Government news & views with dan debone

Daily Government Affairs News & Views From CEO Dan DeBone 

​I encourage you to reach out to me with your concerns, questions and more as we increase our level of legislative advocacy through the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce. Please feel free to call me at 724-834-2900 or email me at dan@westmorelandchamber.com.

                                                 Government Affairs & General Updates 3/29

1. Lawmakers tackle variety of hot-button issues in Health Department budget hearing. A House hearing examining the state Health Department budget Tuesday was highlighted by discussions about long-term health monitoring at the East Palestine toxic train derailment site, the post-COVID 19 health care landscape, maternal death rates, new state skilled nursing facility regulations and the new multi-purpose state laboratory. The department is completing an Assessment of Chemical Exposure survey of residents and first responders in the vicinity of the Norfolk Southern train derailment last month on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, Acting Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen told the Appropriations Committee. Gov. Josh Shapiro has said there will be a long-term state government presence at the wreck site. State health officials plan to have a discussion with the local communities in that area about the long-term health monitoring needs with an emphasis on state support for the services of local health care providers, said Bogen. Bogen said she expects Norfolk Southern to pay for those costs mentioning Shapiro's efforts in that regard. CLICK HERE to read more.
2. New study sheds light on growth of HOAs across state and need to update laws in response. A new state analysis has identifies more than 5,000 common interest ownership communities, more commonly known as homeowner associations, in Pennsylvania. That's more than double the number of HOAs found in a similar study conducted 12 years ago, and researchers noted that their tally was "undoubtedly an undercount" due to the difficulty of calculating exactly how many HOAs there are in the state. The 2011 study only included data from 39 of the state's 67 counties, and didn't include data from Philadelphia and Allegheny counties, which accounted for 1,319 of the HOAs counted in the new study. Philadelphia had 905 and Allegheny County had 414, so after accounting for the inclusion of those two counties, the new study identified 1,606 more HOAs in the rest of the state than the earlier analysis. The new analysis completed by the Joint State Government Commission, in response to House Resolution 69 of 2021 was intended to be a follow-up to the earlier report and researchers in the new report said they encountered the same obstacles that they had in 2011. CLICK HERE to read more.
3. House Democrat calls for legislation barring cyber and charter schools from advertising that their services are 'free'. A state lawmaker is proposing legislation that would bar charter and cyber charter schools from advertising that their education is free, arguing that the claim is misleading because the services are "Brick-and-mortar charter and cyber charter schools across Pennsylvania are using various forms of advertising to attract and recruit students to increase their enrollment, falsely advertising their services and programs as ‘free.' This could not be further from the truth," Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, said in a cosponsor memo. Schlossberg said that his bill would require that all advertising by charter and cyber charters clarify that the educations they offer are paid for using tax dollars. "This step towards additional transparency is nothing new, and would be consistent with the requirement that paid advertising by state agencies include the phrase "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars" (Taxpayer-Funded Advertising Transparency Act, aka Act 90 of 2015)," he said. Language similar to what he is now proposing had been amended into proposed charter school reforms in 2017 - legislation that passed the House and then passed in the Senate with amendments but died in the House Rules Committee without further action.
4. To move Pennsylvania forward, enact permitting reform - If you watch any of the major cable news networks, you are likely to see people bitterly disagreeing about the news of the day. This may be good for ratings, but it’s terrible for solving problems. In Pennsylvania, you’re seeing something different. If you watched PCN’s call-in program in late January, you saw us — the head of the state’s leading business organization and the head of the state’s building trades union — agreeing about the need to reform Pennsylvania’s permitting process. And, if you saw a recent state House Policy Committee hearing on permitting reform, you would have seen representatives from our organizations explaining how it would benefit businesses, employees and communities. Business and labor agreeing? This has been a rare sight. Today it is a realization that by working together, we can create greater opportunities for every Pennsylvanian and make our state stronger. Permitting reform involves improving the processes by which construction and other development projects obtain approvals from government agencies. The process for applying for and obtaining permits takes too long, lacks transparency and costs businesses money and workers jobs. Permit delays mean that a project cannot receive financing, which can delay or cancel projects. This results in fewer good-paying jobs for the talented workers across our commonwealth who are ready to build a 21st century economy. Last year U.S. Steel selected Arkansas over Pennsylvania for a $3 billion expansion supporting 900 jobs with an average salary in the six figures. Arkansas’ governor at the time, Asa Hutchinson, said that “Arkansas will permit that steel mill, we will build that steel mill, and we’ll have it open for business before you could ever get a permit to even start construction in Pennsylvania.” Read More

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