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The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on April 29 regarding SB 1215, which would transfer prothonotaries and clerks of courts to the state. CCAP supports the legislation as part of its priority on commonwealth responsibility for court funding. CCAP deputy director Brinda Carroll Penyak explained the history behind the legislation, based on a 1987 Supreme Court ruling that found a lower court system funded by 67 different counties created an inherently unequal system of justice and called for the state to take over funding and administration of the lower courts. To date only transfer of the court administrator and certain deputies to the commonwealth payroll has been completed.

Senate Bill 1215, introduced by Sen. Don White (R-Indiana), would undertake the next recommended step by transferring prothonotaries and clerks of court as well. The costs incurred by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) for the take-over would be met by reductions in the total per-judicial position funding received by counties, and would be budget neutral for both the state and counties. The current office holder would be given a choice of maintaining the office or transferring to state employment, but the proposal would eventually result in the repeal of the elected positions.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has reported legislation to create an electronic prescription drug monitoring program, which is a key element of a comprehensive strategy to address the epidemic of overdose and death that results from the abuse of prescribed opiates, and is a CCAP legislative priority.

Senate Bill 1180, introduced by Sen. Pat Vance (R-Cumberland), would require prescription drug dispensers to submit timely information to a statewide database regarding each controlled substance dispensed. Prescribers in turn would have to query the program for each new patient and could judge whether they believe a patient may be abusing or diverting drugs. The database would also be accessible by dispensers and law enforcement. The committee unanimously approved an amendment to the bill, addressing additional patient protections, and reported the bill as amended with Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny) the only dissenting vote.

With the expiration of MAP-21 quickly approaching on Sept. 30 and the Highway Trust Fund nearing bankruptcy, a long-term federal surface transportation bill was unveiled April 29 by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. The proposal, the Grow America Act, is a $302 billion, four-year surface transportation reauthorization.

The House Children and Youth Committee held a hearing on April 29 to discuss SB 27, a bill that would require an additional exchange of information between county children and youth agencies and licensed medical practitioners. CCAP affiliate Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators (PCYA) submitted written testimony seeking clarification of the role of county agencies.

The bill would require county agencies to send a letter to a child's physician each time there is an investigation or assessment, another letter with the assessment results, and a copy of the family service plan for each child with an active case. PCYA's comments noted that county agencies already collaborate with medical professionals in the shared goal of a child's well-being, and if there is a cause to contact a child's primary care physician, the agency does so. Providing such information in every case would increase the administrative burden for county agencies, and also compound the issue of expunction if a report is unfounded since counties would be tasked with notifying all practitioners involved of the need to expunge information from their records.

CCAP and its affiliate Assessors Association of Pennsylvania (AAP) provided testimony recently to the House Local Government Committee on HB 161. As introduced by Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams), the bill would require assessors to consider the value of a mobile home or manufactured home as listed in a national guide book to arrive at its assessed value, as well as any depreciation of the unit and the ability of the home to be transported.

CCAP director of government relations Lisa Schaefer explained that the primary objective of the assessment system is to maintain fairness and equity among taxpayers which, in the context of the constitution's uniformity clause, means all property owners must be taxed at uniform values relative to other property owners. CCAP opposes HB 161 as drafted because it violates the principle of uniformity, requiring mobile homes to be valued in a different manner and with different methodologies than other properties. Schaefer said counties often do reference the national guide book, but as one of several approaches to value.