OVERTIME PAY

Gov. Tom Wolf on Jan. 17 announced a proposal to modernize overtime rules to increase compensation for persons working in excess of 40 hours per week, according to a statement from the Wolf administration.

“Pennsylvania's overtime rules haven't changed in more than 40 years and workers are paying the price,” Wolf said. “I am taking this action to ensure hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who work more than 40 hours a week for the same job receive the overtime pay they have earned.”

Wolf made the announcement as part of his “Jobs That Pay” initiative at a supermarket in the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia. The statement said the proposal is aimed at strengthening the middle class and would affect nearly 500,000 wage earners in the state.

“It's simple, if you work overtime, then you should get paid fairly for it. This important step will put more money into the pockets of hardworking people and will help expand the middle class in Pennsylvania.”

Administration officials have framed the overtime system as outdated.

According to the statement, workers in Pennsylvania have not received a minimum wage increase in nearly a decade and overtime rules established in 1977 have not kept up with inflation.

“Four decades is far too long for Pennsylvania's overtime regulations to remain stagnant,” said Acting Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak. “Updating the overtime rules to keep pace with our 21st century economy is the right thing to do for the hardworking men and women of the commonwealth.”

Oleksiak is finalizing a plan to modernize rules and clarify requirements. The new rules, according to the statement, will phase in over four years to increase the salary threshold that requires employers to pay overtime to most salaried workers.

REGULATORY OVERSIGHT

State lawmakers and business leaders joined together on Jan. 16 to announce the release of a report on “regulatory overreach” by the state House of Representatives' State Government Committee.

The group also announced plans for the introduction of several bills specifically designed to rein in overregulation.

“The Regulatory Overreach Report is a compilation of the findings from a series of public hearings that I convened to gather testimony from various employers, organizations and experts on state regulatory policy,” said state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, according to a statement on the House GOP caucus website.

Metcalfe, chairman of the State Government Committee, said the “report clearly demonstrates that it's long-past time for the legislature to avenge the ever-increasing injustices of Pennsylvania's restrictive regulatory environment. Overregulation caused by unelected government bureaucrats is killing family-sustaining jobs, strangling opportunity and crippling economic growth.”

The committee heard testimony that Pennsylvania currently has more than 153,000 regulatory restrictions that stretch across every industry, according to the statement.

The package of bills included, among other proposals, the following:

• HB 1972, which would give the Pennsylvania General Assembly the ability to initiate the repeal of any state regulation in effect by concurrent resolution.

• HB 209 to establish an independent office to review existing regulations and refer recommendations for repeal to the governor, executive agencies and lawmakers.

• HB 1237 would require votes in the legislature to approve any “economically significant regulation,” defined as ones that have fiscal impact of $1 million or more in the public or private sectors.

UNCLAIMED PROPERTY

Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella on Jan. 17 announced that Treasury returned more than $254 million in unclaimed property to Pennsylvania taxpayers in calendar year 2017. This historic return is a 34 percent increase from 2016, according to a statement from a Treasury spokeswoman.

“Today's announcement represents my steadfast commitment to ensuring Pennsylvanians are a priority,” Torsella said. “One way the department can do this is by increasing efforts to reunite property back to its rightful owners.”

Each year, the Treasury receives millions of dollars in unclaimed property—items such as abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, uncashed checks and contents of safety deposit boxes. The property remains available for claim by the owners or their heirs in perpetuity and the Treasury serves as the custodian until it can find and verify its rightful legal owner.

CONGRESSIONAL MAP

A challenge by Democratic voters to Pennsylvania's Republican-crafted 2011 congressional district map landed before the state Supreme Court on Jan. 17, with a ruling expected in the coming weeks, The Associated Press reported.

The case may provide the justices with a chance to decide the limits of partisan boundary-making under the state constitution.

The map has been harshly criticized for creating bizarrely shaped districts with politics, not representation of communities, in mind. It has created a durable 13-5 GOP advantage over three election cycles despite a large Democratic voter registration edge and Democrats holding the governorship and three row offices.

The justices voiced concern about going farther than other courts to prohibit partisanship, and pressed lawyers about where the line might be drawn between fair partisanship and constitutional violations.

“A test has eluded every court that's grappled with it,” said Justice Max Baer.

The justices could choose to dramatically redraw the state's political landscape months before the scheduled primary and make changes to the coming year's election calendar. They also could follow a lower court's recommendation last month and uphold the map, or they could delay implementation of any changes until 2020.

During a two-and-a-half-hour argument session, a lawyer for the plaintiffs argued the map intentionally violates “viewpoint” constitutional protections for political expression and association.

“Our position is you can't have a little bit of discrimination against the voters,” said the lawyer, David Gersch.

As a “fallback” position if the justices don't ban partisanship outright, he argued they should throw out the maps if they find that political concerns subsumed other redistricting factors, such as compactness and minimizing municipal and county divisions.

Jason Torchinsky, attorney for the two Republican legislative leaders sued over the map, said political parties sometimes turn around their fortunes in spite of district maps that had once been considered insurmountable.

“It doesn't take very long before social science runs into actual voters,” Torchinsky argued.
A lawyer for Gov. Tom Wolf told the justices the governor sides with the plaintiffs against the map and supports their “fallback” position.

“Partisanship perhaps has a role—on the edges,” said Wolf attorney Mark Aronchick.
Justice Debra Todd, a Democrat, said she was concerned about providing lawmakers sufficient time to give thoughtful consideration to a new map.

“The legislature is not a computer and we are not robots,” she said.

Oral argument in the case came a week after a divided panel of three federal judges upheld the map.

If no changes are made in Pennsylvania, candidates will start circulating petitions on Feb. 13 to get on the May 15 primary ballot.

The Wolf administration says the state can still run the scheduled May 15 primary as long as new maps are in place by Feb. 20.

Officials say delaying the primary until late July, or perhaps even a bit later, is realistic. Aronchick said a separate primary will cost about $20 million.

Aronchick called those “issues that can be managed. But what can't be managed is looking the other way at this unconstitutional map.”

LAWMAKER RETIREMENT

State Rep. Kathy Watson, R-Bucks/144th, announced on Jan. 17 that she will not seek re-election in 2018 and complete her current legislative term on Nov. 30.

“Serving the 144th District and Bucks County … has been the privilege of a lifetime,” said Watson, who has chaired the House Children and Youth Committee for the past five years. “At my family's request, I have made the difficult decision to step away from the House.”

Watson, a 17-year veteran of the General Assembly, said in her statement, which was carried on the House GOP caucus website, that while she would be leaving the House she would not be
ending her career.

“I will continue my public service. The location may be different, but my heart and soul have been dedicated to helping make our communities and our commonwealth an even better place for children and families.” •