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BUDGET BILL ON GOVERNOR'S DESK; NEXT STEPS UNCERTAIN
After a week where three different state budgets were at one time under consideration for FY 2015-2016, as of press time a bill is on the Governor's desk - but it remains unclear whether the six-month impasse could be coming to a close.
On December 19, it seemed the 52-149 House floor vote which defeated SB 1071, containing the state and school pension reforms, took down with it the $30.8 billion general appropriations framework in SB 1073 that had been approved by the Senate earlier in the month; Republican legislative leaders had previously expressed an unwillingness to consider additional tax revenues needed to support SB 1073 unless cost drivers such as the public pension systems were also addressed. Two days later, on Dec. 21, the House Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote (with Republicans voting in favor), amended SB 1073 with a stopgap budget totaling about $28.2 billion. The amendment used the vetoed HB 1192 as a starting point, representing generally 92 percent (11 months) of that bill's funding. The Appropriations vote came despite the insistence of the Governor and the Senate that they would prefer a 12-month budget.
And then just a day later, the House made the unusual move of considering a motion to revert SB 1073 back to the framework budget approved by the Senate, approving it by a narrow 100-99 vote. Following further procedural moves, the House then voted 100-97 to move SB 1073 past second consideration, setting up the potential of a final passage floor vote on Dec. 23 to send SB 1073 straight to the Governor's desk. However, apparently lacking the 103 votes needed for final passage, the House recessed on Dec. 23 without further consideration of SB 1073, leaving the question of next steps wide open.
The answer came within a few short hours that same afternoon, when the Senate took up HB 1460, a 12-month, $30.2 billion budget approved by the House on Dec. 8 . Although the Senate had previously amended HB 1460 with the $30.8 billion framework budget, the chamber voted on party lines, with Republican members in favor, to revert to the House passed version. A 33-17 vote on final passage of the reverted HB 1460 followed, with Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Berks) and Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) joining the Republicans to vote in favor.
Thus approved, HB 1460 is as of publication of this Bulletin before Gov. Wolf, who has until Jan. 3 to decide whether to sign, veto or allow it to become law without his signature. He can also sign the bill while exercising blue-line vetoes of individual line items.
While Gov. Wolf has expressed his displeasure with the budget outlined in HB 1460, he has not indicated what his final decision will be. His preference was for the framework budget in SB 1073.
For counties, SB 1073 included the first year of a restoration of the 10 percent reduction to the line items in the Human Services Block Grant ($28 million for FY 2015-2016), a CCAP priority, but that additional funding is omitted from HB 1460. Both bills anticipate rebalancing for the child welfare funding lines; by failing to directly appropriate fourth quarter funding, counties argue rebalancing violates statutory requirements and prevents counties from being able to plan for a full year of funding even as they deal with increased caseloads from recent changes to child protection laws. Amendments to the Fiscal Code in HB 1327, currently before the House, contain language that would implement rebalancing, attempting to address the issue by creating a special process for Department of Human Services' certification of the funds.
The latest version of HB 1327 also includes state reimbursement to counties, municipalities, school districts and nonprofit organizations for interest charges incurred as result of the budget impasse, although the House removed that language at one point earlier in the week. Recovery of interest paid, or foregone interest earned, was another of counties' top asks as part of the final FY 2015-2016 budget agreement.
Another bill of the framework package, amendments to the Public Welfare Code in HB 1322, has been sent to the Governor, and he has until Dec. 28 to sign, veto or allow it to become law without his signature.
The House and Senate are currently on a six-hour call for further legislative business on the Fiscal Code and other items, pending the Governor's action on HB 1460.
Additional information is provided on CCAP's Budget News and Updates web page as it becomes available.
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COUNTIES FACE NEW FISCAL YEAR WITHOUT STATE FUNDING
Most counties have already adopted their budgets, or will do so within the next week, for their new fiscal year which begins January 1, 2016, without knowing exactly what funds will be available to finish out 2015 or start 2016. State and federal funds typically account for between 40 and 60 percent of overall county general fund revenues.
Counties are statutorily required to begin preparation of their budgets for the next fiscal year at least 90 days prior to adoption, and as they waited through fall for passage of a state budget, counties have lacked important information on how to plan for many of their most important responsibilities. Throughout the impasse, county officials remain dedicated to their residents and families to assure they continue to receive critical services, including core human services such as mental health and intellectual disability services, children and youth services, and drug and alcohol programs.
With their fiscal year-end approaching, counties continue to deploy a variety of strategies to mitigate the impacts of absent state and federal funds. In many cases, even counties that were able to tap into reserves are now finding it necessary to authorize revenue anticipation loans to cover operating expenses, or are halting payments to providers or curtailing programs where they have not already done so. CCAP is documenting the strategies being used to mitigate the impacts of the impasse on its FY 2015-2016 Budget Impasse page of www.pacounties.org.
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RETSL BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW
Two bills amending the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL) have recently become law. House Bill 909, legislation introduced by Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester) that is now Act 77 of 2015, allows county tax claim bureaus to recover at upset sale costs incurred by the county for property rehabilitation and maintenance. Recovery would be prior to other distributions under the law. The change will assist counties in addressing safety and maintenance of the property, or other improvements reasonably necessary to improve the property's sale-ability.
Another RETSL bill sponsored by Rep. Ross, HB 907, establishes standard requirements for posting tax delinquent property prior to a potential or actual sale of the property by a tax claim bureau. Specifically, the posting must occur on the assessed structure if it is conspicuous to the owner and the public or, if there is no structure or one is not conspicuous, the notice must be on a stake secured on or adjacent to the property within 25 feet of the entrance in a reasonably conspicuous location. The bill was signed into law on Dec. 20 as Act 85 of 2015.
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INTERAGENCY INFORMATION SHARING BILL
On Dec. 18 the Senate voted unanimously in favor of SB 917, sending the bill to the House for consideration. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), would facilitate information sharing among agencies involved with child welfare and delinquency, when related to a child subject to an open protective services or general protective services investigation who has been accepted for service, has been placed under supervision, and has been found to be dependent or delinquent.
Information in shared records, including county children and youth agency records as well as drug and alcohol, mental health and education records, would be required to be used by the court, juvenile probation department or county children and youth agency in development of a delinquency or dependency disposition. Additionally, county agencies could use the information to identify and provide services to children who are determined to be at risk of abuse or neglect if no confidential information is disclosed in the records. The legislation also allows children and youth agencies, law enforcement and other entities to develop information-sharing agreements to enhance case management services.
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2016 JUDICIAL SALARIES
In the Dec. 5, 2015, Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts published the judicial salaries that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2016. The 2016 salaries will not be subject to a cost-of-living adjustment and thus the salaries established Jan. 1, 2015, will remain in effect. This means that the annual salary of a judge of the court of common pleas, against whose pay the district attorney salary is established, remains at $176,572.
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2016 BID LIMIT THRESHOLDS
The 2016 annual adjustments to the bid limit thresholds and telephonic quote thresholds under the County Code and Second Class County Code were published in the Dec. 12, 2015, issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Act 86 of 2011 increased bid limit thresholds and telephonic quote thresholds under the County Code to $18,500 and $10,000, respectively, with an annual adjustment for inflation thereafter; the thresholds were increased to the same levels in the Second Class County Code under Act 89 of 2011.
The state Department of Labor and Industry has advised that there was no change in the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2015, and so the bid limit thresholds and telephone quote thresholds that took effect Jan. 1, 2015, $19,400 and $10,500 respectively, will remain in effect for 2016.
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