(The Center Square) – With the theoretical end of budget season in sight, the Pennsylvania House passed a huge volume of bills this week. Here are highlights from the second half of the week.
Eyes remain on the General Assembly to see if, when and how a final budget is passed with support for several of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s initiatives hanging in the balance.
Currently, multi-state corporations can sometimes avoid tax obligations. Per its sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, HB 1610 would require corporations to “pay the CNIT based on the share of their U.S. income that is equal to the share of their U.S. sales in Pennsylvania.” Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia use the same policy.
The House voted unanimously to extend the sunsetting date for the Rare Disease Advisory Council.
The state’s recent addition of a dependent care tax credit that mirrors the federal leaves out those who use an FSA to pay for care. A bill that would amend the law to make such families eligible for the credit passed 128-75.
HB 1445 would ensure that students can’t be denied insurance coverage for medical services provided in a school setting, including telehealth appointments.
A bill passed that would allow the state to apply for waivers to include menstrual hygiene products through SNAP and WIC should the items become available federally. They currently are not.
A bill incentivizing workers in the childcare center with sign-on and retention bonuses passed the House Wednesday.
Rep. Carol Kazeem, D-Chester, saw success with a school update “further providing for Cosmetology Training Through Career and Technical Center Pilot Program.” The bill passed with a resounding 195-7 vote. A similar bill from Rep. Mauel Guzman, D-Reading, for barber training passed 197-5.
Rep. Craig Williams, R-Chadds Ford, sponsored a bill ensuring that deployed service members maintain custody rights. The legislation would bar spouses from making permanent custody changes while a military member is deployed for more than thirty days and protects visitation rights. It received unanimous support.
With a vote of 122-80, a bill developed from the success of home repairs in the American Rescue Plan would use state dollars to create a Home Preservation Program. The program would use $50 million toward competitive grants for local entities to put toward home repair projects.
A bill that would require PennDOT to increase the speed with which they process junk titles has cleared the House. The measure would expedite the removal and disposal of junked and abandoned vehicles.
The House saw the rare final passage of a bill with a Republican prime sponsor, Rep. Alec Ryncavage of Nanticoke. It would institute rules to reduce the duplicative utility poles that exist where new infrastructure has been developed.
Senate Bills
Several bills made it from the Senate to the House and were passed with near unanimous agreement Thursday. The legislation included issues ranging from the Game Code, to workforce shortages to healthcare to cryptocurrency to artificial intelligence.
Barring additional changes, once both chambers have concurrence on a bill, they head to the governor’s desk where his signature enacts them into law.
