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466 overview.pdf

Representative Dave Reed

62nd Legislative District

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Media Contact: Stephen Miskin

717.260.1852

smiskin@pahousegop.com

RepDaveReed.net / Facebook.com/RepReed

 

TO:                  Capitol Correspondents, News Editors, Assignment Editors

 

FROM:            Stephen Miskin

                        Press Secretary to the Majority Leader

 

SUBJ:              House Action for the Week of February 23, 2015

 

DATE:            February 20, 2015

 

 

Liquor Privatization on House Agenda Next Week

 

The state House returns to session on Monday, Feb. 23, to debate and vote on various issues of importance. Session is scheduled for Monday through Friday. All of House session and most committee meetings will stream live at PAHouseGOP.com. Many events also may be viewed at Facebook.com/PAHouseGOP. 

 

Entrepreneurs vs. Dinosaur of Bureaucracy, the PLCB

The House Liquor Control Committee is scheduled to meet Monday (10 a.m., Room G-50, Irvis Office Building) to discuss and vote on legislation (House Bill 466, Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County) aimed at bringing private sector sales of wine and liquor – both wholesale and retail – throughout the Commonwealth. To read an overview of the bill, click on the link at the top of this email.

 

The current state store system was created in 1933 by then-Gov. Gifford Pinchot, who said the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s (PLCB) mission was to make liquor sales “as inconvenient and expensive as possible.” Under anyone’s definition (except the self-interested people working to preserve the status quo), the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) has met and exceeded Pinchot’s mandate.

 

Pinchot’s mandate still persists as PLCB operations turn normally law-abiding citizens into bootleggers. By the PLCB’s own reckoning, border bleed accounts for more than $300 million in lost sales and taxes. An estimated 45 percent of the consumers in the state’s southeast counties cross state lines to purchase alcohol.

 

The PLCB’s recent “modernization and expansion” efforts exhibit why government should not be in business:

  • Using public dollars to build what is, in essence, a party bar with big screen TVs, lounge furniture and top-scale accoutrements in the PLCB’s state-owned headquarters building.
  • Paying nearly $200,000 to an employee-connected company for “courtesy” training.
  • Spending millions of public dollars annually on advertising and millions of dollars more to rebrand their state stores (with a similar name), even though the PLCB has a monopoly on the market in Pennsylvania.
    • As a state agency, their advertising encourages alcohol consumption for holidays, social events and anytime anyone wants a drink.
    • They advertise at professional sporting events, on internet sites (such as Pandora), on billboards and other outlets.
  • Establishing and purchasing an expensive gumball machine-style “kiosk” program for wine purchases from a company with political connections. The system forced consumers who wanted to purchase wine to submit personal information and breathe into a machine monitored by state workers. Incidentally, the kiosk program, as it lost the PLCB more than $1 million and was shut down, is still costing the state in legal fees.
  • Using the board’s monopoly position to market in-house labels such as TableLeaf Wine and Vinestone, in direct competition and at the expense of all other brands.

 

Gov. Tom Wolf recently appointed a career politician, Tim Holden, rather than an administrator or businessman to head up the troubled agency.

 

Three of the PLCB’s former top officials have been under investigation and cited for very clear ethics violations.

 

Pennsylvania residents deserve better.

 

Some people will argue for “modernization.” Can a washboard really be modernized? Or treatment with leeches? Eight track players? A Victrola? A Mercury? A dinosaur? No. And the PLCB is a dinosaur which needs total change.  The #PAHouse will take up that needed change next week. #FreeOurBoozePA.

 

The Weekly Schedule

Identified by bill number, the sponsors and summaries for bills scheduled to be considered in committee or on the House floor are posted below.  More information regarding these bills can be found at PAHouseGOP.com by clicking on the “Research Bills” tab.

 

Monday, February 23, 2015

 

Committee Meetings/Hearings

LIQUOR CONTROL, 10 a.m., Room G-50, Irvis Office Building

  • HB 466 (Rep. Mike Turzai, R- Allegheny):  Privatizes the sale of wine and spirits in the Commonwealth.

FINANCE, 11 a.m., Room B-31, Main Capitol

  • Informational meeting with an overview of the roles of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Pennsylvania Treasury and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

 

Session

On Monday, the House will convene at 1 p.m. for legislative business. The members will vote the uncontested calendar and Rule 35 resolutions.

 

Votes on Second Consideration

  • HB 14 (Rep. Jim Marshall, R-Beaver/Butler): Prohibits members of the General Assembly from creating or maintaining legislative nonprofit organizations.
  • HB 59 (Rep. Matt Baker, R-Bradford/Potter/Tioga): Requires health care providers and hospitals to offer screening tests and treatment for hepatitis C to those born between 1945 and 1965.
  • HB 60 (Rep. Matt Baker, R-Bradford/Potter/Tioga): Prohibits insurance policies from placing oral anti-cancer medications on a specialty tier or charging a co-insurance payment for the medication.
  • HB 147 (Rep. David Maloney, R-Berks): Amends the Pennsylvania Constitution to allow local taxing authorities to exclude from taxation up to 100 percent of the assessed value of the homestead property receiving the exclusion.
  • HB 166 (Rep. Mike Regan, R-Cumberland/York): Prevents convicted sex offenders who are non-compliant in their Megan’s Law registry requirements from receiving welfare benefits.
  • HB 251 (Rep. Adam Harris, R-Franklin/Juniata/Mifflin): Amends the State Lottery Law to allow for a Pennsylvania lottery winnings intercept for state delinquent taxes and outstanding court costs, and requires a determination as to whether a winner receiving public assistance remains eligible.

 

Votes on Third Consideration

  • HB 93 (Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery): Makes a technical correction to the Pennsylvania Construction Code to bring the requirements for municipal boards of appeals in line with regulations promulgated by the Department of Labor and Industry.
  • HB 229 (Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin): Establishes the offense of cyber harassment of a child and makes it a misdemeanor of the third degree.

 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

 

Committee Meetings/Hearings

INSURANCE, 9:30 a.m., Room G-50, Irvis Office Building

  • Informational meeting on state health insurance mandates and the Affordable Care Act.

TOURISM AND RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 9:30 a.m., Room B-31, Main Capitol

  • Informational meeting with a presentation on the proposed Pennsylvania Tourism Partnership.

COMMERCE, 10 a.m., Room 60, East Wing

  • Informational meeting to introduce the leadership of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Department of Banking and Securities, and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

JUDICIARY, 10 a.m., Room 140, Main Capitol

  • HB 73 (Rep. Frank Farry, R-Bucks): Requires that a provider of counseling services notify the district attorney and law enforcement in the municipality in which the counseling center is located if  it is providing services to sexually violent predators.
  • HB 164 (Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery): Establishes the offense of “possession of animal fighting paraphernalia” as a third-degree misdemeanor.
  • HB 186 (Rep. Joseph Hackett, R-Delaware): Amends the Pennsylvania Crime Victims Act to increase a victim’s right to be present during trial proceedings.
  • HB 272 (Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-Washington): Mandates timeframes and technical requirements for the submission and reporting of sexual assault evidence and establishes new rights for sexual assault victims and their families.
  • HB 446 (Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin): Requires the court to impose a mandatory three-year probation period consecutive to and in addition to any other lawful sentence imposed by the court for a person convicted of a Tier III sex offense under Pennsylvania’s Adam Walsh Act.

STATE GOVERNMENT, 10 a.m., Room 205, Ryan Office Building

  • HB 143 (Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks): Protects the personal information of a public safety official and his or her spouse, child or parent.

 

Session

On Tuesday the House will meet at 11 a.m. for legislative business.

 

Votes on Second Consideration

  • HB 75 (Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin): Requires pharmacies located outside of Pennsylvania to register with the State Board of Pharmacy if they fill prescription orders for residents of the Commonwealth.
  • HB 141 (Rep. Mark Gillen, R-Berks/Lancaster): Requires a parent, guardian or person in parental relation to attend a parenting education program or perform community service for failure to comply with compulsory school attendance requirements.
  • HB 158 (Rep. Michael Peifer, R-Pike/Wayne): Allows the Secretary of Education to issue weather-related, safety-related, and health-related emergency declarations under which school entities shall be given flexibility to satisfy the 180 instructional days per school year requirement.
  • HB 209 (Rep. Harry Readshaw, D-Allegheny): Requires all licensees under the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs to report convictions to their licensing board within 30 days.
  • HB 210 (Rep. Seth Grove, R-York): Overhauls the Commonwealth’s public school construction reimbursement process.

 

Votes on Third Consideration

  • HB 14 (Marshall)
  • HB 59 (Baker)
  • HB 60 (Baker)
  • HB 147 (Maloney)
  • HB 251 (A. Harris)

 

 

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

 

Committee Meetings/Hearings

AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES, 9 a.m., Room G-5-, Irvis Office Building

  • HB 264 (Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny): Establishes standards for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in certain long-term care facilities.
  • Informational meeting on Pennsylvania’s LIFE (Living Independence for the Elderly) program.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS, 9:30 a.m., Room 39, East Wing

  • HB 57 (Rep. John Payne, R-Dauphin): Changes the current interest rate structure associated with recovery of purchased gas costs, eliminates the migration rider charged to customers who switch to a competitive supplier and allows recovery of costs incurred to implement customer choice.
  • HB 66 (Rep. Robert Godshall, R-Montgomery): Requires a municipal authority to publicly discuss all acquisitions and how an acquisition will provide a public benefit to the authority’s current ratepayers.
  • HB 140 (Rep. Thomas Killion, R-Delaware): Permits a carpool or vanpool operated by a private operator to be considered a ridesharing arrangement.

EDUCATION, 9:30 a.m., Room 140, Main Capitol

  • HB 64 (Rep. William Adolph, R-Delaware): Requires the State Board of Psychology and the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors to have at least one hour of continuing education in the assessment, treatment and management of suicide risks.
  • HB 512 (Rep. James Roebuck, D-Philadelphia): Expands the Transfer and Articulation Program to include credits for matriculating freshmen who have taken Advanced Placement exams in high school with scores that qualify them for college course credits and also includes students in an International Baccalaureate and College-Level Examination Program.
  • HB 530 (Rep. Mike Reese, R-Somerset/Westmoreland): Changes the formula for funding cyber charter schools, creates a funding commission to make recommendations concerning funding and other matters related to charter schools, and makes other updates to the state’s charter school law.
  • HR 102 (Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York): Establishes the select subcommittee on Technical Education and Career Readiness to investigate, review and make recommendations concerning career training programs.

GAMING OVERSIGHT, 9:30 a.m., Room B-31, Main Capitol

  • Public hearing on small games of chance clubs.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, 9:30 a.m., Room 205, Ryan Office Building

  • HB 33 (Rep. Glen Grell, R-Cumberland): Allows the governing body of a municipality to appoint up to three residents of the municipality to serve as alternate members on the planning commission.
  • HB 290 (Rep. Joseph Hackett, R-Delaware): Changes the composition of the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission.

 

Session

On Wednesday the House will meet at 11 a.m. for legislative business.

 

Votes on Second Consideration

  • HB 466 (Rep. Mike Turzai, R- Allegheny):  Privatizes the sale of wine and spirits in the Commonwealth.

 

Votes on Third Consideration

  • HB 75 (Kauffman)
  • HB 141 (Gillen)
  • HB 158 (Peifer)
  • HB 209 (Readshaw)

 

 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

 

Committee Meetings/Hearings

GAMING OVERSIGHT, 9 a.m., Room 205, Ryan Office Building

  • Public hearing on restaurant and tavern gaming issues.

 

Session

On Thursday the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business.

 

Votes on Third Consideration

  • HB 466 (Turzai)

 

Friday, February 27, 2015

 

Committee Meetings/Hearing

None scheduled.

 

Session

On Friday the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business.

 

 

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