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JURY COMMISSIONER RULING
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has dealt a setback to counties' mandate relief agenda, with its ruling that Act 108 of 2011, which granted counties the ability to abolish the office of jury commissioner, is unconstitutional. The ruling, in PA State Association of Jury Commissioners v Commonwealth, was not decided on the merits of the statute, but on the basis that it violated the constitutional bar against enactments containing dual subjects.
CCAP, which was added as an intervenor when the case was before the Commonwealth Court, had argued that while the bill dealt with two issues (electronic bids is the other), it was within a single code and both issues dealt with commissioner administrative prerogatives, and in that context is a mechanism regularly used by the legislature in statutes of all types. The Court has ruled in different directions on this topic several times over the last few years, making what appear to be situational judgments.
Under Act 108, county commissioners were authorized to adopt resolutions abolishing the office, effective at the end of the jury commissioners' current term; at least 40 counties adopted the resolution. It is counties' experience that, based on common pleas courts' shift of jury selection and administrative responsibilities to court administrative staff, in most counties the office had at best ceremonial functions, and is a needless expenditure of taxpayer dollars.
Because most jury commissioners would have been up for election this year, the Court gave allowance to the plaintiffs to seek a remedy from the Commonwealth Court on how the office would be reinstated on the ballot. The deadline for briefs was March 22, with the jury commissioners filing a petition and CCAP and the Department of State filing responses. At press time, no schedule was set for the Commonwealth Court to make a determination.
At CCAP's Spring Conference, held in Harrisburg on March 17 to 19, the CCAP Board took action to seek corrective legislation reinstating ability to abolish the office. |
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STEB BILL TO GOVERNOR
Legislation to complete the transfer of the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) to the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) is on its way to the Governor's desk after moving quickly through the legislature. Transfer of the agency was funded in the 2012-2013 budget, but legislation to complete the transfer (SB 1546) died at the end of the last session. In the interim, STEB is operating under DCED through a memorandum of understanding.
The legislation, SB 66, sponsored by Sen. John Gordner (R-Columbia), was unanimously reported from the
House Local Government Committee on March 13, and was approved by the full House by a 196-0 vote on March 21.
In addition to transferring STEB and its traditional functions to DCED jurisdiction, the bill expands STEB duties to include development of an assessment operations and training manual, training programs for county assessors, and standards on contracting for assessment services including public disclosure of the methodology used to value property. STEB would also develop and maintain a centralized property valuation database (accompanied by mandatory electronic reporting by assessment offices). When developing the manual, training, and contract standards, STEB would be required to consult with CCAP and its affiliate Assessors Association of Pennsylvania (AAP).
STEB will also be required to perform a data review when its calculations show a change of more than 10 percent in a county's common level ratio, and would be required to publish and annually update information on the formulas and data standards it uses to compute the common level ratio and other measures of assessment values.
The changes implement several of the recommendations included in the 2010 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee report on assessment practice, and are elements of CCAP's 2013 assessment reform priority. |
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ELECTION, VOTER BILLS MOVE IN SENATE
The Senate has recently taken up several pieces of legislation relating to the election system in Pennsylvania, including SB 436 and SB 37, both introduced by Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster).
Senate Bill 436, which was unanimously approved by the full Senate on March 11, removes the sunset date for the standards previously adopted by the Voting Standards Development Board. The Board is tasked with developing uniform standards that define what constitutes a valid vote cast by paper ballot or electronically, as required by the federal Help America Vote Act. Under current law, the standards adopted by the Board in 2003 were to be applied to elections through 2012; SB 436 makes those standards permanent for future elections. The bill now moves to the House for its consideration.
On March 19, the Senate State Government Committee gave its approval to SB 37, which establishes an electronic voter registration application. The electronic application could be used to register, or to change party enrollment, name or address on a current registration. An applicant would verify his or her identity by providing the last four digits of a social security number, a driver's license number or other identification number issued by PennDOT. Senate Bill 37 is now before the full Senate. |
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DPW NAME CHANGE APPROVED BY HOUSE PANEL
Legislation to change the name of Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare (DPW) to the Department of Human Services was reported out of the House Human Services Committee on March 20.
The proposal, contained in HB 993, is sponsored by Rep. Thomas Murt (R-Montgomery) and provides for a two-year transition period for the Department to make all necessary notifications, and change its website, stationary, signage and publications to the new name. According to Rep. Murt, renaming DPW as the Department of Human Services would remove the stigma often associated with public assistance and the term "welfare," and will more accurately reflect the wide range of services provided to vulnerable citizens through the Department.
The CCAP Board of Directors and Human Services Committee had previously endorsed the proposal, and the matter is currently before the CCAP membership for ratification. The bodies note the term "human services" is consistent with how counties name their own local departments, which serve as the delivery arm for a broad array of human services programs on the Department's behalf.
The committee reported HB 993 as committed by a vote of 18-6, and the bill now goes to the full House for consideration. |
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911 REFORM BILL APPROVED BY HOUSE
The House of Representatives has approved legislation by a 194-0 vote which addresses a number of 911 issues raised in the 2012 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee report on county administration of the 911 system.
House Bill 583, sponsored by committee chair Rep. Stephen Barrar (R-Delaware), tightens a loophole in the provisions regarding recovery of personnel costs, and ends carry-over costs. The latter is an interim measure to address the system's funding shortfall, acknowledging that current subscriber rates do not generate revenue sufficient to meet annual costs and that carry-over costs will eventually deplete system funding altogether, preventing payment of any current costs.
The bill also authorizes the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) to provide counties with
plans that offer direction and incentive for regionalization of technology and voluntary consolidation, with a goal of creating cost savings while still honoring county discretion in the administration of the system.
CCAP has expressed support for the legislation, but only as an interim measure to stabilize the system while a more comprehensive rewrite of the 911 statute, now underway in cooperation with PEMA and emergency management professional groups, is completed. The rewrite is a CCAP 2013 priority. |
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LONG-TERM CARE COUNCIL
The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee met on March 12 to consider a number of bills, including HB 252, introduced by former CCAP member Rep. RoseMarie Swanger (R-Lebanon). The legislation establishes the Pennsylvania Long-term Care Council to advise the Department of Aging and make recommendations on regulatory review and access to care, as well as public education, long-term care models and delivery, and workforce issues.
An Intra-Governmental Council on Long-Term Care was originally created in 1988 to consult with the Department of Public Welfare and issue recommendations related to personal care homes. While the scope of the Council evolved over the years into a panel of providers, advocates and consumers on long-term care policy issues, the statute creating the Council was never updated to reflect this expanded focus.
House Bill 252 makes this update and expands the scope of the Long-term Care Council to all areas of long-term care, including institutional care and home-based and community-based services. As drafted, the Council consisted of several state agency representatives, including the secretaries of Public Welfare, Aging and Health, as well as representation from the legislature, PA Council on Aging, consumer advocates, and providers.
During the committee meeting, Rep. Swanger offered an amendment to add a member to represent CCAP on the Council, as well as a representative of the local Area Agencies on Aging and an additional consumer advocacy representative. The amendment was adopted unanimously and the bill was reported as amended. On March 20, HB 252 received the unanimous approval of the House and has been sent to the Senate for consideration. |
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