Rep. Marc J. Gergely
35th Legislative District
Allegheny County
Legislative Activities

Rep. Gergely has authored or co-sponsored several bills in the House of Representatives in the 2009-10 legislative session. Below is a summary of some of his priority issues and legislation.

SIGNED INTO LAW

↓ Extending unemployment compensation by seven weeks

Governor Rendell signed into law H.B. 1770 which provided unemployment compensation payments to nearly 60,000 eligible Pennsylvanians for another seven weeks by tapping federal stimulus dollars.

↓ New law bans mandatory overtime for health-care workers

A new law went into effect July 1, 2009, that bans hospitals and many other health care facilities from using mandatory overtime as a routine solution to staffing. The Department of Labor and Industry has created a Web page with information and complaint forms.

↓ Honoring a White Oak Borough leader

Governor Rendell has signed into law H.B. 1801 that honors the memory of a White Oak Borough community leader by naming the bridge over Jack's Run Stream where McClintock Road intersects with Route 48 as the Milton L. Lebowitz Memorial Bridge.

PASSED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

↓ Supporting police officers in crisis situations

H.B. 1332 was unanimously passed in the House. It would prevent statements police officers make to specialized crisis teams from being used in legal proceedings, trials or investigations. Critical Incident Stress Management teams are law enforcement officers deployed to speak with police officers after incidents that claim their colleagues' lives or involve the use of deadly force.

↓ Protecting health care consumers

H.B. 1250 would increase protections for health and welfare of consumers by requiring require social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors to be licensed in Pennsylvania.

↓ Helping National Guard members and Reservists get back to work

H.B. 339, which Rep. Gergely helped secure House passage, would give active-duty National Guard and U.S. military Reservists preference for state job-training programs once they return home from service.

PENDING IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Employment and labor issues

↓ Formally establishing Industry Partnerships Program

H.B. 2230 would formally establish the Industry Partnerships Program within the Department of Labor and Industry. The highly successful collaboration helps the workers get the skills needed by industry to compete in the global economy. Since starting as an initiative in 2005, more than 6,300 businesses have taken part in over 80 partnerships throughout the state, and over 70,000 workers have been trained.

↓ Expanding whistleblower protections for public employees

Rep. Gergely is strongly supporting H.B. 2108. It would give public employees greater protections for reporting fraudulent or illegal activities in their workplace and set penalties for supervisors or elected officials for retaliating against the employee.

↓ Protecting construction workers from dishonest companies

The Construction Workplace Fraud Act, H.B.400, would protect the families of construction workers by preventing dishonest companies from misclassifying them to maximize profits. The bill would ensure workers get the benefits they have earned.

↓ Supporting work and reducing illegal aliens

Rep. Gergely is strongly supporting a package of bills that would reduce the number of illegal workers in Pennsylvania by cracking down on companies that deliberately hire illegal immigrants. H.B. 1502 would require state contractors and subcontractors that work on public projects to verify the employment eligibility of their employees. The second bill, H.B. 1503, would require all contractors in the construction industry to verify the employment eligibility of their employees. Both bills would require use of the Social Security Number Verification Service to verify existing employees, and the E-Verify Program for newly hired employees.

↓ Providing paid sick leave

H.B. 1830 would allow Pennsylvania workers to accumulate paid sick leave. Employees could accrue one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked, with a maximum of 52 hours per year. Small-business employers with fewer than 10 employees would only be required to provide one hour of sick leave per 80 hours worked. State law does not require businesses to offer paid or unpaid sick leave.

Health care issues

↓ Protecting seniors living in long-term care facilities and their homes

H.B. 2252 would protect seniors living in nursing homes by repealing the governor’s ability to expand the state's ability to recover Medicaid costs through estate recovery without legislative approval. If such an expansion proposed in 2009 had passed, significant financial harm to surviving spouses of nursing home residents would have occurred.

↓ Recognize the qualifications of certified registered nurse anesthetists

H.B. 1866 would recognize the qualifications of certified registered nurse anesthetists in state law. This would eliminate confusion about the qualifications of CRNAs in the minds of both patients and insurance companies, and help reduce health-care costs in Pennsylvania.

↓ Protecting patients undergoing eye surgery

H.B. 1188 would make it safer for patients getting eye surgery in Pennsylvania. The state's current medical practice law does not define what is considered surgery of the eyes or eyelids. The bill would define it to prevent an untrained, unlicensed person from performing eye surgery.

Other issues

↓ Study to see if keno could create more college financial aid to Pa. students

H.R. 620 would direct the nonpartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the feasibility of providing additional financial aid to families for higher education through keno games at licensed retail liquor establishments. The resolution was jointly introduced by Reps. Gergely, Neal Goodman and Christopher Sainato.

↓ Fixing the unemployment compensation trust fund

Pennsylvania's Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund – which provides the weekly payments to eligible recipients - is coping with a severe shortfall. In order to pay benefits, the fund is borrowing federal money.

Read Rep. Gergely's solution that newspapers around the state have published.