as a routine staffing strategy," Surra said. "We don't
allow airlines and trucking companies to mandate 16-hour shifts or double shifts
without rest - we should not allow hospitals to do it, either." "There are fears for the impact on
hunters and also on the merchants who depend on hunting for a large portion of
their livelihood unless we get the liability issue taken care of well before
the opening of the small- and big-game seasons this fall," Readshaw said. "With
the timing such an important factor now, I'm hoping that the Senate will act
promptly so Pennsylvania hunters can enjoy a normal season, rather than find
themselves shut out of virtually all but state Game Lands." "Pennsylvania currently has a
limited number of elk licenses while the number of interested applicants far
eclipses the total available," Gergely said. "Since these licenses are a hot
commodity I saw it as a way to spark national interest as well as generate money
to help our elk population." "This measure is something that I
have been working on for several months, with the help of the Fish and Boat
Commission," Staback said. "The new guidelines and stiffer penalties are all
designed with one purpose in mind: to make our waterways safer by combating
boating under the influence." "Hunters often need a light to
successfully hunt furbearers at night; we should ensure they are not charged
with a violation of game laws for doing so," Haluska said. "As for the other
bill, municipal authorities have gone too long without the clear power in state
law to enforce important public health and safety regulations concerning the
water and sewer systems they maintain." "Traditional Neighborhood
Development is an excellent alternative to the type of sprawl development that
consumes vast amounts of farmland and creates traffic congestion nightmares,"
Freeman said. "TNDs are a more compact form of development that use less land,
are pedestrian-friendly and provide for a mix of uses and housing options that
foster a greater sense of community than conventional suburban developments. A
TND creates an actual village or neighborhood rather than a subdivision."
"It is my hope that this simple,
straightforward bill will be the beginning of a real debate on what is possible
in our effort to cut property taxes," DeWeese said. "Paired with the anticipated
$1 billion in revenue from gaming, this sales tax boost will enable all
homeowners to see real, significant and immediate relief." Rep. Angel Cruz,
D-Phila., has introduced legislation that would ban smoking in cars when
children are present. The bill (H.B.
1303) would allow courts to impose fines and other penalties on violators. "Reports show that children are
effectively smoking a pack and a half a day for every hour they are exposed to
smoke in a car," Cruz said. "Some may say it's an invasion of privacy. But it
becomes a public health issue because kids have little say in the matter,
especially those who are too young to realize the dangers that secondhand smoke
imposes." "It's a common-sense measure,"
DePasquale said. "If you are too distracted reading and writing e-mails or text
messages rather then paying attention to what's going on in front of you, then
there is a greater chance you will cause an accident." "These are bold steps that I
believe must be taken in order for school property taxes to be eliminated once
and for all," Caltagirone said. "If this package of bills is enacted into law,
it will work, and it will work well." "I think this legislation would
give counties a powerful new tool to enforce child support orders, and provide
many single parents with the assistance they need in recovering the child
support they and the children they are taking care of are owed," Belfanti said. |
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The state House of
Representatives this week took the first step toward passing a state budget by
sending a spending proposal (
The state House of Representatives this week passed
legislation (
The state House this week gave unanimous approval to a
bill (
Legislation introduced by state 
The House of Representatives has passed legislation introduced
by 
The House Local Government Committee has unanimously
approved legislation (
Legislation (
