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WEEKLY SESSION NOTES
Senate Republican Policy Committee
Sen. Jake Corman, Chairman
Monday, December 3, 2007
Senate Bill 1000 (Wonderling) would create the
Voice-Over-Internet Protocol Freedom Act of 2007. The bill would
prohibit the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions from
enacting or enforcing, either directly or indirectly, any law, rule,
regulation, standard, order or other provision having the force or
effect of law that regulates, or has the effect of regulating, the
rates, terms and conditions of voice-over-internet (VoIP) service or
internet protocol-enabled service. Nothing in the act could be
construed to affect the application or enforcement of laws or
regulations that apply generally to consumer protection or unfair or
deceptive trade practices. Further, nothing in the act could be
construed to either mandate or prohibit the assessment of
nondiscriminatory enhanced 911 fees, telecommunications relay service
fees or federal or state Universal Service Fund fees on VoIP service or
to mandate or prohibit the payment of any switched network access rates
or other inter-carrier compensation rates. The act would not affect the
authority of the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions to require a
cable operator to obtain franchises to provide cable service within a
political subdivision pursuant to the Cable Communications Policy Act of
1984. Passed: 34-13.
Senate Bill 1125 (Orie)
would amend the Crimes Code to create the offense of the unauthorized
use of the name, portrait or picture of a deceased soldier. A person
who knowingly uses the name, portrait or picture of a deceased soldier
for commercial purposes without having obtained prior consent to the use
from the soldier, the soldier's spouse, immediate family member, trustee
or legally designated representative would commit a first degree
misdemeanor. The bill would also add a section to the Judicial Code to
establish that a soldier has a right of publicity to control and to
choose whether and how his or her name, portrait or picture is used for
commercial purposes. Under these provisions, a person would be liable
for using the name, portrait or picture of any soldier for commercial
purposes without prior consent by the soldier or by the soldier's
spouse, immediate family member, trustee or legal representative. A
person who uses a soldier's name, portrait or picture without consent is
subject to injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, and
attorney fees and costs. In calculating damages, any profits from the
unauthorized use would be taken into account. These rights and remedies
would supplement any other rights and remedies provided by law. Any
claim for relief would have to be brought within five years after the
unauthorized publication. The soldier's right of publicity would
survive the soldier's death. Upon the soldier's death, the soldier's
rights and remedies could be enforced by the soldier's legally
designated representative, the soldier's spouse, parents, children and
grandchildren, in that order. Passed: 47-0.
Senate Bill 1147
(Washington) would amend the Child Protective Services Law (Chapter 63
of the Domestic Relations Code) to bring Pennsylvania into compliance
with federal law. The bill would require prospective employees of
child-care services, prospective foster parents, prospective adoptive
parents, prospective self-employed family day-care providers and other
persons seeking to provide child-care services under contract with a
child-care facility or program to submit a report of federal criminal
history record information with a full set of fingerprints.
Anyone over 18 years of age residing in a prospective adoptive or foster
home would also be required to provide this information. If a
prospective adoptive or foster parent, or any individual over 18 years
of age residing in the home, has resided outside of the Commonwealth
during the previous five-year period, he or she would have to submit a
certification (obtained within the previous year) from the statewide
central registry or its equivalent in each state in which the person
resided, as to whether the person is named a perpetrator of child abuse.
If the certification reveals that the person named is a perpetrator,
the agency would be required to forward the certification to the
Department of Public Welfare (DPW) for review. The prospective adoptive
or foster parent would not be approved if DPW determines the person
named is the equivalent of a perpetrator of a founded report of child
abuse. The provisions relating to the submission of federal criminal
history record checks for child-care service applicants, self-employed
family day-care providers, and operators of child-care services would
become effective July 1, 2008. The additional provisions relating to
prospective adoptive and foster parents would become effective January
1, 2008. Passed: 47-0.
Senate Bill 1156
(Folmer) would amend the Juvenile Act (Chapter 63 of the Judicial Code)
to bring Pennsylvania into compliance with federal law. The bill would
give a foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative who is providing
care for a child the right, rather than just the opportunity, to be
heard at any hearing. In the case of a permanency hearing, the court
would be required to consult with the child regarding the child's
permanency plan in a manner appropriate to the child's age and maturity.
If the court does not consult personally with the child, the court
would be required to ensure that the child's views are known and
communicated to the court by the guardian ad litem, the child's counsel,
the court appointed special advocate or other person designated by the
court. Passed: 47-0.
Senate Bill 1159 (Rhoades) would designate Long Pond Road in
Tunkhannock Township, Monroe County from the intersection with S.R. 115
eastward to the intersection with Stony Hollow Road as Dr. Joseph
Mattioli and Dr. Rose Mattioli Drive. Dr. Joseph Mattioli and his wife
Dr. Rose Mattioli have owned and operated Pocono Raceway since 1968.
Passed: 47-0.
Senate Resolution 203 (Scarnati) urges the President and
Congress of the United States to suspend funding for the Cross-Border
Trucking Demonstration Project, implemented by the United States
Department of Transportation, which allows Mexican trucks free access to
our nation's roads. Adopted: 46-1.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Senate Bill 778 (Armstrong) would create the Long-Term Care
Patient Access to Pharmaceuticals Act. The legislation would establish
a mechanism whereby patients who are eligible to receive low-cost
prescription drugs through the Veterans' Administration and reside in a
long-term care facility would have access to those drugs. A patient
would be required to sign a form, developed by the State Board of
Pharmacy, authorizing the long-term care facility to administer a drug
acquired from a drug source facility outside the long-term care facility
(Veterans' Administration) and dispensed through a pharmacist employed
by the long-term care facility or a pharmacy who contracts with the
long-term care facility. Patients would be advised that they could be charged a fee
for the repackaging, re-labeling and dispensing of such drugs. The fees
would not exceed $20 for up to 90 units per drug; with an additional fee
of $10 for half tablets and for each additional 90 units. Repackaging
would be in compliance with policies and procedures of the Food and Drug
Administration, the U.S. Pharmacopeia and the long-term care facility.
The legislation would also provide civil immunity for those dispensing
properly repackaged drugs and long-term care facilities properly
administering the drugs from an entity authorized to dispense the drug.
Passed: 49-0.
Senate Bill 826
(Armstrong) would amend Section 8328 of Title 24 (Education) of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to establish a minimum employer
contribution rate for the Public School Employees Retirement System of
6.44 percent plus the premium assistance contribution rate beginning
July 1, 2008. The measure would also require the Public School
Employees Retirement Board to recertify the employer contribution rate
to the Budget Secretary and the employers if this legislation becomes
effective after the Board sets its FY 2008-09 rate. Section 5508 of
Title 71 (State Government) would also be amended to increase the
minimum employer contribution rate for the State Employees Retirement
System from four percent to five percent for the fiscal year beginning
July 1, 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter. Passed: 49-0.
House Bill 296 (R.
Stevenson) would amend the Crimes Code to increase the amount permitted
to be charged for a bad check service fee from $20 to $50. An
additional change would permit debt pooling by organizations in the
business of debt pooling that are exempt from taxation under the
Internal Revenue Code. Passed: 49-0.
Wednesday, December 5,
2007
House Bill 1604 (Harhart) would designate State Route 145 in
Lehigh Township, Northampton County from the intersection of Long Lane
Road northward to the intersection of Main Street in the Borough of
Walnutport, Northampton County as the Battle of the Bulge Veterans
Memorial Highway. Passed: 48-0.
Special Session
Special Session Senate Bill 25 (Waugh) would amend the
Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act to make a number of changes.
The bill would amend the definition of "alternative energy sources" to
clarify that the term "low-impact hydropower" would include a
hydroelectric development which has a nameplate capacity of 21 megawatts
or less, has a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission on or prior to January 1, 1984, and was held on July 1, 2007
in whole or in part by a municipality located wholly within the
Commonwealth or by an electric cooperative wholly within the
Commonwealth. The measure would also clarify that biomass energy would
include the generation of electricity utilizing by-products of the
pulping process and wood manufacturing process, including bark, wood
chips, sawdust and lignins in spent pulping liquors, provided the
electricity is generated in the Commonwealth. An additional change
would classify the generation of electricity utilizing by-products of
the pulping process and wood manufacturing process as a Tier II
alternative energy source if the electricity is generated outside of the
Commonwealth. The bill would also require the Public Utility Commission to increase
annually the percentage share of Tier I alternative energy sources required
to be sold by an electric distribution company or electric generation
supplier by an amount equal to the amount of additional Tier I alternative
energy credits created under the provisions of this legislation.
Passed: 36-13.
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