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Harrisburg Happenings Dear Friend, Session was extremely active this week in Harrisburg as both the Senate and House prepare for the final few weeks before the June 30th fiscal year deadline. The Senate was in a non-typical Friday session today in order to have a final vote on Senate Bill 1030 and send it to the Governor before unemployment compensation benefits were set to expire this weekend for 45,000 Pennsylvanians. Senate Bill 732 passed the Senate and will bring much-needed regulations and oversight to abortion facilities in Pennsylvania. I know most people were shocked and disgusted by the reports of the Gosnell clinic in Philadelphia. Since Gosnell, we have learned of what little health and safety precautions are provided to women who have a surgical abortion compared to even people getting a mole removed by a dermatologist. I offered an amendment to SB 732 to require clinics that perform abortions after the ninth week of gestation to meet higher standards for treatment and care in order to protect the health of women seeking services there. This was supported overwhelmingly and these provisions are now part of the bill. See below for more details. While the development of the state budget has been difficult considering the economic mess the Commonwealth has on its hands, I can say with certainty Pennsylvania will have a budget on time for the first time in eight years. The House recently passed its version of next year's spending plan which modified Governor Corbett's proposed budget. The Senate Republican Caucus generally supports the House-passed plan but there will be some fine-tuning done before the budget is ultimately passed before June 30th. Look for a budget update from me next week. If you find this e-newsletter useful, I invite you to visit my website www.senatormensch.com for more information about your state government. If you do not wish to receive these e-newsletters, please click the "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of the page. If you would like to contact my office, please go to my web page and click on the "contact" button. Please do not "reply" directly to this e-mail. Sincerely, Bob Mensch Legislature acts to preserve UC benefits for 45,000 Pennsylvanians Legislation to provide 13 weeks of unemployment compensation benefits to an estimated 45,000 Pennsylvanians received final legislative approval today and was sent to the Governor for his signature. Senate Bill 1030 will enable an additional 90,000 claimants to remain eligible throughout the remainder of the calendar year to collect the additional 13 weeks of extended benefits, which will result in an additional $350 million in federally-funded extended benefits being paid to these claimants. The legislation also provides for the most comprehensive unemployment compensation reform in a decade. The bill places a limit on the maximum weekly benefit payment a recipient can receive and requires that those receiving benefits actively try to find work. These measures along with others in the bill were included with bi-partisan support in an effort to hold down future costs in the state unemployment system. Pennsylvania currently owes the federal government $3.5 billion for unemployment compensation costs. Bill increases monitoring, standards of Pennsylvania's abortion clinics After considerable debate and fine-tuning over the past few weeks, the Senate passed legislation on Tuesday to increase state oversight of abortion clinics and provide additional safeguards for the women who use those facilities. Senate Bill 732, which I wholeheartedly supported, sets licensing standards and provides for regular inspections of abortion clinics by the state Department of Health. The legislation also includes my amendment which requires clinics that perform abortions after the ninth week of gestation to meet the standards required of ambulatory surgical centers. SB 732 was intended to addresses the lack of regulatory review and standards in Pennsylvania that led to the horrible conditions and practices detailed in a Philadelphia County grand jury report on an abortion clinic run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell. At least two women died as a result of botched late-term abortions by Dr. Gosnell, according to the grand jury report released in January. Gosnell and several employees were charged with murder and numerous other offenses in the case. The grand jury also revealed that complaints about unsafe and unsanitary conditions went unheeded and uninvestigated by city and state officials for more than a decade until February 2010 when federal drug agents finally put a stop to an illegal prescription drug business Gosnell was running from his clinic. Seven state employees have either resigned or been terminated since the situation came to light. The Gosnell clinic was definitely an atrocity in and of itself. Other abortion facilities in the state have been found to be compliant with current state regulations. However, those regulations treat abortion facilities differently than any other facility that is used for surgeries - whether it is for mole removals or colonoscopies or Lasik. Those facilities fall under state ambulatory surgical facility regulations which provide far better safeguards to patients than those regulations governing surgical abortion facilities. It is a generally accepted fact, even among abortion providers, that an abortion becomes increasingly more dangerous for the woman the longer the pregnancy progresses. For the sake of those women, any facility conducting abortions after the ninth week should meet comparable standards to what any other outpatient surgical center in the state must meet. Regardless of claims of how safe abortion is, the risks of complications that can come from this procedure are very, very real to the women who have the procedure. Those complications can require anything from treatment for infection acquired from the procedure, further surgery, an emergency hysterectomy, or a blood transfusion. Senate Bill 732 as amended simply treats surgical abortion as the medical procedure it is, not a moral decision to be debated as such. The bill is now before the House of Representatives for consideration. Marcellus Shale impact fee legislation advances The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee approved legislation on Tuesday to impose an impact fee on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. As amended by the committee, Senate Bill 1100 sets the fee at $40,000 in the first year of production, followed by $30,000 in the second year and $20,000 in year three. A fee of $10,000 would be assessed from years four through 10. Sixty percent of the revenue collected would go to local and county governments where drilling activity takes place and the remaining 40 percent would go for environmental and safety initiatives. The legislation also provides $1 million annually for training and equipment for emergency responders in Marcellus Shale drilling areas. Drillers could receive a credit of up to 30 percent of their fee if they donate to affordable housing programs. I support Senate Bill 1100, which now goes to the full Senate for consideration. DCNR Secretary confirmed The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Richard J. Allan of Camp Hill, Cumberland County, on Monday to serve as Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The Senate has now confirmed all of Governor Corbett's cabinet nominations except for the secretaries for the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Public Welfare. Bath salts bill headed to Governor Legislation banning synthetic drugs -- particularly a combination of chemicals commonly known as "bath salts" -- is headed to the Governor for enactment into law following final Senate approval on Wednesday. The final step came as we unanimously concurred on a House amendment to Senate Bill 1006, which adds Salvia Divinorum, Salvinorin A, Divinorin A, synthetic marijuana, and synthetic cocaine/heroin to the list of Schedule I controlled substances. The bath salts this bill deals with are not what you buy at Bath and Body shops in malls. Rather, bath salts as a drug are being sold legally right now in head shops or online throughout the country. This new phenomenon among drug users is comparable to cocaine or meth. Bath salts can be snorted, injected, smoked or eaten. It creates paranoia in its user that results in incomprehensible behavior like the parents in Northeast Pennsylvania who tried to slash their 5-year-old daughter with knives as they attacked the "voices in the walls." Unheard of just a few years ago, bath salts have caused an alarming rise
in reports of calls to poison control centers here and police incidents. |
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