HOUSE BEGINS BUDGET CONSIDERATION – The FY 2010 – 2011 budget season is officially underway, with the introduction and House Appropriations Committee approval of HB 2279. The bill contains funding consistent with the Governor’s February 9 budget request, although legislation to enact revenue components of the plan has not been formally advanced. Sensitivity to the budget timeline is particularly high this year, following the 101 day budget impasse in 2009.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans (D – Philadelphia), has announced the schedule for consideration of the bill. Debate on amendments and the bill will begin on Monday, March 22, coincidentally during the CCAP Spring Conference (see article later in this Bulletin). And if the House follows the schedule announced by Chairman Evans, the budget bill will be sent to the Senate prior to the Easter recess.
The Governor’s proposal, now contained in HB 2279, presents continuing significant challenges for Pennsylvania counties. While most county human services line items are flat funded from last year, the critical Human Services Development Fund faces grave underfunding in the proposal. The flexible funding in HSDF is a key component to assuring a human services safety net ready to address job losses, benefit loss or reductions, and increasing demand that always accompanies economic downturn. It was also the funder of first resort in many counties and for many providers during last year’s budget impasse. Yet the fund has been targeted for cuts several times since 2003, and is down 26% just since 2008.
CCAP is advocating restoration of HSDF, and urging that other line items be spared from further reductions. The funding levels in the Governor’s proposal for lines such as child welfare, mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse are already at rock bottom, and any further reductions have high potential to collapse these critical services in communities across the state.
US SENATE PASSES ENHANCED FMAP EXTENSION – The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Wednesday, March 10 to extend, through June 2011, the enhanced FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentage), previously authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Enhanced FMAP provides a higher federal match to relieve some of the fiscal burdens of states and counties that contribute to the non-federal share of Medicaid for a variety of services including long-term care, mental health and transportation for persons with disabilities.
It is uncertain how quickly the legislation, which also includes extensions of unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance, will be acted on in the House. However, the House has included the enhanced FMAP extension in previous legislation.
CCAP and the National Association of Counties are urging both chambers to move expeditiously to work out any differences and send a bill to the President. Without enhanced FMAP, the commonwealth could face a budget shortfall of $850 million and has indicated it would be forced to reduce expenditures to county human service line items by 15 percent across the board.
CCAP TESTIFIES ON ASSESSMENT APPEALS LEGISLATION – CCAP offered written testimony to the House Local Government Committee on the topic of assessment appeals by schools. New legislation has been proposed, including HB 2020, HB 2022 and HB 2023, which would require a quorum of the members of a school board that initiates an assessment appeal to attend all proceedings related to the appeal.
CCAP has no position on these proposals, but as a matter of equal protection is concerned about establishing requirements for school districts that are different from municipalities, and notes that no other appellant is required to send a named set of representatives to an appeal. Anyone who has an interest in a property assessment appeal, whether an individual, a business or a local taxing jurisdiction or even the property owner, is able to send someone to represent them. House Bill 2021 also sets up a separate notice process to be undertaken by the school district parallel to the process required to be followed by county assessment offices, which is likely to be confusing to the property owner.
The Association’s County Platform supports a prohibition on assessment appeals by school districts and municipalities unless one of a set of conditions are met, including improvement, demolition, division, change in use or countywide reassessment. However, the Governor has twice vetoed legislation that would address this issue.
In its testimony CCAP also raised the broader equity issue by calling for reform of the existing assessment system. CCAP believes that the first step to assessment reform and to addressing the appeals issue is to consolidate all of the assessment laws into one law, and supports SB 918 to accomplish this objective.
Among the elements of longer-term reform, counties believe it is inappropriate to require a full-scale reassessment on a calendar basis, instead advocating reassessment when the values exceed equity tolerances. In the interim, valid statistical methodologies should be made available to permit maintenance of equity. Any change to the valuation system to require reassessment must be accompanied by either state dollars, or a share paid by other beneficiaries such as school districts and municipalities, to reduce the burden on county proper tax payers.
PREPAID WIRELESS E-911 SURCHARGE PASSES HOUSE - On March 8 the House passed HB 1789, an amendment to the Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act that clarifies the application of the 911 surcharge to prepaid wireless services and phones. The bill would impose the $1 surcharge on each retail transaction of prepaid services or devices. After collection by the Department of Revenue, the surcharge would be deposited in the PEMA-administered Wireless E-911 Emergency Services Fund and distributed to county 911 systems as a part of that funding stream. The bill was received in the Senate March 10 and referred to the Senate Veteran Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. The bill is part of the CCAP 911 priorities for 2010.
VOTING BY 17-YEAR-OLDS – Seventeen year olds who will turn 18 in advance of the general or municipal election would be permitted to vote in the primary election under HB 259, now reported from the House State Government Committee. While the Association does not have a position on the bill, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Richard Grucela (D-Northampton) developed, and the Committee adopted, an amendment that addressed a number of technical concerns CCAP had identified.
With the amendment, a 17 year old would be permitted to vote only for those offices that are part of the primary, and would be prohibited from voting for final-action matters like referenda or special elections to fill vacancies. The SURE system would be required to generate notes in the poll book to prompt poll workers to lock out referenda or special elections. A 17 year old, properly registered, could also sign nominating petitions.
ELECTIONEERING DEFINITION PROPOSED – The House amended another Election Code bill, HB 740 relating to political advertising, with language that establishes a statutory definition of “electioneering” in the polling place. The term is broadly defined to include an attempt to persuade a voter to vote for or against a particular candidate, but also includes a list of specific examples that are prohibited, such as wearing, exhibiting or distributing labels, signs, posters, badges, stickers, buttons, shirts, hats, or other articles of clothing that identify or indicate support or opposition for a particular candidate.
Counties have traditionally had some leeway in enforcing the electioneering prohibition in the polling place. During the presidential election of 2008, the Department of State issued a bulletin authorizing some forms of political expression in the polling place that many counties had considered electioneering. As amended, HB 740 will place in statute standards by which counties will enforce the electioneering prohibition.
AUDITOR GENERAL HOMESTEAD REPORT – In late February Auditor General Jack Wagner issued a special report on administration of the homestead law, finding ten specific shortcomings in the law and its administration. Counties have been administering homestead exclusion rolls since passage of Act 50 in 1998, although exclusions gained prominence only with the availability of gaming fund offsets in the last couple years.
While the Association was completing its review of the report, the AG on March 10 – ten days after the homestead application deadline – called on Governor Rendell to issue an executive order to extend the deadline and order counties to continue to accept applications. The Governor’s office has now confirmed that the deadline is statutory, and cannot be arbitrarily extended.
LEGISLATIVE RECEPTION AT CCAP SPRING CONFERENCE – The Association has invited members of the General Assembly to its annual legislative reception, to be held during the CCAP Spring Conference. The Conference takes place March 21 – 23 at the Harrisburg Hilton. The reception will be held Monday, March 22 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., and will highlight the 2010 CCAP legislative priorities. CCAP members are asked to extend personal invitations to their legislators.
VOTING MATTERS, SPRING CONFERENCE – A voting session will be held Tuesday, March 23 during the CCAP Spring Conference to select the Association’s two representatives to the NACo Board of Directors. Information on the positions has been emailed to chief clerks.