Your Chamber advocacy team is working to share legislative updates and continue to advocate for your business in Washington, D.C., Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. We’ve created a round-up of recent activity including Key Takeaways for Your Business and a Detailed Legislative Update. This represents our best knowledge of the situation as of 9:00 a.m. on Friday, October 29, 2021.

Chamber members are invited to join weekly legislative update calls hosted by our Advocacy team to hear the latest on COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts at the federal, state, and local level as well as other legislative matters concerning our community.

To learn more about how our region is preparing for recovery, visit our Recharge & Recover PHL Information Hub:

Visit the Recharge & Recover PHL Information Hub

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Local

  • Bill 210778 (University City Townhomes downzoning and demolition moratorium) was reported out of the Rules Committee but without a rule suspension at Councilmember Gauthier’s request. This bill will now have First Reading next Thursday, November 4. It is assumed Councilmember Gauthier wants the additional time to resolve outstanding issues with the property owner.
  • Today the City Council Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and The Homeless held a hearing to identify barriers and solutions to permanently preserve community gardens and open spaces in the City of Philadelphia.
  • On Monday, November 1, 2021, the City Council Committee on Public Safety will hold a hearing on a bill that would authorize Public Safety Officers to direct the removal of abandoned vehicles.
  • On Wednesday, November 3, 2021, the City Council Special Committee on Gun Violence will hold hearings to address the plague of gun violence and facilitate the coordination of stakeholders to formulate a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy.
  • On Friday, November 5, 2021, the City Council Committee on Licenses and Inspections will hold a hearing on a bill that would expand business owner liability under certain conditions, and a bill to require a special certificate of inspection for educational facilities.
  • On Wednesday, October 27, the City of Philadelphia announced the second round of the Anti-Violence Community Expansion Grant Program awardees. This second round of awardees includes four additional organizations that will collectively receive more than $2.5 million in funding, bringing the total amount distributed through this program to more than $4.8 million. 
  • Upcoming Event

State

  • On Wednesday, October 27, the Pennsylvania Senate approved Senate Bill 705 that states each of Pennsylvania’s licensure boards will develop regulations for the appropriate use of telemedicine, as well as providing for patient privacy and data security standards compliant with federal and state law. In Pennsylvania, many health insurers already provide coverage for some form of telemedicine, but coverage varies by location and health care service. The legislation now heads to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
  • On Wednesday, October 27, the Pennsylvania House voted unanimously to expand income eligibility limits for the state’s prescription drug subsidy program. The legislation increases the maximum income for PACENET to $33,500 for single people and $41,500 for married couples. The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration.
  • The state House of Representatives this week approved legislation authored by Rep. Rich Irvin (R-Huntingdon/Centre/Mifflin) that would allow for faster workers’ compensation claims settlements. Currently, within the workers’ compensation system, claimants who are eligible to receive a final lump-sum settlement on a claim – referred to as a Compromise and Release agreement – must have two witnesses see them sign the legal paperwork or have it signed before a notary. House Bill 1837 now goes to the PA Senate for consideration.
  • Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, has publicly come out in opposition to Governor Tom Wolf’s position to enter into the regional greenhouse gas coalition called RGGI. In a statement this week, Shapiro expressed concern that joining RGGI could hurt Pennsylvania’s energy industry, union jobs, and drive-up electric prices.
  • Upcoming Event

Federal

  • Yesterday, October 28, the White House released a proposed $1.75 trillion framework for the President’s Build Back Better plan.  To win broader support from Democrats, the framework represents a scaled down version of the Administration’s original proposal.  The White House’s proposal invests $750 billion in child and home care, $550 billion in clean energy and climate change investments, $165 billion in expanded Medicare coverage and health insurance credits, and $190 billion for enhanced access to higher education and housing.  
  • The framework would offset spending with a 15% corporate minimum tax on large corporations, a 15% global minimum tax, a new wealth surtax on multi-millionaires, and stronger tax collection and enforcement at the IRS.  The Chamber opposes increases in the corporate tax rate and increases in taxes on the pass-through business sector.  
  • The House needs to pass the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by Sunday or pass another short-term extension of current surface transportation programs.  This bill has been blocked for several months by House Progressives that have insisted that the Build Back Better Act move together with the infrastructure bill to the House floor. 
  • The Chamber calls for swift passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which would modernize and maintain our roads and bridges, transit, ports and airports, high-speed intercity passenger rail, clean energy & transportation infrastructure, clean water and wastewater infrastructure, and broadband and telecommunications infrastructure.  

DETAILED LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Local: Updates from Philadelphia’s City Hall

City Council Stated Meeting

  • Councilmember Bobby Henon was granted leave from Thursday’s Council session.  Councilman Henon’s federal corruption trial began on Monday, October 4, and is expected to continue through November.
  • Councilmember Jamie Gauthier introduced a resolution honoring the life of Walter Wallace, Jr. As you may recall, Walter Wallace, Jr. was reportedly suffering a mental health crisis (and in possession of a knife) when he was shot and killed by Philadelphia police officers on October 26, 2020. 
  • Bill 210778 (University City Townhomes downzoning and demolition moratorium) was reported out of the Rules Committee but without a rule suspension at Councilmember Gauthier’s request. This bill will now have First Reading next Thursday, November 4. It is assumed Councilmember Gauthier wants the additional time to resolve outstanding issues with the property owner.

Upcoming City Council Committee Hearings

  • Today, the City Council Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and The Homeless held a hearing to identify barriers and solutions to permanently preserve community gardens and open spaces in the City of Philadelphia.
  • On Monday, November 1, 2021, the City Council Committee on Public Safety will hold a hearing on a bill that would authorize Public Safety Officers to direct the removal of abandoned vehicles.
  • On Wednesday, November 3, 2021, the City Council Special Committee on Gun Violence will hold hearings to address the plague of gun violence and facilitate the coordination of stakeholders to formulate a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy.
  • On Friday, November 5, 2021, the City Council Committee on Licenses and Inspections will hold a hearing on a bill that would expand business owner liability under certain conditions, and a bill to require a special certificate of inspection for educational facilities.

City Announces Second Round of Anti-Violence Community Expansion Grant Program Awardees

On Wednesday, October 27, the City of Philadelphia announced the second round of the Anti-Violence Community Expansion Grant Program awardees. This second round of awardees includes four additional organizations that will collectively receive more than $2.5 million in funding, bringing the total amount distributed through this program to more than $4.8 million. The second round of awardees are: Norris Square Community Alliance, Somerset Community Center & Lighthouse Sports Complex, PowerCorps PHL, and YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School. As you may recall, in July 2021, Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council announced a $22 million investment in Anti-Violence Community Partnership Grants. This is a major piece of the historic $155.7M investment in a wide array of violence prevention programming and services that contribute to the City’s violence prevention and reduction goals.

Upcoming Event

Questions? Contact William Carter (wcarter@chamberphl.com) for more information about local legislative affairs.

State: Updates from Harrisburg

Telemedicine Bill Advances in PA Senate

On Wednesday, October 27, the Pennsylvania Senate approved Senate Bill 705 that defines “telemedicine” as “the delivery of health care services provided through telecommunications technology to a patient by a health care practitioner who is at a different location,” and allows anyone with a medical license or otherwise regulated by Pennsylvania law to provide telemedicine services. 

The legislation states that each of Pennsylvania’s licensure boards will develop regulations within the scope of practice and standard of care, with the rules taking into consideration model policies and clinical guidelines for appropriate use of telemedicine, as well as providing for patient privacy and data security standards compliant with federal and state law.

Telemedicine is a rapidly growing component of health care, and many health care professionals and hospitals in Pennsylvania are already providing services via telemedicine. However, currently none of the health care professionals’ licensure acts explicitly authorize or regulate practice via telemedicine. In Pennsylvania, many health insurers already provide coverage for some form of telemedicine, but coverage varies by location and health care service. 

The legislation now heads to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

State Prescription Drug Subsidy Expanded

On Wednesday, October 27, the Pennsylvania House voted unanimously to expand income eligibility limits for the state’s prescription drug subsidy program. The legislation increases the maximum income for PACENET to $33,500 for single people and $41,500 for married couples. It would also end the requirement that PACENET cardholders pay monthly premiums in a month when they do not receive any prescriptions. Three years ago, the Legislature and governor raised the PACENET limits by $4,000, which was the first change in 15 years. PACENET and its companion program, PACE, are funded by the state lottery.

The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration.

Mental health, Substance Abuse Bills Approved

This week, the state House Human Services Committee approved a package of bills championed by PA Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler. The bills seek to improve existing mental health, physical health, and substance abuse laws to ensure information is available to providers. Under current law, mental health and physical health information cannot be fully shared among providers in Pennsylvania. The proposed changes would bring Pennsylvania in line with the majority of states that already share this information and are seeing improved patient outcomes.

House Bills 1561 (Farry) and 1563 (Cutler) would amend the Mental Health Procedures Act and the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Act to allow for sharing of patient information among providers, facilities, and insurers. The changes would also meet existing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements to ensure patient confidentiality.

The legislation now awaits consideration by the full House.

Workers’ Compensation Bill Passes House

This week, the state House of Representatives approved legislation authored by Rep. Rich Irvin (R-Huntingdon/Centre/Mifflin) that would allow for faster workers’ compensation claims settlements.

Currently, within the workers’ compensation system, claimants who are eligible to receive a final lump-sum settlement on a claim – referred to as a Compromise and Release agreement – must have two witnesses see them sign the legal paperwork or have it signed before a notary. This is required even though the claimant would need to still be sworn in to testify that they understood the full legal significance of the agreement by a judge.

The legislation would amend the current law to allow for a claimant to, instead, when appearing before a workers’ compensation judge, provide sworn testimony that he or she fully understands the agreement in place of having the agreement signed in front of two witnesses or a notary.

House Bill 1837 now goes to the PA Senate for consideration.

RGGI Becomes Campaign Issue

Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, has publicly come out in opposition to Governor Tom Wolf’s position to enter into the regional greenhouse gas coalition called RGGI. In a statement this week, Shapiro expressed concern that joining RGGI could hurt Pennsylvania’s energy industry, union jobs, and drive-up electric prices.

Upcoming Event

Questions? Contact Liz Ferry (lferry@chamberphl.com) for more information about state legislative affairs.

Federal: Updates from Washington D.C.

Yesterday, October 28, the White House released a proposed $1.75 trillion framework for the President’s Build Back Better plan.  To win broader support from Democrats, the framework represents a scaled down version of the Administration’s original proposal.  The White House’s proposal invests $750 billion in child and home care, $550 billion in clean energy and climate change investments, $165 billion in expanded Medicare coverage and health insurance credits, and $190 billion for enhanced access to higher education and housing.  

The framework would offset spending with a 15% corporate minimum tax on large corporations, a 15% global minimum tax, a new wealth surtax on multi-millionaires, and stronger tax collection and enforcement at the IRS.  This bevy of tax offsets comes shortly following Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s statement last week that she will not support increases on the corporate and individual tax rates. The Chamber opposes increases in the corporate tax rate and increases in taxes on the pass-through business sector.  

Specifically, the framework would:

  • Expand access to free high-quality preschool with a six-year funding commitment;
  • Provide a six-year funding commitment to limit child care costs for working families to no more than 7% of income for families earning up to 250% of state median income;
  • Strengthen an existing program through Medicaid for home care workers;
  • Extend the current expanded Child Tax Credit for one-year;
  • Provide $320 billion in clean energy tax credits, offering ten-year expanded tax credits for clean energy transmission and storage, clean energy vehicles, and clean energy manufacturing;
  • Provide $105 billion in resilience investments in climate change;
  • Create $110 billion in targeted incentives in cleaner domestic supply chains and manufacturing technologies;
  • Deliver $20 billion in incentives for government procurement of next gen technologies, including deployment of cleaner transit;
  • Extend the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits through 2025;
  • Expand Medicare coverage of hearing;
  • Provide $150 billion for affordable housing, rental, and down payment assistance
  • Increase the maximum Pell grant, invest in workforce development, including community college workforce programs, sector-based training, and apprenticeships.
  • Extend for one year the current expanded Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers;
  • Target investments in maternal health, community violence initiatives, nutrition, pandemic preparedness, and supply chain resilience; and
  • Make improvements to the immigration system.

The Chamber supports doubling the maximum Pell Grant award, enacting long-term structural investments in our nation’s child care and pre-K system, incentivizing clean energy, better access to affordable housing, and high-skilled immigration reforms consistent with Senate reconciliation rules.  We also support inclusion of funding for regional innovation and technology hub programs that would invest in innovation centers across the nation. Key Senate moderates have reportedly signaled general agreement to the framework but are not committed to supporting the final bill, which is far from developed.  There is also no guarantee that progressives will also support the framework even if moderates agree to sign-off on the deal.

Meanwhile, the House needs to pass the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by Sunday or pass another short-term extension of current surface transportation programs.  This bill has been blocked for several months by House Progressives that have insisted that the Build Back Better Act move together with the infrastructure bill to the House floor. With his parred down framework released, the President made a pitch to the House Democratic Caucus yesterday to pass the infrastructure bill before the House adjourned for the weekend. The timing of the bill’s passage would support the President’s message at the international climate conference this weekend. At the time of this writing, the House was expected to bring the infrastructure bill to the floor for a vote, but there was no indication from progressives that they would vote to pass the infrastructure bill based on only a loose framework presented by the President.  If the bill is blocked, a short-term extension of surface transportation programs could run through the beginning of December.

The Chamber calls for swift passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which would modernize and maintain our roads and bridges, transit, ports and airports, high-speed intercity passenger rail, clean energy and transportation infrastructure, clean water and wastewater infrastructure, and broadband and telecommunications infrastructure.  We urge passage of this bipartisan infrastructure package ahead of the expiring authorization for surface transportation spending programs on Sunday, October 31.

Questions? Contact Anselm Sauter (asauter@chamberphl.com) for more information about federal legislative affairs.

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU, YOUR TEAM, AND YOUR BUSINESS

The constantly changing nature of this public health crisis requires continued engagement with public policy developments. We invite you to reach out to our advocacy team directly with your questions: 

Chamber members are invited to join weekly legislative update calls hosted by our Advocacy team to hear the latest on COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts at the federal, state, and local level as well as other legislative matters concerning our community.

To learn more about how our region is preparing for recovery, visit our Recharge & Recover PHL Information Hub:

Visit the Recharge & Recover PHL Information Hub