Senate Bill 30 – Health Care Access Tax Credit Act

More than 1 million Pennsylvanians do not have health insurance, and many of the uninsured rely on these nonprofit health care access organizations for their health care.  This legislation would provide much-needed resources to these health centers, which fill such a vital role in our health care system.

The bill is modeled after the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Act of 2001, except that instead of businesses receiving tax credits for donating to scholarship and educational-improvement organizations, they would get tax credits for donating to nonprofit health centers.  The tax-credit program would be capped at $25 million annually. Only nonprofit health centers that primarily serve the uninsured and underinsured would be eligible for this program. View Text Version

Senate Bill 31 – Homeowners Association Religious Rights Act

This legislation requires homeowner and condominium associations to inform prospective homebuyers of any policies concerning the display of religious symbols. Homeowner and condominium associations in Pennsylvania are currently under no such obligation, resulting in Pennsylvanians buying and moving into homes and condominiums without knowing that they are giving up certain religious rights in the process.

The second part of the bill would prohibit associations from increasing restrictions on homeowners regarding religious-expression rights after they have moved in. In effect, it would grandfather property-owners’ display rights to the time they signed their purchase agreement. View Text Version

Senate Bill 32 – Pet Protection from Domestic Abuse Act

All too often, an estranged spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend will get back at their spouse or partner by hurting or killing their cat, dog or other pet.

This bill would add a sentence to Pennsylvania’s Animal Cruelty Law to stiffen the penalty when it happens in a domestic-violence situation.  Under the legislation, if a person with a protection-from-abuse order against them commits animal cruelty against the pet of their spouse or partner, they would be charged with a third-degree felony instead of a first-degree misdemeanor, as is now the case. View Text Version

Senate Bill 93 – Volunteer Firefighter Relief Association Tax Exemption Act

Firefighter relief associations, which provide benefits to voluntary firefighters and their families, are exempt from having to pay Pennsylvania sales and use taxes on tangible property and services which they purchase. But unlike some other nonprofit groups such as those for our war veterans – which have permanent tax-exempt status – firefighter relief associations have to apply for their tax-exempt status every year.

Being volunteer organizations with limited manpower, the relief associations often fail to apply for their tax-exempt status, requiring the Department of the Auditor General to note this deficiency in its audits year after year.

This legislation would amend a 1968 act relating to firefighter relief associations so as to give them permanent tax-exempt status like other non-profits. The Auditor General’s office also fully supports this bill. View Text Version

Senate Bill 772 – Military Voter Confidentiality Act

This legislation would amend the Election Code to address the personal-safety concerns of military families throughout Pennsylvania.

State law currently requires that county election offices publicly post, in their offices and in polling places, the names and addresses of all absentee voters, including those in the military. Military families have raised safety concerns about this requirement. They understandably worry that the law makes it far too easy for anyone to note residences where there is, at most, one adult present at any time and perhaps no adult present during the workday.

This bill would exempt military electors from the public-posting requirement, and it is strongly supported by the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, Major General Jessica L. Wright.

To protect election integrity, the legislation would continue to require county elections officials to maintain a file of all absentee voters – including military voters – that is open to public inspection upon request. It would only stop the public posting of military voters’ names and addresses. View Text Version

Senate Bill 789 – The PennSecurity Fuel Initiatives Act

This legislation will decrease pollution by increasing the use of alternative fuels from Pennsylvania’s growing alternative-fuel industry. Specifically, the bill will gradually increase the amount of homegrown biodiesel in diesel fuel and the amount of homegrown ethanol in gasoline. It is a key piece of Gov. Rendell’s Energy Independence Strategy and a response to the growing energy crisis facing our nation and the environmental crisis facing our world.

The bill aims to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, support agricultural open space and make Pennsylvania the global center of a new energy marketplace, all while cutting the amount of pollutants we release into the atmosphere. The goal is to replace the one billion gallons of oil that we purchase abroad each year with the same amount of homegrown ethanol and biodiesel within 15 years. View Text Version

Senate Bill 827 – Narrow-Tube Emissions Standards Act

This legislation sets tougher emission standards on narrow-tube manufacturers that release high levels of hazardous pollutants into the air. The bill would require such companies to effectively reduce their TCE emissions by at least 75 percent.

Under the legislation, narrow-tube manufacturers that use TCE as a degreasing solvent would have to reduce their TCE output to no more than 15.5 tons a year. That is the same standard the Environmental Protection Agency placed on other degreasing (halogenated solvent cleaning) companies, such as those that manufacture metal parts for the transportation and furniture industries. Unfortunately, the EPA exempted narrow-tube manufacturers from the new, more stringent standards.

This bill would effectively overturn that exemption and hold narrow-tube manufacturers to the same standard as other companies in Pennsylvania. View Text Version