CIVIL SERVICE MODERNIZATION ADVANCES       

On June 5, the Senate unanimously passed SB 1037 , which streamlines the testing and selection process for county and state civil service positions by moving several responsibilities of the State Civil Service Commission to the Office of Administration.

 

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon), intends to lead to better customer service for those who use the civil service system while assuring adherence to fair and impartial hiring procedures. It does not affect the criteria for hiring under the civil service system, the positions subject to civil service hiring, or any existing criteria related to veterans' preference.

 

Counties have experienced many years of frustration with the current civil service system, citing delays in filling positions, the lack of flexibility in the hiring process and the need for a larger pool of candidates, all of which discourage competent and qualified individuals from seeking critical human services positions in county government. Moving the civil service hiring process to the Office of Administration would improve the experience for both employers and job seekers and assist in addressing the difficulties counties face in filling these jobs. In addition, an amendment previously adopted to the legislation clarifies that any county that has transitioned to its own merit hire system could continue to use that system without having to seek re-approval from the state.

 

Senate Bill 1037 now moves to the House for that chamber's review.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH CASEWORKERS RECOGNIZED   

Gov. Wolf proclaimed June 4-8, 2018 as Child Welfare Professionals Appreciation Week in Pennsylvania, and June 11-15 as Child Welfare Providers Awareness Week. The proclamation recognizes the efforts of child welfare professionals serving the commonwealth's children and families, often working long hours in difficult situations to provide every child with safety, permanency and well-being. CCAP's affiliate, the Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators Association (PCYA), along with the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services, also honored their members in recognition of the proclamation at a Capitol event on June 6.

 

Relatedly, counties welcomed Auditor General Eugene DePasquale's recommendations to improve the child welfare system, released in May. The action plan follows the Auditor General's September 2017 State of the Child report, offering 28 recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly, Department of Human Services, county children and youth agencies, the Child Welfare Resource Center, the Pennsylvania State Police, private service providers and the State Civil Service Commission. The recommendations include several offered by counties, such as supporting 100 percent funding for children and youth staff, allowing counties to determine how reports are classified in the system, and reducing unnecessary data mandated by the state to be entered for each case. The full listing of recommendations is available at www.paauditor.gov.

SPROCK FIX APPROVED BY HOUSE    

The House of Representatives has unanimously approved SB 851 , introduced by Sen. David Argall (R-Schuylkill), which would amend the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL) to clarify that the owner of property in the delinquent tax sale process remains responsible for the maintenance of that property, regardless of the property's status in the process.

 

In 2002, the Commonwealth Court held in Commonwealth v. Sprock that because a delinquent property exposed at tax sale, but not sold, was then held in trust by the tax claim bureau, the tax claim bureau was considered the owner for the purpose of the local municipality's nuisance ordinance. Senate Bill 851 would clarify that if a property is exposed to a tax sale but not sold, legal title remains with the owner of record. The county tax claim bureau's role as trustee would offer only the control necessary to convey the property under RETSL and would not subject the county to any liability for maintenance or nuisance remediation.

Senate Bill 851 returns to the Senate for a concurrence vote before going to the Governor's desk.

HOUSE PANEL APPROVES BILL ON AGENDA POSTING   

The House State Government Committee recently advanced HB 1531, sponsored by Rep. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver), which would amend the Sunshine Act to require local government agencies, including counties, to post meeting agendas outlining agency business that will or may be considered on their website at least 24 hours prior to a meeting. An agency would be precluded from taking action on any item not contained in the notice. Exceptions would allow for official action to be taken in case of an emergency posing a danger to life or property, or on unposted items of business arising within 24 hours prior to a meeting as long as the matter is minor and does not involve expenditure or approval of a contract and, under the same conditions, a matter brought before the governing body by a citizen during the meeting. The committee approved a technical amendment offered by Rep. Brett Miller (R-Lancaster), but failed to adopt a second amendment offered by Rep. Steve McCarter (D-Montgomery) to include meetings of the General Assembly held at the Capitol. The bill was reported by a 23-2 vote, with Rep. Pam DeLissio (D-Philadelphia) and former CCAP member Rep. Jeff Wheeland (R-Lycoming) voting in the negative. House Bill 1531 now goes before the full House for consideration.

COUNTY CODE REWRITE GOES TO HOUSE   

Legislation that will update and combine the County Code and Second Class County Code into a single, comprehensive statute was approved by the Senate on June 4, moving to the House for further consideration.

 

Senate Bill 1005 , introduced by former CCAP member Sen. John Eichelberger, is the result of a multi-year effort, coordinated by the Local Government Commission, to bring counties' core statutes governing county operations, enacted in the 1950s, up to date with current need and practice. Although most changes are of a technical or conforming nature, it also makes substantive changes to the extent needed to incorporate case law or to delete obsolete language. The final product reflects the collaborative partnership and thoughtful input of both the legislature and local government partners.

BILL OFFERING FLEXIBILITY TO LAND BANKS NEARS FINISH LINE       

Legislation that would allow counties flexibility in creating land banks is one step away from the Governor's desk.

 

In 2012, Act 153 allowed counties, and municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more, to create land banks, which may acquire blighted, vacant and tax-delinquent properties to return them to productive use. However, some counties already have active redevelopment authorities engaged in blight elimination initiatives, but lack the resources to create and staff a separate land bank. Senate Bill 667, introduced by Sen. Pat Stefano (R-Fayette), as amended by the House Urban Affairs Committee in late May, will allow counties to designate a redevelopment authority as its land bank, thus providing flexibility to assist counties in accessing the community development tools offered to land banks without having to create a separate land bank board to use them. The legislation does not affect the powers of land banks, or the ability of a community to use a separate land bank and redevelopment authority to deal with blight, as is presently the case in several counties across the state.

 

The bill was approved by a 195-0 vote of the House on June 6, and needs only a concurrence vote by the Senate to go to the Governor.

STATE, FEDERAL OFFICIALS DISCUSS SECURITY OF PA VOTING SYSTEMS       

On primary election day, May 15, Chris Krebs, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) joined Secretary of the Commonwealth Robert Torres at a media event to share how Pennsylvania uses a multi-agency collaborative effort to plan for election day preparedness and security, and to reaffirm the security of Pennsylvania voting systems, given concerns that have been raised about attempts to hack voting systems and voter registration websites in the 2016 election.

 

In particular, Krebs noted that an election has never been successfully hacked in Pennsylvania, as the counties' voting machines are not connected to the internet. But even though voting machines are offline, DHS continues to work alongside the Pennsylvania Department of State to maintain a secure system. Krebs and Torres shared that their agencies regularly collaborate, along with counties and other key partners, to protect and monitor election security, including routine scanning of public facing systems such as the SURE voter registration system, to check for vulnerabilities. In 2016, Torres said, the state had a comprehensive vulnerability assessment conducted to review technical, administrative and operational aspects of how Pennsylvania manages security, and no significant vulnerabilities were found. Another vulnerability assessment will be conducted in the near future.

 

Pennsylvania also takes advantage of other services provided by DHS, including offering a recent webinar for state and county election and IT personnel that allowed organizations to share their expertise and learn about resources and support available to local and state officials. Acknowledging that election-related threats are real, Krebs and Torres indicated that they will continue to remain vigilant regarding issues of vulnerability to ensure Pennsylvania's systems and elections remain safe and secure.

COUNTY PRIORITIES STATUS REPORT AVAILABLE       

In January, CCAP members identified seven priority issues for the year, including human services system reform and funding, preventing substance abuse and drug overdose, and maintaining the shale gas impact fee, among others. An update on the status of these priorities and the related legislative, communications and grassroots activities that have occurred so far in 2018 is available at www.pacounties.org by clicking Priorities under the Government Relations tab.