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FY 2017-2018 BUDGET UPDATE
As the General Assembly prepares to return to session in mid-September, the FY 2017-2018 state budget remains about $2 billion out of balance, prompting a series of actions to address cash flow issues while discussions continue on how to close the gap.
In response to a $1.8 billion revenue proposal approved by the state Senate in late July (HB 542), members of the House Republican leaders, noting their objections to relying on the broad-based tax increases in the Senate's plan, indicate they have been working on a diverse set of alternatives for consideration sometime after the House returns to session.
Among the alternatives is consideration of transfer of monies labeled as surplus from a wide variety of special funds into the state's General Fund. While no specific list is available, speculation in recent weeks has included, among many others, funds such as Growing Greener, state farmland preservation funding, the state's Recycling Fund, and funding for 911 systems and operations.
Some House members also continue to express their support for a severance tax, and to that end, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee has scheduled
HB 113
for consideration when the House returns on Sept. 11. The measure, introduced by Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery), would levy a 3.5 percent tax with half of the revenues going to fund the State Police and half to the Public School Employees Retirement Fund. The bill leaves the Act 13 impact fee in place as currently structured, a position called for in CCAP's
priority
to maintain the shale gas impact fee. Other House members have indicated support for options such as expanded gaming and further reform of the state's liquor system.
As the discussions continue, the commonwealth was expected to again approach a negative balance Aug. 29, despite state Treasurer Joe Torsella's mid-August authorization of a $750 million line of credit to support the state's General Fund. On Aug. 29, Gov. Wolf authorized a $700 million transfer from the state's Motor License Fund to carry the state through Sept. 15. Of that, $459 million was advanced from PennDOT to specifically pay for State Police obligations, while the remaining $241 million is in the form of a loan to the General Fund that must be repaid by March 1, 2018. The latter funds will go toward a major payment to school districts.
Gov. Wolf noted that a sizable Medicaid payment is due to providers on Sept. 15, again leaving the General Fund in negative numbers, potentially for months. In that case, the Governor has indicated that he may look to implement a spending freeze for certain state programs, although he has detailed neither the extent to which freezes would be necessary nor to which programs freezes might be directed.
The House of Representatives is currently scheduled to return to session on Sept. 11, and the Senate to return on Sept. 18. Additional details will be provided on CCAP's
Budget News and Updates web page
as they are available.
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OFFICE OF OPEN RECORDS ISSUES RULING ON FACEBOOK PAGES
The state's Office of Open Records (OOR) recently issued a
final determination
that what appears on a public official's Facebook page is subject to the state's Right to Know Law.
The case originated in the Borough of Chambersburg, which had denied a request for Facebook posts and comments (some of which had been deleted) that appeared on the mayor's official Facebook page, arguing that the mayor's Facebook page was not created or maintained by the borough, and was considered the mayor's private social media account. The requestor appealed the denial to the OOR, which ruled that because the mayor held himself out on the page as a public official, those posts and comments discussing transactions or activities of the borough are a public record and thus subject to Right to Know requests.
The full decision from the Office of Open Records is available at
www.openrecords.pa.gov
by clicking Final Determinations under the Appeals tab and searching docket AP 2017-1229.
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PRESIDENT ISSUES EO TO REFORM INFRASTRUCTURE PERMITTING
On Aug. 15, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to streamline the permit and approval processes for infrastructure projects, impacting federal, state and local infrastructure development such as the more than 4,000 bridges owned by counties in the commonwealth.
Under the EO, major infrastructure projects will require only one federal decision for permitting approval, rather than the current process that requires decisions by multiple federal agencies. Each project will have an assigned federal agency that will confirm other federal agencies are completing environmental reviews and issuing permitting decisions. Additionally, all agencies will be required to sign a joint "Record of Decision," requiring all federal permits to be issued by each agency within 90 days of signing. Further, the EO sets a goal to complete the permitting process for every project within two years, and directs the Council on Environmental Quality to advance and implement an action plan to improve environmental reviews throughout the entire government.
In addition, the EO partly rolls back an Obama-era directive ordering the federal government to consider flood risks when major infrastructure projects are being planned, including those related to the predicted rise of sea levels and more frequent severe storms associated with climate change.
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SPROCK FIX TO BE INTRODUCED
Legislation is expected to be introduced this fall to address a 2002 Commonwealth Court case and clarify that property owners would be held responsible for compliance with property maintenance codes, regardless of the property's tax delinquent status.
In Commonwealth v. Sprock, the Commonwealth Court held that the county tax claim bureau becomes the trustee of a tax delinquent property the moment it concludes an upset sale, and therefore could be considered the owner of the property for the purpose of compliance with a municipality's property maintenance and/or nuisance ordinances. This has allowed owners of record, whether or not they still live at the property, to claim they are not in fact liable for a violation of property maintenance or upkeep ordinances, and that it is the county's responsibility to maintain the property.
Sen. Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill) has circulated a
cosponsorship memo
for legislation he plans to introduce to clarify that a tax claim bureau has a limited trusteeship with only enough control over the property to further the purposes of the act as they relate to collection of delinquent taxes and tax sales, and that such status as a trustee does not relieve the delinquent property owners from their maintenance obligations. While a county could still at its option access the delinquent property for basic upkeep, such maintenance would not be an affirmative duty of a county. The bill is expected to be introduced shortly as SB 851.
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MILLER NAMED ACTING SECRETARY OF DHS
Gov. Wolf announced in mid-August that he has named Teresa Miller, who had served as the state's Insurance Commissioner, to serve as acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. The Governor had previously indicated that he would nominate Miller to head a unified Department of Health and Human Services, which he proposed in conjunction with his FY 2017-2018 budget request. As the House and Senate continue review of the proposed unification, the Governor's
office has created a web page with detailed information on the initiative, available at www.governor.pa.gov/hhs, that provides the proposed organizational structure for the Department, as well as an opportunity for public feedback.
Ted Dallas, who previously served as the DHS secretary, is expected to join the Governor's executive office staff, according to media reports.
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HOUSE MEMBERS TO OFFER WORKERS COMP FIX
Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin) and Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming) are circulating a cosponsorship memo for legislation they plan to introduce in response to a recent state Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a tool available under Pennsylvania's Workers' Compensation Law to cap exposure on long-term workers' compensation claims.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled in Protz v. Worker's Compensation Appeals Board that the Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) process was unconstitutional because the standards for evaluating a worker's degree of impairment are statutorily tied to the most recent version of American Medical Association guidelines and are therefore an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. The IRE process allowed employers to request an evaluation after an injured worker has been out of the workplace for 104 weeks, helping to lower workers' compensation costs by providing certainty for insurers, employers and injured workers, and incentivizing injured workers to attempt to return to work. The ruling will make it more difficult to cap the exposure on worker's compensation claims.
In their memo, Rep. Everett and Rep. Kauffman have indicated that their legislation is designed to repeal the section invalidated by the Supreme Court, and then reenact the language to clarify the guidelines to be used for IREs.
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RESOLUTIONS AND PLATFORM REVISIONS
Under the Association's policy procedure, resolutions were considered at the 2017 CCAP Annual Conference business meeting on Aug. 8, and then were submitted to the full CCAP membership by electronic ballot. Balloting opened on Aug. 15 and closed on Aug. 25. The adopted resolutions amend the Pennsylvania County Platform, the Association's cumulative policy statement. The resolutions and the Platform are available on the Government Relations page of the CCAP website, www.pacounties.org.
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