Annual Special Awards Program

Harrisburg Capitol Update 
 
 On November 17, 2011, the House and Senate broke for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Since the start of session in January, the major issues being addressed in the Capitol remain as we approach December and the end of 2011.  

• Legislative Redistricting
• Marcellus Shale Tax or Impact Fee
• School Vouchers and Education Reform
• Transportation Funding
• Privatization of the Liquor Control Board and/or other state-owned entities
• Expungment Legislation
• Cooperative Roofing Purchasing Legislation
• Historic Preservation Legislation
• Green Legislation

Legislative Redistricting 
  

Pennsylvania employs two distinct processes for legislative and Congressional redistricting. With respect to Congressional redistricting, the Pennsylvania General Assembly bears primary responsibility, proposing and passing the redistricting plan as ordinary legislation. As such, the Governor of Pennsylvania has the power to veto the plan. The commission includes all four caucus floor leaders. The fifth member, Superior Court president judge emeritus Stephen McEwen, casts the deciding vote.

The Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted on Monday, October 31, 2011, by a 3-to-2 vote in favor of Republican-designed preliminary plans for the 50 seats in the state Senate and 203 in the House. The Senate plan moves a district from the Pittsburgh area to fast-growing Monroe County.  In the House, the current proposal would add seats in Allentown, Berks County, Chester County and York County, all in the state's eastern half, while cutting out existing districts in Erie and Philadelphia and two in Allegheny County. Population census studies have shown that a majority of the population loss for the Commonwealth is focused in the Pittsburgh region.

A public hearing was held on November 18, 2011, to receive testimony on the plan filed on October 31, 2011. After the preliminary plans were approved by the commission, the clock starts on a 30-day public comment period, followed by a 30-day court challenge period. Depending on court challenges, the new districts could take effect as early as late January 2012.

Marcellus Shale Tax or Impact Fee 
 
 There are two major impact fees mak­ing their way through the Gen­eral Assem­bly: House Bill 1950 and Sen­ate Bill 1100. Both plans limit local rev­enue to coun­ties host­ing drillers, rather than dis­trib­ut­ing the majority of it through­out the state.

The main dif­fer­ence between the two plans is who assesses and col­lects the levy. HB 1950 wants that to stay at the county level. County com­mis­sion­ers would deter­mine whether or not to imple­ment a fee. The county would col­lect the rev­enue, then, and dis­trib­ute it to munic­i­pal­i­ties and the state.

In HB 1950 lan­guage  that would "super­sede and pre­empt" all munic­i­pal reg­u­la­tions deal­ing with nat­ural gas drilling. The statewide stan­dards the bill would impose have the back­ing of the main indus­try trade group, the Mar­cel­lus Shale Coali­tion, which has long com­plained about ordi­nances that dif­fer from town­ship to town­ship. This has been a very controversial point and will be throughout the debate on this issue.

HB 1950 and SB 1100 have each passed their respective chambers and now the negotiations will need to begin. A conference committee is likely but that will have to be ironed out when the Legislature resumes in December.

School Vouchers and Education Reform 
 
 The measure, known as Senate Bill 1, is now in the state House of Representatives. Leaders in that chamber have said they are in no hurry to act on this particular bill. However, Gov. Tom Corbett has made vouchers, along with other education reforms, a priority for the fall legislative session so that could sway the House to act soon.

Senate Bill 1 would provide taxpayer-funded grants to income-eligible students in certain poor-performing public schools - including nine schools in Harrisburg School District and one in Lebanon School District - to take to another public or private school where they are accepted.

While the way the voucher program is structured in Senate Bill 1, the proposal will likely change as it makes its way through the legislative process; many believe this will not be a priority until the budget process is in full swing.

Transportation Funding 
 
 The House Transportation Committee approved legislation HB 3, which would enable Pennsylvania to enter into transportation-specific public-private partnerships as a tool to help the Commonwealth meet its growing transportation infrastructure needs. 

Public-private partnerships (P3s) are contractual arrangements in which the private sector teams with government to accelerate the maintenance, improvement and expansion of roads, bridges and other infrastructure, such as ports, airports, transit systems and parking facilities. Under a P3, the public entity maintains ownership of the asset or facility, but contracts with a private entity to develop, construct, manage, operate or finance a given project. 

Pennsylvania's infrastructure includes 5,646 structurally deficient state-owned bridges, the most of any state in the nation and more than in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland combined. Currently, 28 states and Puerto Rico have enacted laws authorizing the implementation of public-private partnerships. P3s are endorsed by the United States Department of Transportation, and both the previous administration of Gov. Ed Rendell and current administration of Gov. Tom Corbett have publicly expressed support of P3s. 

Privatization of the Liquor Control Board and/or other state-owned entities 
 
 A plan proposed by House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, to close 609 state stores and replace them with 1,250 private licenses - could bring an upfront payout of $1.3 billion to $1.9 billion. That's close to Turzai's initial target of $1.5 billion to $2 billion when he opened the debate in July. The Truzai proposal ignores the big issue: making it easier to sell beer in supermarkets. Supermarkets and convenience stores criticize the bill for doing nothing to change the state's beer sales structure. They envision beverage coolers lined with beers and wines.

This summer, Senate President Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, said the state should hold off on privatizing the liquor stores and instead remove regulations from the agency so it can operate more like a private-sector business. Last month, Scarnati moderated his stance. He hinted that he would give a privatization bill thorough consideration in return for support from House Republicans on other issues, such as natural gas drilling impact fees, which Scarnati has identified as his top priority.

Regardless of the outcome, this issue will likely be back, given Corbett's strong philosophical interest in getting government out of the business of selling alcohol.

Expungement Legislation
HB 646 (Harper) 
 
 

This legislation authorizes the 29 state licensing boards and commissions under BPOA to expunge a disciplinary record of a certificate holder, registrant or licensee upon written application to the board.

In order for the board or commission to approve a request the disciplinary record must:

1) Be at least four years old;

2) Be the only disciplinary record the applicant has with the board;

3) Applicant must not have had a disciplinary record previously expunged by the board; and

4) Disciplinary record must have involved a violation which was, or would presently be, prosecuted under the citation program for minor violations.

None of the state licensing boards and commissions under BPOA currently has authority to expunge any disciplinary records.

AIA Pennsylvania has advocated and championed this issue for several years. We are hopeful that this can move through the House this spring and are working on a legislative strategy with the primary bill sponsor.

Cooperative Roofing Purchasing
SB 1192 (Vance) 
 
This legislation would require a county, municipality or school district to competitively bid all roofing projects exceeding $410,000. If a brand name is specified in the bid, a brand name equivalent must be acceptable. All bid specifications must be prepared by a design professional and any consultant offering professional services related to a roofing project must disclose any financial interest with a roofing manufacturer or middleman. Cooperative agreements can not be used for roofing projects. Any violations could be filed with the Attorney General's office.  

Two businesses in central Pennsylvania have filed lawsuits against a school district for the purchase of roofing through cooperative agreements.

The system of creating cooperative purchasing agreements has been an issue throughout the commonwealth for some time. As the Corbett administration begins to rethink its role in government, this issue will start to begin to get attention. The legislation is currently in the Senate State Government Committee.

AIA Pennsylvania remains focused on this issue and will be ramping up our efforts this fall.

Historic Preservation
SB 1150 (Smucker)
 
 SB 1150 would apply only to commercial renovation projects and would be limited to structures within designated historic districts. Statewide the program would be capped at $10 million annually. Twenty-five percent of the renovation cost would be eligible per project, for a maximum amount of $500,000 per year. State tax credits could be combined with federal tax credits of up to 20 percent, and the state program would piggy-back on the federal historic requirements.

This legislation was moved out of the Senate Finance Committee by a unanimous vote and is headed to Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.

AIA Pennsylvania has endorsed this program for many years and this issue is a very real possibility this year given an administration that has a more business focus.

Green Legislation
HB 193 (Harper) 
 
 

AIA Pennsylvania seeks to increase the number of high performance, energy-efficient "green" buildings constructed in both the private and public sectors. Green buildings use resources, such as energy and water more efficiently and have systems in place to take advantage of existing natural resources. At a time when the United States is trying to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and trying to decrease the human impact on the environment, building high-performance, energy-efficient buildings is a universal solution and have systems in place to take advantage of existing natural resources.

With our coalition partners in the environment, AIA Pennsylvania has endorsed HB 193. The bill is on a list to move out of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee in December. Legislative time constraints restricted is movement before the Thanksgiving break.

PHMC New Executive Director 
 
 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) Chairman Andrew E. Masich announced that James M. Vaughan, of Washington, D.C., has been appointed as the agency's new executive director, effective Nov. 28. 

 Vaughan most recently served as Vice President, Stewardship of Historic Sites for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. Prior to that Vaughan has led several historic organizations including The Hermitage, Home of President Andrew Jackson in Hermitage, TN, The San Diego Historical Society, San Diego, CA, The Hagley Museum & Library, Wilmington DE and Strawberry Banke, Inc., Portsmouth, NH. 

 Vaughan comes to the PHMC with more than 30 years of experience in managing museums and historical organizations and has been the recipient of numerous national awards. They include being named to the American Association of Museum's Centennial Honor Roll, which pays tribute to 100 of America's museum leaders who have worked during the past 100 years to innovate, improve and expand how museums in the United States serve the public. 

 Vaughan holds both a master's degree in higher education administration and a bachelor's degree in history from Ohio State University. He has completed Ph.D. work at the University of New Hampshire.

 Vaughan succeeds Barbara Franco, who leaves the commission after nearly 7 years of service, effectively guiding the commission through challenging economic times and limited fiscal resources. Masich and the commission expressed their deep gratitude to Franco for her dedication and professionalism.

 The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Visit the commission online at www.phmc.state.pa.us. 

Preservation PA Conference 
 
 For the first time, the 2012 Preservation Combination brings together the annual summer meeting of the Transportation Research Board's Committee on Historic and Archaeological Preservation inTransportation, the 35th Annual Pennsylvania Preservation Partnerships Conference and the 14th annual Byways to the Past Conference.

 Preservation Combination will be held July 15th-18th at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square.

 The conference is co-sponsored by theTransportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Preservation Pennsylvania, the Federal Highway Administration, HeritagePA, and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservationand Natural Resources.

 Registration will begin in January of 2012, but it is not too early to book your hotel room at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square. Please visit the conference website for more information.

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