DOS ANNOUNCES REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASE OF NEW VOTING EQUIPMENT       

On April 12, Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres announced that the Commonwealth is setting a deadline of Dec. 31, 2019, for counties to enter contracts for purchase of new paper-trail election equipment, with the expectation of having that equipment in place by the April 2020 primary election. The equipment is to be compliant with the new paper audit requirement the Department of State announced earlier this year.

 

In the interim, the Department is not decertifying counties' current election equipment, effectively affirming that current equipment remains secure. Instead, the express intent is to bring equipment up to current standards for security and audit.

 

Counties established support for state and federal funding to replace voting equipment as one of CCAP's priorities coming in to 2018. Since at least 2015, counties had recognized the need to upgrade systems and have been working toward that end; while current systems are safe, secure and accurate, changes in technology and operating systems require upgrade and replacement on a cyclical basis and offer opportunities to improve voter convenience and access. The single impediment to moving forward is identifying a funding source for the estimated $125 million needed for statewide replacement. In 2006, when systems were replaced under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), more than $100 million in federal funding was made available.

 

Counties' concern with the announced timeline is securing sufficient funding to make statewide replacements on that timeline. Sec. Torres' announcement affirms intent to work with the General Assembly and counties to find funding for the replacement. The secretary also indicated that Congress' recent HAVA appropriation - which for Pennsylvania amounts to around $13.5 million, plus a required five percent state match to bring the total to $14.1 million - would be allocated to counties for this purpose.

 

The full announcement is available at www.media.pa.gov by clicking on Department of State. 

BILL TO CLOSE HOTEL TAX LOOPHOLE FOR ONLINE RENTALS GETS HEARING   

On April 9, the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee held a hearing to discuss HB 1810, introduced by Rep. Doyle Heffley (R - Carbon), which would require online home sharing and short-term rental companies doing business in Pennsylvania to register with the state and to share information with taxing authorities.

 

Butler County commissioner Kevin Boozel shared with the committee that while the hotel tax that most counties levy on room rentals is fairly straightforward to enforce in traditional settings, it has been challenging to assure consistent collection from rooms rented through online platforms such as Airbnb because the online companies are reluctant to share host information. Although Butler County entered into a voluntary agreement with Airbnb two years ago through which guests pay the hotel tax when they book a listing, with Airbnb then remitting collections to the county, Boozel noted that they must take Airbnb's word on what is sent to the county since they have no way to verify information. Further, the agreement does not capture other online platforms that have emerged, and each county would need to enter into its own agreements. For those reasons, legislation such as HB 1810 is needed to identify all players in the market so that counties can make hosts aware of their obligation to collect hotel taxes, and so these taxes can be collected in a fair and uniform manner, regardless of how the rentals are executed. Boozel's full testimony is available at www.pacounties.org by clicking Legislative Testimony on the Legislative Action Center page.

 

Lancaster County treasurer Amber Martin shared similar thoughts in support of HB 1810, noting the time and effort her office expends identifying and locating room rentals made through home-sharing platforms, and that voluntary agreements do not fully resolve issues. The American Hotel and Lodging Association also argued that the bill would provide a more level playing field across the industry, although others representing the online travel industry offered their concerns with having the online platforms collect the tax and with the bill's data-sharing requirements. 

SENATE ADVANCES JRI LEGISLATION    

The Senate Judiciary Committee recently gave its unanimous approval to a package of legislation introduced by committee chair Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) to implement the second phase of Pennsylvania's Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). The JRI is a comprehensive effort involving the Department of Corrections, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), other state agencies, legislators, counties and other stakeholders, aimed at reducing the prison population through criminal justice reform and alternatives to incarceration that offer better outcomes.

 

Specifically, SB 1070 will create a County Adult Probation and Parole Advisory Committee to advise PCCD on funding, standards and training for county adult probation and parole departments. The bill will also seek to redistribute savings achieved by other legislation to assist in improving these programs, which counties utilize to support community supervision options for non-violent offenders. Senate Bill 1071 will streamline the process for placement in the intermediate punishment program, which provides community alternatives for non-violent offenders by diverting them from jail and by incorporating drug and alcohol treatment to assist in changing behaviors. In addition, the legislation updates the current sentencing process to a simpler placement that would be similar to the Department of Corrections motivational boot camp model. Finally, SB 1072 will amend the Crime Victims Act to provide better information and compensation to victims.

 

All three bills have been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

GENERAL FUND REMAINS ABOVE ESTIMATE FOR FISCAL YEAR   

While March revenue collections fell short of projections, Pennsylvania's year-to-date General Fund revenues remain about $220 million ahead of estimate, according to recent Department of Revenue reports.

 

March revenues were about six percent less than anticipated, with much of that shortfall due to corporation taxes, including the corporate net income (CNI) tax and the gross receipts tax being about five percent below expectations. However, the state's Independent Fiscal Office has suggested the lag in the CNI tax could be due to a temporary timing issue related to a change in tax due dates. The lower gross receipts tax collections, on the other hand, are primarily from lower than expected electric receipts as electric utility prices and demand in 2017 have declined. Sales and income tax collections were also slightly below estimates in March, although the state's realty transfer tax was almost $6 million, or more than 15 percent, above estimates.

 

March and April are usually the two biggest revenue collection months of the fiscal year, with April focused on personal income tax collections. The current fiscal year ends on June 30, as the General Assembly works to craft a spending plan for the coming 2018-2019 fiscal year.

OPIOID EPIDEMIC REMAINS STATE, FEDERAL FOCUS   

Gov. Wolf has renewed his 90-day opioid disaster declaration to allow initiatives currently underway to continue without interruption. Among those initiatives was the March unveiling of an online opioid data dashboard to incorporate real-time data and public health modeling, created in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and the Aetna Foundation. The dashboard is focused on data sets related to prevention, rescue and treatment, and can be accessed by the public for information about what resources are available locally and where those resources need to be deployed.

 

At the same time, Gov. Wolf and Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) announced legislation, to be introduced as SB 1001, to allow the Secretary of Health to declare a public health emergency to streamline the process for deploying resources specific to that emergency, whether it be the opioid epidemic or another health crisis.

 

Relatedly, the White House has also unveiled its strategy to fight opioid abuse, focused on reducing demand and over-prescription of opioids, cutting off supply of illicit drugs, and expanding treatment options, including medication-assisted treatment, for those struggling with addiction. The initiative would support a nationally interoperable prescription drug monitoring program network, an increased supply of naloxone to first responders, on-demand access to treatment for veterans, and funding opportunities for states and counties to improve nationwide overdose tracking systems. A nationwide media campaign is also planned to raise public awareness about the dangers of prescription and illicit opioid use.

 

As a 2018 priority, counties continue to work in partnership with the commonwealth to ensure coordination of local and statewide strategies to address the opioid epidemic.

COUNTIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZED IN APRIL       

The state Senate and House of Representatives unanimously approved SR 301 and HR 791, respectively, designating the week of April 9 as Local Government Week and April 11 as Local Government Day in Pennsylvania.

 

April is also National County Government Month; resources are available at www.naco.org. 

CCAP RESOLUTIONS PROCESS          

Throughout 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 CCAP Government Relations staff at PACountiesGR@pacounties.org, or to discuss them with CCAP policy committee chairs.