The House and Senate convened on Jan. 1 to swear in new and re-elected members and to formally elect their leaders for the year. In the House, twenty-nine members took the oath of office for the first time, and four new Senators took their seats, including two former house members and two freshmen elected to open seats.

Although informally selected in the fall, Rep. Sam Smith (R-Jefferson) was elected to serve as Speaker of the House. Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) and Rep. Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) will continue to serve as the floor leaders of their respective caucuses. In the Senate, Sen. Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) was formally elected as President Pro Tempore, while Sen. Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) and Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) begin another session as majority and minority floor leaders.

Immediately after swearing in, both chambers broke for a few weeks, with the House returning to active session on Jan. 14 and the Senate following on Jan. 22.   

The House of Representatives formally announced its committee chairs as it prepared to begin the new session. The following list highlights committees that typically engage county issues; a full list of committee chairs and members is available at www.house.state.pa.us.

Aging and Older Adult Services will be led by Rep. Tim Hennessey (R-Chester) and former CCAP member Rep. Steve Samuelson (D-Northampton), while Rep. John Maher (R-Allegheny) will chair the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee with Rep. Joseph Petrarca (D-Westmoreland). Rep. Kathy Watson (R-Bucks) and Rep. Louise Bishop (D-Philadelphia) will chair the Children and Youth Committee, and Rep. Ron Miller (R-York) takes over Environmental Resources and Energy with Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware).

The Health Committee is headed by Rep. Matt Baker (R-Bradford) and former CCAP member Rep. Flo Fabrizio (D-Erie), while the Human Services Committee will be led by Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R-Bucks) and Rep. Angel Cruz (D-Philadelphia). Judiciary will be chaired by Rep. Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) and Rep. Thomas Caltagirone (D-Berks), while the Labor and Industry Committee is headed by former county commissioner Rep. Mario Scavello (R-Monroe) and Rep. William Keller (D-Philadelphia).

Acting on New Year's Day, Congress approved legislation, H.R. 8, addressing the $607 billion in year-end federal tax hike and sequestrations set in place under the 2011 Budget Control Act, commonly referred to as the fiscal cliff. The legislation passed the Senate 89-8, and the House 267-157, with all Pennsylvania Senators and Congressmen voting in favor of the legislation.

Despite the action on January 1, the solution is of extremely short duration. The requirement for sequestration - albeit with a nominal reduction in affected lines and amounts - remains, and is extended two months. And although a number of tax and expenditure issues were addressed, the measure's failure to deal with the long term deficit or major expenditure drivers will generate a need to increase the debt limit. Taken together, most observers anticipate those issues will precipitate another fiscal crisis within two months. 

The National Association of Counties (NACo) has released a legislative brief with a summary and highlights of the fiscal cliff deal that provides details on issues of importance to counties.

At the state level, the PA Office of the Budget has projected that, if there is no resolution to sequestration, Pennsylvania stands to lose between seven and eight percent of its federal funding; Pennsylvania's operating budget includes $19.7 billion in federal money. The state agencies that face the most significant cuts from sequestration, pending future congressional action over the next two months, include the Department of Public Welfare and the Department of Education, as well as areas such as economic development.  

The Budget News page of CCAP's website features several analyses of sequestration, including a NACo report that lists specific impacts anticipated for Pennsylvania. 

The state Department of Revenue has released its report on December 2012 revenue collections, which indicates that revenues remain ahead of estimates for FY 2012-2013. Specifically, the General Fund collected $2.4 billion in December, $112.4 million more than anticipated. The fiscal year total to date for General Fund collections is $12.2 billion, $171.5 million above estimates.

Still, the news is mixed. Above-estimate collections for the month and year in corporation tax, personal income tax, realty transfer tax, Motor License Fund, and non-tax revenues are partially offset by below-expectation performance of the sales tax, inheritance tax, cigarette tax, liquor tax and table game revenue.  

In mid-December, the Governor's Energy Executive Patrick Henderson submitted his report to the General Assembly on pipeline placement, as required under the provisions of Act 13 of 2012. The report summarizes issues surrounding the placement of natural gas gathering lines and includes recommendations for the legislature's consideration. 

Gathering lines are the pipelines that are used to transport natural gas from a production facility to a transmission line. With the increase in the number of shale gas wells, the need for gathering lines is also increasing, and often serves as an impediment to opening wells. The report was required to provide a look at how gathering lines can be most efficiently deployed to minimize environmental, community and landowner impacts and what issues and barriers might need to be to addressed to maximize economical production and recovery of natural gas.

The recommendations address how rights-of-way can be used and shared, timely review of environmental permits, and creation of a state map of natural gas gathering lines. The impact on county planning was also considered, with the report recommending that planning offices and gathering line operators work together to understand current and future development plans and implications of proposed pipeline projects.  

The CCAP government relations team has launched a Twitter account to help county officials keep aware of the day-to-day activities of the General Assembly. Counties can follow @PACountiesGR or link directly to the CCAP Twitter page at http://twitter.com/pacountiesgr. The Twitter feed will provide real-time updates of legislative happenings and news from the Capitol. More information on Twitter and creating an account is available under What's New on the CCAP website.

With the increasing importance of the federal agenda, counties should make plans to attend the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference, to be held in Washington, D.C. on March 2-6, 2013. The Conference includes sessions on a broad range of federal issues. NACo's policy committees will also meet during the Conference, to develop the national county legislative work plan. This year's Conference also blocks additional time for visits to Capitol Hill. The Conference agenda and online registration information are now available on the NACo website, www.naco.org.