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Harrisburg Happenings
A report on the budget hearings held during the week of February 24, 2020
Special Report: 2020-21 Budget Hearings
The Senate Appropriations Committee held its second week of public hearings on Governor Wolf’s proposed state budget for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year. The Appropriations Committee heard detailed reports from several cabinet secretaries and other officials over the four-day period of February 24-27. More information on the budget, as well as photos, audio and video from the hearings, is available at: www.pasenategop.com/state-budget/
Monday, February 24, 2020
Department of Labor & Industry
During the budget hearing with the Department of Labor & Industry, I asked about the potential impact of the Governor’s proposed minimum wage increases on senior citizens due to inflation. Other members of the Appropriations Committee questioned Secretary Jerry Oleksiak about a number of topics including:
- The waiting list for vocational rehabilitation services.
- Ways to boost workforce development, including internships and apprenticeships.
- Vacancies created by the rising number of retiring workers.
- The unemployment compensation system.
- The Governor’s proposed minimum wage increase.
- Job training programs in skilled trades.
- Exempting school construction projects from prevailing wage requirements.
- The decline in disability claims.
- Job training programs.
- Job losses in the agriculture industry.
- Workforce development programs for the next generation of farmers.
- The Strategic Early Warning Network.
- The Employment First program for disabled Pennsylvanians.
- Prevailing wage.
- Job opportunities in the natural gas industry and related fields.
- Increases in the Department’s personnel costs.
- Lead and asbestos remediation.
- Funding for the Industry Partnerships program.
Video of the hearing.
Office of the Auditor General
During the budget hearing on the Auditor General’s Office, I asked about pharmacy benefit managers and transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed a number of topics with Auditor General Eugene DePasquale including:
- The impact of reductions in funding on operations in the Auditor General’s Office.
- Fraud, waste and abuse in the Department of Human Services.
- Pharmacy benefit managers and transparency in the pharmaceutical industry.
- Audits of managed care organizations.
- The Auditor General’s public advocacy of the legalization of marijuana.
- Cybersecurity initiatives.
- Voter registration integrity.
- The Governor’s proposed fee for state police service.
- Enforcement of the state Dog Law.
- Bidding for school transportation services.
- Performance audits and reviews of workforce development agencies.
Video of the Hearing.
Department of Aging
Programs and services to support senior citizens were among the issues discussed during a budget hearing with Department of Aging Secretary Robert Torres. Topics included:
- Waiting lists for services.
- The new Community HealthChoices program.
- Funding for senior centers.
- Adult Protective Services and programs to help seniors age in place.
- Prescription assistance programs.
- Prescription rebate programs.
- The impact of skill games on the Lottery Fund.
- Reimbursement rates for struggling service providers.
- Efforts to combat dementia and Alzheimer’s.
- Enrollment in PACE and PACENET.
- The declining number of available beds at nursing homes.
- Improvement projects at senior centers.
Video of the hearing.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Liquor Control Board
During the budget hearing with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, I raised concerns about the condition and availability of the state stores in the Erie region. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed issues including:
- Spending and borrowing proposed for facilities and equipment.
- Transfers to the General Fund.
- Packaging and territorial agreements.
- A $475 million no-bid contract for warehousing and distribution in the southeast.
- State stores that operate on limited hours.
- Online sales and e-commerce system.
- Data breaches and hacking.
- Plans to upgrade facilities in Lancaster.
- Staffing flexibility.
- Out-of-state wineries.
- Enforcement of underage drinking offenses.
- Sales made by credit and debit cards.
- Modernization measures.
Video of the hearing.
Department of Transportation
During our budget hearing with Acting Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian, I expressed my opposition to implementing toll roads to pay for road maintenance & my concern about the environmental impact of road salt runoff. Other members of the Senate Appropriations Committee discussed issues including:
- Wait times for processing REAL ID applications.
- Transfers from regional projects to interstates.
- Transfers from the Motor License Fund to fund the State Police.
- Cost overruns and delays on projects.
- Regional passenger rail.
- Use of private-sector contractors.
- Emissions testing requirements.
- Structurally deficient bridges.
- Funding the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River & Bay.
- Federal transportation funding.
Video of the hearing.
Treasury
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee questioned Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella about several issues including:
- Pennsylvania’s fiscal condition.
- Pennsylvania’s debt.
- Property taxes and growth in state spending.
- Short-term borrowing and cash flow fluctuations.
- Growth in government union salaries.
- The Unclaimed Property Program.
- The Treasury’s request for increased funding.
Video of the hearing.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Department of Human Services
During the budget hearing with Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller, I expressed my deep disappointment with efforts to move Pennsylvanians from welfare to work. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed issues including:
- Counties’ needs-based budget requests.
- Waiting lists for intellectuals with disabilities.
- Managed Care Organizations and Community HealthChoices.
- Regulation changes for serving individuals with intellectual disabilities.
- Preventing nursing home closures.
- Ensuring that $3 million PA funding for Planned Parenthood would not be used for abortions.
- Reimbursement rates for independent pharmacies.
- Breaking the cycle of poverty.
- Getting students into all-day technical schools.
- Including lottery winnings in calculating public assistance.
- Increasing awareness and providing services for mental health issues within farm families.
- Rising Medical Assistance Transportation Program costs and preventing abuse.
- The PA Workwear program.
- Nontraditional child care services.
- Performance Based Budgeting Board review findings.
Video of the hearing.
Department of Health
During the hearing with the Department of Health, I asked about efforts to battle the Coronavirus and prevent the spread of the disease in Pennsylvania and raised concerns about safe injection sites.
I also asked about obtaining more data on the toxicology of gun violence offenders. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed the following issues:
- Cuts in Lyme disease funding.
- The prescription drug monitoring program.
- A potential bias in a health study on fracking.
- The state’s Medical Marijuana Program.
- Vaping.
- Telemedicine.
Video of the hearing.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Department of Education
During the budget hearing with the Department of Education, I asked about pending approval of a community college in Erie and how that college would be funded. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed issues including:
- The Governor’s cut in school safety grants from $60 million to $15 million.
- Costs associated with mandated full-day kindergarten.
- Career and technical schools.
- A new program that would require CPR education in schools.
- The rollout of Act 64 providing school districts with flexible instruction days.
- Funding for remediating “toxic schools” that pose health risks to students.
- Asbestos and lead issues in schools.
- The role that telemedicine can play in providing students with access to doctors and counselors.
- A new agricultural education curriculum for students.
- The pending approval of a community college in Erie.
- Improving literacy and providing earlier screening for dyslexia.
- The popularity of the Education Improvement Tax Credit Program.
- Mental health assessments for students.
Video of the morning session with the Department of Education.
Video of the afternoon session with the Department of Education.
Department of Community & Economic Development
During the budget hearing on the Department of Community & Economic Development, I discussed Erie’s successful Opportunity Zones and the need for a CRIZ in the city. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed a number of issues including:
- Affordable housing.
- Ben Franklin Technology Partnerships.
- Tax credit programs.
- Erie’s Opportunity Zones.
- The CRIZ program.
- International investment in Pennsylvania.
- The Governor’s threatened veto of legislation providing for energy and fertilizer manufacturing tax credit.
- The impact of the Governor’s proposed carbon tax.
- The Hotel Occupancy Tax.
Video of the hearing.
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