Category: Pennsylvania Legislation

Laws proposed or passed in the Pennsylvania Legislature

Delaware Loophole End Passed By Pa. House

Delaware Loophole End Passed By Pa. House — The State House passed legislation last week to close the Delaware Loophole and implement comprehensive business tax reforms for Pennsylvania job creators, reports  Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

House Bill 440 would close the loophole by targeting specific transactions that some businesses use for the sole purpose of avoiding taxation in the Commonwealth.

The bill also includes several additional tax reforms, including reducing the Corporate Net Income (CNI) Tax rate to 6.99 percent and uncapping the Net Operating Loss (NOL) deductions businesses may take. In addition, the bill would support Pennsylvania’s small businesses, encourage new investments in existing businesses and promote the development of new start-up companies.

All of these reforms seek to make Pennsylvania a more competitive and attractive place to do business.

The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Delaware Loophole End Passed By Pa. House

Pension Bills Introduced In Pennsylvania

Pension Bills Introduced In Pennsylvania — Governor Tom Corbett was joined by several legislators at the Capitol last week for the introduction of his plan to address rising costs associated with the state’s two public pension systems, the State Employee Retirement System (SERS) and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

House Bill 1350, and its companion Senate Bill 922, are aimed at providing short- and long-term pension relief, Cox said.

The plan would rebalance the state’s obligations to both pension funds and the General Fund, Cox said. It also would provide short-term budgetary relief to avoid deep cuts in core services and programs. Long-term reforms would produce overall savings to the pension systems.

The legislation contains no changes to current retiree pensions; keeps current employees and retirees in a defined benefit plan; automatically enrolls new employees, including legislators, in a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k); and limits the amount by which the state’s employer contributions can be increased to provide short-term budgetary relief.

According to the governor’s budget office, new calculations show the current unfunded liability of SERS and PSERS to be $47 billion. If no reforms are made, pension costs will consume an estimated 60 percent of all new state General Fund revenues in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

 

Pension Bills Introduced In Pennsylvania

Cyber Bully Bill Before Full House

Cyber Bully Bill Before Full House — The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation, May 7, to address cyber harassment of a child, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

HB 1163 would make it a third-degree misdemeanor to use electronic communications to repeatedly make statements or offer opinions about a child’s sexuality or sexual activity “whether true or not”. The bill also would make it a misdemeanor to make statements that significantly ridicule, demean or cause serious embarrassment to a child under the circumstances or offer a threat of unlawful harm.

Child is defined as someone under the age of 18.

It exempts communications made for “medical, education or other legitimate purposes, if the actor is an adult”.

House Bill 1163 now goes to the full House for consideration.

 

Cyber Bully Bill Before Full House

Hearing On Bullying Bill in Pa. House

Hearing On Bullying Bill — The House Education Committee, last week, recently held a hearing on legislation aimed at protecting students who are the targets of school bullies reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

House Bill 156, the Pennsylvania Safe Schools (PASS) Act, would require all teachers to undergo a bullying prevention training program every five years and also require acts of bullying be reported to the state.

Pennsylvania is currently ranked by the U.S. Department of Education as having one of the most insufficient anti-bullying laws in the nation.

 

Hearing On Bullying Bill

House OKs Bill Hiking Penalty For Sex Trafficking

House OKs Bill Hiking Penalty For Sex Trafficking — The House recently approved a measure to offer Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system better tools to hold human sex traffickers accountable to the law, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

House Bill 663 would increase the penalties for those who traffic minors from a third-degree felony to a first-degree felony and would make it clear that the penalties apply to trafficking a minor whether or not the perpetrator knew the victim was under the age of 18. In addition, the bill also would charge a parent who sells or trades his or her child knowing the child will be forced into commercial sex as a result with a second-degree felony. The bill would define commercial sex to include any sexual activity in which anything of value is given to or received by another person where the activity is induced by force, fraud or expressed or implied coercion, regardless of the age of the victim. Trafficking charges would apply even if there was no proof of coercion.

If enacted, the bill would give victims the right to sue for damages and attorney’s fees against someone who coerced him or her into or to remain in prostitution or to collect or receive any part of the victim’s earnings from prostitution.

The measure now heads to the Senate.

Kudos. One suspects the right to take the matter to civil court — where unanimous juries and guilt beyond reasonable doubt are not necessary —  might be even more of a deterrent than the increased criminal penalty.  Sex traffickers, after all, are primarily motivated by money.

Maybe our lawmakers might consider letting civil courts be the main venue in fighting the drug trade, as drug dealers are also motivated primarily by money. It would require, though, making drug use legal as victims would not want to face criminal charges when filing their lawsuits.

It would not be a bad idea, either, to give others harmed by drug dealing — family of users, their neighbors, co-workers, employers, employees — standing to sue.

House OKs Bill Hiking Penalty For Sex Trafficking

Long Nyquist Liquor Incest In Pa.

Long Nyquist Liquor Incest— Long Nyquist and Associates, the Harrisburg lobbying firm representing the state liquor store clerks, earned more than $1 million last year for campaign work on behalf of Republicans, according to TribLive.com.

The article says that its those Republicans “who are pushing privatization of liquor sales.”

Hold on there, Sunshine. Not all Republicans are pushing for this. If that were the case, the state stores would have ended two years ago as the GOP controls all of Harrisburg.

Hat tip Bob Guzzardi.

 

Long Nyquist Liquor Incest

Pennsylvania Senate Passes Online Disclosure Mandates

Pennsylvania Senate Passes Online Disclosure Mandates — In mid-April the state Senate passed bills that would require all political candidates to file campaign finance reports electronically,  require state lobbyists to file disclosure reports online, and allow voters to register online.

The bills were introduced by Dominic Pileggi, Joseph Scarnati and Lloyd Smucker respectively, all of whom are Republicans.

That probably explains why not much has been written them in the Philadelphia area  but Lancaster Online has an article.

Pennsylvania Senate Passes Online Disclosure Mandates

Delaware Loophole Bill Leaves Committee

Delaware Loophole Bill Leaves Committee — Members of the House Finance Committee last week approved a measure to close the Delaware Loophole and improve the state’s overall business tax structure as one step toward improving the Commonwealth’s jobs climate, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

House Bill 440 would institute an “expense add-back” provision to target very specific transactions of Pennsylvania businesses that are taking advantage of the loophole for the sole purpose of tax avoidance.

The bill was amended to include tax reform proposals put forward by the governor, including increasing the state’s net operating loss cap in 2014; offering deductions to help start-up businesses create jobs; implementing a 10-year phase down of the Corporate Net Income tax beginning in 2015; and closing other existing tax loopholes.

Pennsylvania continually ranks among the worst states in the nation when it comes to offering a competitive business climate for job creators. House Bill 440 is designed to make the state a more attractive home for businesses and to level the playing field for all job creators.

The measure now heads to the full House for consideration.

 

Delaware Loophole Bill Leaves Committee

Delaware Loophole Bill Leaves Committee

Sobering Facts

Sobering Facts on Liquor Privatization by Nathan Benefield

Pa. House Overwhelmingly Rejects Mandated Abortion Coverage

The Pennsylvania House, yesterday, April 25, overwhelmingly passed HB 818  that would prohibit  health plans offered as per the Obamacare  mandate from including” coverage for the performance of any abortion unless the reason the abortion is performed is one for which the expenditure of public funds” would already be permitted by state law.

The vote was an overwhelming 144-53. Delaware County reps Greg Vitali (D-166) and Thaddeus Kirkland (D-159) were among the few supporting this pro abortion law.

The bill now goes before the Senate.

Hat tip Teri Adams of the Independence Hall Tea Party Association.

 

Pa. House Overwhelmingly Rejects Mandated Abortion Coverage