COUNTIES TESTIFY ON NEED FOR CIVIL SERVICE REFORM       

Dauphin County commissioner George Hartwick, Monroe County Children and Youth administrator Adelaide Grace, and Franklin County human resources director Tiffany Bloyer shared their experiences with the civil service process and the challenges the process creates for filling critical positions with the Senate State Government Committee on Monday. The Committee hearing focused on SB 1037, which would transfer recruit-to-hire functions from the Civil Service Commission to the Office of Administration (OA) and streamline the hiring process.

 

Grace told the committee that civil service is not currently meeting local needs - both the needs of the county and the needs of consumers such as children - because it involves a lengthy, cumbersome process that is not convenient to anyone. Committee chair Sen. Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon), the sponsor of SB 1037, pointed to the counties' testimony on the impact of the current system and asked how counties can protect the most vulnerable without a change in the law. Hartwick responded that counties will continue examining hiring practices, but the challenges need to be dealt with to keep positions adequately filled; if a transfer of responsibilities is made to OA, he hopes the process would be improved, that there would be an ability to address testing practices, to speed up the process, and to expand the pool of applicants.

 

The Civil Service Commission, OA and state agencies, and the Pennsylvania War Veterans Council also participated in the hearing. To read the testimony or watch a recording of the hearing, go to stategovernment.pasenategop.com and click on Meetings & Hearings. 

HOUSE PANEL MOVES BILL TO CLARIFY SHERIFF POWERS   

The House State Government Committee has reported out legislation to statutorily clarify the arrest powers of sheriffs. Like similar legislation going back several sessions, House Bill 466, introduced by Rep. Jim Marshall (R-Beaver), is rooted in the need to address case law (the Leet, Kline, Kopko, and Dobbins decisions) that has by turns established, partially rescinded, and otherwise qualified, sheriff arrest powers. CCAP supports the bill, noting the legislation is needed to definitively clarify the boundaries of sheriff and deputy arrest powers, and to do so statutorily rather than by court decision.

 

While HB 466 as originally introduced could have amounted to an expansion of arrest powers rather than a simple clarification, committee chair Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) offered an amendment that limited the bill's consideration to the single matter of defining clear, concise and permissive arrest capability for sheriffs. The language mirrors the original Leet decision and the important qualifiers of subsequent cases - that their arrest powers exist only on-sight, only while performing their other county court-related duties, and only to the extent they are trained. The amendment was unanimously adopted, and the bill as amended was reported from committee by a 15-11 party line vote.

 

House Bill 466 is expected to receive consideration by the full House the week of April 30.   

ASSESSMENT REFORM BILLS MOVE FORWARD    

Several bills developed by the Local Government Commission's Assessment Reform Task Force to improve the efficiency, transparency, modernization and fairness of Pennsylvania's property assessment system have been reported by the Senate Local Government Committee. CCAP and its affiliate, the Assessors' Association of Pennsylvania, have been an active part of the Task Force, which is chaired by former CCAP member Sen. John Eichelberger (R-Blair).

 

The committee reported two bills offered by Sen. Eichelberger, including SB 1007 to make several clarifications and updates to the County Consolidated Assessment Law as they relate to assessment appeals. The legislation also institutes training requirements for assessment appeals board members on the topic of assessment valuation as well as legal and constitutional issues related to Pennsylvania's assessment process. The second bill, SB 1006, would offer counties additional options to follow up with municipalities and third party agencies when building permits are not being properly and timely submitted, so they can better gauge when improvements to property are occurring. Allowing the information to be captured by the assessment office can assure each property is fully and fairly valued; when the value of improvements is not captured, the burden falls on other taxpayers whose value is accurate. The bill also authorizes counties to require all persons making substantial improvements to submit a county improvement certification, to achieve the same goal.

 

Both bills now go to the full Senate for consideration; companion bills, HB 1990 and HB 1991, respectively, are currently before the House.

SUNSHINE LAW EXEMPTION FOR SECURITY DISCUSSIONS PASSES SENATE   

The Senate recently gave its unanimous approval to SB 1078, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bucks), to amend the Sunshine Law to add an executive session option for the purpose of developing and reviewing plans related to security and emergency preparedness. Recent events have illustrated the need for governing bodies to be able to have confidential discussions about safety and security at public facilities, public events and public meetings. The legislation now goes to the House for further review.

FLOODING FOCUS OF JOINT SENATE HEARING   

State and local officials shared their experiences on flooding and emergency response before a recent joint hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy and Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committees.

 

Matt Brown, chief of the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services, and Stephen Libhart, Dauphin County public safety director and emergency management coordinator, discussed the risks to communities from flooding and the challenges associated with the short-term response and longer-term recovery. Local capacity has been strained by weather events so far this year, and Libhart suggested that states look into creating recovery programs that can provide assistance for events that do not meet the thresholds for federal program eligibility. Libhart also noted how reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program have caused rates to begin to increase, sometimes significantly, which could have a detrimental impact on values of properties required to carry flood insurance.

 

In addition, Mike Lovegreen, former Bradford County Conservation District manager, discussed how stream channel erosion can impact runoff and flooding, and offered an overview of an emergency stream intervention program that is being developed to help communities better understand how to stabilize waterways.

 

A recording of the hearing and all written testimony can be found at environmental.pasenategop.com under Meetings & Hearings.

LEGISLATORS, GOVERNOR ANNOUNCE BROADBAND INITIATIVES       

Gov. Wolf recently announced the creation of the Pennsylvania Office of Broadband Initiatives, which will be responsible for developing and executing a statewide strategy to expand broadband access to every Pennsylvanian by the end of 2022, and appointed former Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith as Executive Director. At the same time, Gov. Wolf introduced the Pennsylvania Broadband Investment Initiative to offer up to $35 million in financial incentives to private providers bidding on service areas within Pennsylvania in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) upcoming Connect America Fund Phase II (CAFII) Auction. The Office of Broadband Initiatives will also be developing a longer-term approach to deliver service to those areas not included in the auction.

 

At the same time, former CCAP member Rep. Pam Snyder (D-Greene) and Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) announced their own focus on these issues, including legislation, HB 1642, that calls for an inventory of state-owned assets such as communication towers that could be used to leverage the expansion of high-speed broadband internet in unserved and underserved areas. The two also introduced HR 429, calling for a legislative task force on issues of delivery of high-speed broadband, as well as HR 430 seeking an audit and study on compliance of nonrural telecommunications carriers with universal broadband deployment mandates. Both HB 1642 and HR 429 were reported by the House State Government Committee in April. 

STATE ANNOUNCES OPPORTUNITY ZONES          

Gov. Wolf has announced the selection of the commonwealth's 300 Opportunity Zones, as created by the federal Tax Cut and Jobs Act that was enacted in December 2017.

 

Under the federal law, Opportunity Zones is a new community development program to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The program provides tax incentives for investors to put their unrealized capital gains into an Opportunity Fund that is dedicated for investing in the designated Opportunity Zones, with a 10-year commitment. Potential Opportunity Zones were identified by low-income community census tracts, with about 1,200 identified in Pennsylvania.

 

Governors in each state were permitted to nominate up to 25 percent of the eligible areas in their state as Opportunity Zones. According to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, tracts in Pennsylvania were nominated based primarily on their potential to eliminate poverty, on existing business activity including potential for affordable housing and infrastructure investments, and on geographic diversity. The complete list can be found at dced.pa.gov by selecting Qualified Opportunity Zones under the Programs & Funding tab.

 

The U.S. Treasury Department is in the process of developing the program and the IRS is expected to provide more information in the coming months.