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By Senator Bob Robbins Dear Friend, I am pleased to send you my Session Wrap Up e-newsletter. This e-newsletter features events and legislative activities from the session week beginning January 23, 2012. If you find this e-newsletter useful, I invite you to visit my website www.senatorrobbins.com for more information about your state government. If you do not wish to receive these e-newsletters, please click the "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of the page. If you would like to contact my office, please go to my web page and click the "contact" button. Please do not "reply" directly to this e-mail. Sincerely, Bob Robbins Military families education compact bill headed to Governor I am proud to report that Senate Bill 159, my bill to help students of military families cope with the frequent and stressful relocations associated with active duty service, is headed to the Governor for enactment into law. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children legislation on Tuesday. The Senate unanimously approved the legislation on March 7, 2011. Currently, 39 states have already passed similar legislation and joined the compact. The measure authorizes Pennsylvania to enter into the Interstate Compact as a way to make education more accessible to children of military families and make school transfers and transitions more uniform and less stressful. The average student in a military family faces transition challenges more than twice during high school, and most military children will attend six to nine different school systems from kindergarten through graduation. The Compact provides a comprehensive approach to address the major areas of education that are affected, such as the transferring of education records, course sequencing, graduation requirements and power of custodial parents and guardianships during deployments. Governor to get measure helping smaller townships I am also pleased to report that my bill to help Pennsylvania's smaller townships save money on their health care costs is also headed to Governor Corbett's desk for his signature and enactment into law. Senate Bill 894 amends the Second Class Township Code to authorize townships to pay the cost, in whole or in part, of the expenses associated with supplemental Medicare insurance coverage for supervisors and their employees. This authorization will provide continued health care coverage for eligible township personnel at significantly reduced costs to taxpayers. This is a great way for these smaller municipalities to save money without adversely impacting their employees or taxpayers. Currently, the Second Class Township Code mandates a group insurance plan for a township that provides health insurance coverage to its employees, but does not allow the township to reimburse individuals for any type of alternative coverage, including Medicare, or the costs associated with such coverage. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill on Wednesday. The Senate unanimously approved the bill on Dec. 12, 2011. Senate approves measure to extend UC benefits The Senate approved legislation on Monday that will enable about 17,000 Pennsylvanians to continue receiving unemployment compensation benefits. Senate Bill 1375 is now before the House Labor and Industry Committee for consideration. Congress approved a 60-day extension of federal funding for the benefits in late December, but Pennsylvania must "tweak" the state's Unemployment Compensation Law in order to take advantage of the extension. Bicycle safety bill clears Senate A measure setting a four-foot minimum passing distance for motor vehicles when passing bicycles and prohibiting sudden right turns in front of cyclists is headed to the Governor's desk following Senate approval on Tuesday. House Bill 170 requires bicyclists to operate on the far right side of the roadway when proceeding at less than the prevailing speed, except in the case of unsafe road conditions or on roads with a width of not more than one lane of traffic in each direction. The bill allows motorists to pass bicyclists in marked "No-Passing Zones" as long as it is safe to do so in the judgment of the motorist and as long as the four-foot minimum passing distance is maintained. Senate approves bill to accelerate critical utility infrastructure improvements The Senate unanimously approved legislation on Wednesday that will accelerate the replacement of aging natural gas, electric and wastewater systems in the Commonwealth, create new jobs and increase public safety. House Bill 1294 will establish a new financing method – known as a distribution system improvement charge process (DSIC) – to expedite utility infrastructure projects. This will allow natural gas distribution companies, electric distribution companies and wastewater companies to accelerate the replacement of existing corroded, brittle or other at-risk lines, funded by a small surcharge. Currently, utilities must wait for the completion of a rate case to begin receiving a return on their investment – a time-consuming process that delays projects and leads to higher costs for consumers. The bill was amended in the Senate to include important safeguards for consumers. To aid in enforcement and implementation of the plan, utilities would be required to reconcile their expenditures, file a long-term infrastructure plan with the Public Utility Commission, and be subject to audits. HB 1294 now returns to the House for concurrence in Senate amendments. Senate approves corrections officers' pay disparity bill The Senate approved a bill Tuesday addressing pay differences between managers and lower-ranking officers in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Senate Bill 1019 provides that a "corrections manager" shall receive not
less than the same annual percentage salary and fringe benefit increase as
received by the highest ranking corrections officer participating in collective
bargaining. SB 1019 now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. |
Main Capitol
Mercer County
Crawford County | |
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