The following bills of interest saw action this week in the House and Senate--

House

Stopgap General Fund Budget: Senate Bill 1073 (Browne-R-Lehigh), the “agreed-to” $30.8 billion General Fund budget was amended to insert an 11-month stopgap budget in a party-line vote by House Republicans and reported from the House Appropriations Committee.  On the House Floor some Republicans and House Democrats banded together and passed a motion 100 to 99 to revert to the $30.8 billion “agreed-to” General Fund budget.  The bill remains on the House Calendar in position for a final vote.  A House Fiscal Note and summary is available.

“Agreed-To” Fiscal Code Bill: House Bill 1327 (Peifer-R-Pike) was amended by the House Rules Committee on December 21 to strip out much of the “agreed-to” language, including provisions related to giving the General Assembly extra time to review Pennsylvania’s plan for meeting EPA’s Clean Power Climate Rule, killing the conventional oil and gas regulations on the verge of being finalized by DEP, a $12 million Natural Gas Infrastructure Development Fund and $22 million for small water and wastewater project funding for the Commonwealth Financing Authority, and reported out of Committee.

The bill was then recommitted to the House Rules Committee which put back in the “agreed-to” language (including the environmental provisions above) plus one or two extras and reported back out of Committee.

It remains on the House Calendar for action.

“Agreed-To” Pension Reform Bill: Senate Bill 1071 (Browne-R-Lehigh), the “agreed-to” pension reform bill remains on the House Calendar after the House failed to pass the bill 52 to 149 December 19.  A motion to reconsider the vote was made immediately and it remains on the House Calendar.

Tax Code Bill: House Bill 1198 (Dunbar-R- Westmoreland), the Tax Code vehicle, was reported from the House Rules Committee without changes, nonconcurred in by a vote of 173 to 27 on December 19.   The bill returned to the Senate which then voted to insist on its amendments, setting the stage for a House-Senate conference committee on the Tax Code changes needed to fund whatever General Fund budget they want to.

Senate Non-Preferred Appropriations: Senate Bills 912 to 916, non-preferred appropriations bills for state-related universities, were reported from the House Appropriations Committee and remain on the House Calendar for action.

2015-16 Capital Budget: Senate Bill 811 (Hughes-D-Philadelphia) FY 2015-16 Capital Budget bill was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee and is now on the House Calendar for action.  A House Fiscal Note and summary is available.

Utility Tax Calculations: House Bill 1436 (Godshall-R-Montgomery) related to the computation of tax expense for ratemaking purposes for utilities (sponsor summary) was amended and reported out of the House Consumer Affairs Committee and was Tabled.

Senate

$30.2 Billion General Fund Budget: House Bill 1460 (Adolph-R-Delaware) a motion on the Senate Floor stripped out the $30.8 billion “agreed-to” General Fund budget and reinstated the $30.2 billion House Republican budget by a party-line vote of 30 to 19.  The Senate then approved the bill 33 to 17 (Senators Schwank and Dinniman crossing party lines to vote for it) and sent it to the Governor for his action.

Not Quite “Agreed-To” Administrative Code: House Bill 941 (Regan-R-Cumberland) Administrative Code vehicle remains in the Senate Rules Committee on concurrence.  A House Fiscal Note and summary is available.

12/28/2015