January 23, 2012
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Pennsylvania Senate Republican News Brief

"There are many different views and disagreements over policy about the gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. But there is at least one thing on which there is a broad consensus – the necessity of being prepared to react and respond when something goes wrong."

-- Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Management Committee Chair Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) on passage of her legislation to improve safety and community protections at Pennsylvania wellsites.

Preview

Live Streaming of PA Supreme Court Oral Argument on Reapportionment Plan

The state Supreme Court is holding oral arguments Monday for petitions challenging the Final Reapportionment Plan. The consolidated hearings are being held in the Supreme Court Courtroom of the Main Capitol Building. Proceedings video is being streamed live at PASenateGOP.com.

On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin), will hold a public hearing on Pennsylvania's fiscally distressed school districts. (10 a.m. Room 1 N. Office Bldg.)

Review

Senate Acts to Boost Wellsite Safety, Improve Community Protections

Legislation designed to maximize wellsite safety and improve community protections received final approval by the Senate on Wednesday.

The comprehensive changes outlined in Senate Bill 995, sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Management Committee Chair Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne), will reduce the risk for workers, first responders and the community when things go wrong at drilling sites.

The measure requires well operators to post detailed 911 response information at the entrance to each well site. For more on Senate Bill 995, please see In the Spotlight, below.
Listen | Watch

State System of Higher Ed Reform Measures Approved by Senate

The Senate approved three measures Tuesday to provide several benefits to Pennsylvania's 14-member State System of Higher Education (SSHE).

Senate Bill 1133, sponsored by Sen. Don White (R-Indiana), would allow all SSHE universities to offer applied doctorate degrees, a level of education currently only available at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Universities would have to demonstrate the cost-benefit and need for the proposed programs and provide a capacity analysis when the proposed degree program is offered at another member university.

Senate Bill 1308, sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bucks), would help universities keep and recruit professors by removing a provision in current law that prohibits employees from entering into economic development agreements to develop or market intellectual property, such as research.   Professors in the state-related and private universities do not have such a prohibition. The agreements would also be subject to the Right to Know Law and would be listed on the State Treasury Department website.

Senate Bill 1322, sponsored by Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster), would reduce costs by allowing the SSHE to enter into an agreement with an entity for the cooperative use of supplies and services. All purchases and agreements would have to be the result of competitive bidding and in accordance with state laws.

For more on Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education schools, please see Fast Facts, below.

Senate Again Passes Juvenile Justice Reform Measure

The Senate again approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) to require judges to state on the record the reasons behind disposition orders.

It is part of a legislative package intended to reform the juvenile justice system and protect the fundamental rights of juveniles entering the system in the wake of the "Kids for Cash" scandal in Luzerne County.

The Senate passed Senate Bill 818 unanimously in June but it was amended and returned by the House of Representatives. It requires juvenile court judges to put on the record their reasoning for the decisions they make in respect to the placement of juveniles who come before them. If sentences are being handed out disproportionate to the offenses, the record will help reviewers in detecting seeming imbalance or possible misconduct.

Senator Baker: "Ask just about anyone in Luzerne County, and they will tell you that reform legislation is needed and demanded. People rightfully expect each branch of state government to put in place every reasonable remedy possible to prevent a repetition."
Listen | Watch

Vogel Announces Measure to Make Gasoline Cheaper for Western Pennsylvanians

Sen. Elder Vogel (R-Beaver) announced bipartisan legislation Thursday designed to make gasoline cheaper for western Pennsylvanians.

The legislation would remove a costly and burdensome regulation requiring a special "boutique" blend of gasoline from being sold in the seven-county Pittsburgh-area of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties during the summer months. This "summer gas" is routinely more expensive than gasoline sold in the rest of Pennsylvania and also in neighboring Ohio and West Virginia.

According to a study performed by Kevin J. Lindemer LLC, the prices could become dramatically higher as a result of the potential closing of three refineries in the Philadelphia area. In addition, the legislation, introduced with Sen. Tim Solobay (D-Washington), will allow for the termination of another regulation requiring gas stations in the same seven-county region in Pittsburgh, as well as the five county region of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia, to install Stage II vapor recovery systems on fuel pumps.

Senator Vogel: "Our legislation is a commonsense, bipartisan proposal that would finally end an unfair and costly regulation on the people of western Pennsylvania. This regulation is nothing more than a hidden tax, not only at the pump but also in the goods and services we use."

In the Spotlight

Senator Baker's legislation requires the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt emergency regulations directing the operators of all unconventional wells to:

• Adopt a unique GPS coordinate address for each unconventional well at both the access road entrance and wellpad site.
• Register the address with PEMA, DEP and the county emergency management organization within the county where the unconventional well is located.
• Require the development of an emergency response plan and file that plan with PEMA, DEP, and the county emergency management organization with jurisdiction over the unconventional well. The county shall then disseminate the GPS address and emergency response plan to the local emergency management organization in which the unconventional well is located.
• Post a reflective sign at the entrance to each well site with the specific address of that site, the coordinates for the site, the emergency contact number for the operator and such other information as PEMA or DEP deems necessary.

Senator Baker: "This bill provides for the emergency preparedness required to protect the health and safety of our communities, and safeguard the environment against trouble turning into catastrophe."

Fast Facts