Legislation to restore funding for FY 2015-2016 that Gov. Wolf had line-item vetoed in December has become law without the Governor's signature.

 

On March 16, the General Assembly sent HB 1801 to the Governor, which essentially completes the FY 2015-2016 budget by appropriating funds to those lines that had been vetoed. Although Gov. Wolf originally indicated his intent to veto the bill, on March 23 he announced that while he would not sign HB 1801, citing his concerns that the bill does not address the structural deficit and is out of balance, he would allow it to become law in order to permit funding to get out to public schools, the Department of Corrections, agricultural programs (including Extension) and other programs that had been cut in December.

 

For counties, HB 1801 makes no changes in any of the county-related line items that had been enacted under HB 1460 in December, which largely provided for 12 months of funding for those programs. Second, and along the same lines, it means that although HB 1801 provides an additional $50 million for basic education in FY 2015-2016 beyond what was originally approved by the legislature in HB 1460, the bill is not similarly generous for counties, failing to include the $28 million requested by CCAP for the first year of a three-year restoration of funding to seven key human services lines.

 

Attention now turns to the FY 2016-2017 budget process, with the start of the next fiscal year looming just three months away. As of this writing, about two-thirds of Pennsylvania's 67 counties have passed resolutions supporting CCAP's top priority on the commonwealth budget and human services funding. Information on budget progress, including a map of counties approving resolutions, is on CCAP's Budget News and Updates web page.

Because appropriations bills cannot contain implementing language, they are normally accompanied by "trailer" bills to give direction or authorization to state agencies on how funds are to be allocated. The last detail for the FY 2015-2016 budget were amendments to the Fiscal Code, HB 1327 , to carry this out, but the Governor has now vetoed the bill based on its inclusion of a school funding formula and environmental regulatory language that he felt were inappropriate for the bill.

 

Importantly, the veto creates uncertainty regarding FY 2015-2016 fourth quarter Children and Youth payments, caught up in the rebalancing initiative. Under rebalancing, the fourth quarter is to be appropriated as part of the FY 2016-2017 budget. House Bill 1327 contained language to assure that counties would still get their fourth quarter C&Y  payment in the event of another budget impasse, necessary for both Act 30 planning purposes and for assurance of uninterrupted C&Y services delivery.

 

Rather than attempt a veto override, House and Senate leaders instead indicated they would move promptly on legislation needed to address issues created by the veto. It is anticipated that they will do so when they reconvene the week of April 4 by moving HB 1589, now on the House table calendar. The bill will require amendment to encompass several necessary allocations, and counties should contact their legislators to emphasize the critical need to include the C&Y rebalancing language in the amendment.

Following Gov. Wolf's announcement that he would allow legislation containing the remaining FY 2015-2016 budget to become law, several credit rating agencies noted that while the conclusion of the budget is positive, concerns remain about the state's structural budget deficit going forward. Moody's, PNC and Standard & Poor's all voiced concern with the use of nearly $1 billion in one-time revenue sources to balance the current year budget, with S&P citing specifically the delay of $172 million in reimbursements to counties for child welfare costs.

 

The agencies also commented on state and school pension costs that are not being fully funded by the state budget, saying that future willingness to address this issue will be a major factor in the commonwealth's credit profile. Demographic and fiscal conditions, which could include slow tax revenue growth, coupled with estimated mandated spending increases over the long term, were also cited as factors that would continue to worsen the structural deficit absent policy changes. Another impasse related to the upcoming FY 2016-2017 budget could have further negative consequences on the state's credit outlook.

Gov. Wolf has signed into law HB 1296 , sponsored by Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery), to expand the permissible financial products in which local governments may invest their general fund monies. Under the County Code Pennsylvania counties have already had the flexibility to invest in several of the instruments provided for in HB 1296, now Act 10 of 2016, including commercial paper, shares of an investment company and obligations of the United States. Act 10 provides all local governments with the opportunity to use these financial tools, while also offering counties several not previously part of their portfolio, such as repurchase agreements and bills of exchange.

 

At the same time, the bill assures that investments of taxpayer dollars are subject to important safeguards by requiring them to meet sound financial criteria and to be procured from institutions that have met high quality ratings, thus limiting risk exposure. The new law requires a local government investment pool that invests in one of these products to file an annual investment report with the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Proposed amendments to the state's eight-year-old Right-to-Know Law were the focus of a House State Government Committee hearing on March 22.

The committee heard testimony from the Office of Open Records, local governments, legal and media representatives and other stakeholders on SB 411, introduced by former Sen. Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester). The bill attempts to address several of the concerns that have been raised since the law's enactment in 2008, including large volumes of requests for commercial purposes, ongoing issues with time-consuming requests from prison inmates, defining what constitutes 911 time response logs (without changing their open records status) and extending the home address exemption to all governmental employees.

 

CCAP submitted written comments on SB 411, available at www.pacounties.org by clicking on Government Relations and then Testimony and Advocacy, emphasizing the balance needed among access, privacy and security concerns and supporting many of the bill's provisions.

The Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee recently held a hearing to gather information from a variety of stakeholders about the challenges facing electronics recycling under the current Covered Device Recycling Act (CDRA), Act 108 of 2010. Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Ken Reisinger told the committee that the challenges stem from a mismatch in the law's goal-setting process compared to the amount of material available for recycling, the fluctuation in commodity prices, and uncertain opportunities for cathode ray tubes (CRTs).

 

Several county representatives also explained the impact in their local areas, including Bekki Titchner, recycling and solid waste coordinator for Elk County, who said her collection program is the only one available within a several-county area, although escalating costs and volume collected are creating significant pressures on the county. Dave Vollero, executive director of the York County Solid Waste Authority, said his county's program had to close for  several months because recyclers could not make the commitment due to a lack of manufacturer support. Both noted that the consequences from a lack of convenient recycling opportunities include an increase in illegal dumping.

 

Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester), the sponsor of the original CDRA, told the committee he is working on a draft bill to address the issue by creating a supplementary collection program in addition to the program in current law and also paid for by the manufacturers as is the current system, under which counties would be permitted to establish as many as three collection sites. Private contractors would bid on the waste. While a cosponsorship memo has been circulated, the bill has not yet been introduced.

CCAP submitted comments to the Committee, which can be found at www.pacounties.org by clicking on Government Relations, them Testimony and Advocacy.

Legislation to offer protections for individual information related to 911 calls was recently reported from the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. House Bill 1310 , introduced by Rep. Maria Donatucci (D-Philadelphia), would prohibit county 911 centers from releasing a record containing the name, address, telephone number, and location of a 911 caller. The legislation gives additional guidance on meeting the requirements of the Right-to-Know Law, which stipulates that 911 call logs are open records. While HB 1310 would not change that requirement, it would clarify that personal information attached to call records would not be released. Changes to the Right to Know Law related to this matter are also pending in SB 411 (see the article above). CCAP noted in a support memo to the committee that the public's primary interest is in determining whether counties are adequately and promptly providing 911 service, which is satisfied by the call log requirement.

T hroughout the month of June CCAP policy committees will be holding their annual conference call meetings to consider resolutions amending the PA County Platform, in anticipation of a membership discussion and vote in conjunction with the CCAP Annual Conference in early August. County officials are encouraged to begin reviewing the Platform now and to send any proposed resolutions to Government Relations staff at PACountiesGR@pacounties.org, or to discuss them with CCAP policy committee chairs.