MONTOUR SPARTANS –The 2022 PIAA 4A baseball state championship team and coaches were honored in Harrisburg by Rep. Dan Deasy, Rep. Anita Kulik and Sen. Wayne Fontana (not pictured) on June 22.-HARRISBURG UPDATES-
By Rep. Anita Kulik
At the time of this writing, budget negotiations are ongoing between the House, Senate and Administration. Hopefully, by the date of publication, the budget will be completed. These three groups continue to debate how and if to spend the federal relief dollars that currently sit in the General Fund.
Several “housekeeping” bills relating to the final budget were addressed on the House floor at the time of this writing.
The House and Senate have been in session all through June and while budget bills are waiting to be passed, other bills are going through to vote that impact our citizens.
Amusement parks
All of us in this area have fond memories of summer days spent at Kennywood Park, and for some of us, White Swan Park. Along with so many other entertainment venues, the amusement park industry suffered greatly over the past two years.
House Bill 2049 passed easily through a floor vote in the House as a measure to help the amusement park industry in the state.
Currently, amusement parks are able to obtain restaurant liquor licenses in order to serve alcohol. In order to more closely match these venues’ needs and operations, this bill would allow parks to obtain public venue licenses like hotels, golf courses, resorts and museums.
Boat registration
I am always excited to tell my colleagues from around Pennsylvania our district has its own island. Neville Island as well as parts of Robinson, Coraopolis, McKees Rocks and Stowe give our residents great opportunities to enjoy our rivers.
Those who own boats know obtaining and renewing boat registrations can be confusing. Currently, the registration dates run from April 1 to March 30 of each year.
Senate Bill 403 passed through the Senate and the House and will be on its way to the Governor’s desk for final passage. It will change the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s two-year time period for valid boat registration to January 1 to December 31 of the second year.
Several other bills will come up for vote in the last week of June. Senate Bill 861 would place Pennsylvania into the Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact. This will facilitate the movement and operation of our EMS personnel across state lines in the performance of their duties.
House Resolution 74 would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of Conservation Corridors in the Commonwealth and produce a report on its findings.
Currently, under federal permission, pharmacists and pharmacy interns are permitted to administer influenza and COVID-19 vaccines to individuals aged five and over. However, the federal government can end this at any time. This was done in response to the COVID crisis to help get people vaccinated as well as take pressure off of overburdened nurses and doctors.
House Bill 2679 would codify Pennsylvania law to allow pharmacists and interns to administer these vaccines to those five and older.
June has been a busy month in the Legislature and much has been accomplished. We have likewise been very busy at our district office and look forward to serving our constituents and helping with all state-related matters.