HARRISBURG — Putting more money into public transit and roads and bridges got attention as a high-profile piece of unfinished business after the state budget was done in July, but it now appears it will remain unfinished this year.
Lawmakers’ final five session days of the year start Monday. The slew of active bills include ones on artificial intelligence, help for traumatized first responders, and health care protections. Beyond that, senators face a nasty dispute involving the state revenue secretary.
The transit-funding issue received a lot of attention both before and after the budget was signed on July 11. It increased state support for public transit by $80 million, far less than the $283 million Gov. Josh Shapiro originally wanted. Mr. Shapiro and others hoped an autumn deal for more money would happen.
But statements made in the last few days make it seem unlikely.
Sen. Jay Costa, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate, said new funding for transit must be “decoupled” as an issue from the debate on funding road and bridge work. The Republican majority leader, Sen. Joe Pittman of Indiana County, said, “In order to invest more in mass transit, support for transportation infrastructure also must be amplified,” and a new funding source besides the General Fund must be found.
Meanwhile, a face-off involving Revenue Secretary Pat Browne was extended Wednesday.
Mr. Browne filed an appeal in state Supreme Court in a case where Senate Republicans want to compel him to appear in the chamber to answer questions about taxes raised in a special tax zone he helped to create when he was a lawmaker. The senators say the information is needed to evaluate how well the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone is working.
The appeal came after Commonwealth Court rejected Mr. Browne’s petition for an injunction to stop Senate Republicans from holding him in contempt, taking him into custody or compelling him to disclose tax information he says is protected by confidentiality provisions in state law.
Among the active bills in Harrisburg is one one that passed the House in April but has been stalled in a Senate committee for months. It calls for conspicuous labeling on content produced using artificial intelligence.
The prime sponsor, Rep. Chris Pielli, D-Chester, said the concept was as straightforward in consumer protection as “caveat emptor,” the Latin phrase for “buyer beware.” Currently, however, Mr. Pielli said the environment is such that, “How do you expect people to do that when you are using artificial intelligence that is so good that you wouldn’t know?”
The chairwoman of the Senate committee, Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Montgomery, said there are a “couple of issues” with the bill and it is unlikely to pass. One of those issues, she said, is an amendment made to it that added language on AI-generated child porn. That issue is viewed as separate from consumer concerns, Ms. Pennycuick said, and a separate bill on that topic already has been approved by lawmakers.
But, she said, next year “we absolutely want to work with the House on getting a labelling bill through.”
A bill that passed the Senate unanimously this month and awaits action in a House committee would allow first responders to receive Workers Compensation benefits after suffering a “post-traumatic stress injury.” Prime sponsor Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, said of the unique stresses faced by first responders, “We need to keep these people healthy and whole.”
She noted that a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware, already passed the House and is awaiting action in a Senate committee.
Rep. Mark Gillen, R-Berks and minority chairman of the House committee, said the concept of PTSI among first responders is “real” and “needs to be addressed.” At the same time, Mr. Gillen said, there are financial costs associated with the bill — including for local communities — and lawmakers need to balance care of first responders with “fiduciary duty to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
Separately, a trio of bills that passed the House earlier this month would provide health insurance protections in the event similar protections under federal law — including under the Affordable Care Act — are revoked or no longer available. All three got full Democratic support and some Republican votes in the House, and will now go to the Senate for consideration.
One of them is sponsored by Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, and contains a prohibition on insurers’ imposing annual and lifetime limits on the cost of medical care, should the current federal prohibition be removed. A second bill contains a prohibition on denying health insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
The third would maintain health insurance coverage for children up to age 26 through a parent’s health insurance policy if existing federal protections disappeared. Its sponsor, Rep. Eddie Pashinski, D-Luzerne, said in an interview the bill was “just trying to protect Pennsylvania constituents,” but it was unclear how much support it would get in the Republican-controlled Senate.
First Published: October 21, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: October 21, 2024, 5:47 p.m.
