Pennsylvania State Capitol. Photo credit: Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com |

Sexual Harassment

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on April 25 announced plans to audit sexual harassment policies at state agencies.
“I am directing my staff to review compliance with sexual harassment policies when we audit state agencies,” DePasquale said. “All of us must remain vigilant in our effort to prevent and stop sexual harassment in the workplace.

“The goal is to prevent sexual harassment from happening in the first place; not focus on what happens after,” he said. “But, I want to be very clear that taxpayer money should never be used to pay for the misdeeds of a public official.

“Based on my team's work reviewing the sexual harassment issues at the Philadelphia Parking Authority, we are preparing to apply similar audit procedures when we conduct broad audits of state agencies,” he said.

Audits found PPA hadn't updated its employee manual on sexual harassment since 2006 and that no sexual harassment training was conducted from at least 2006 through October 2016, the Capitolwire website reported.

Criminal Justice

The Pennsylvania Senate on April 25 unanimously approved a second round of justice reinvestment initiatives sponsored by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf, R-Montgomery. The package, known as JRI2, is aimed at increasing probation and parole supervision to reduce recidivism and expand the use of alternative sentencing programs. According to a statement from Greenleaf's office, JRI2 will streamline sentencing options at the state level and reinvest the savings into county adult probation departments and victim services.

The initiatives—contained in Senate Bills 1070, 1071 and 1072—come six years after the first round of reforms, which Greenleaf said have reduced inmate population by 3,300 and realized $400 million in savings.

Gov. Tom Wolf issued a statement applauding the Senate vote.

“Passage of JRI2 legislation will establish solutions to the challenges that incarcerated individuals and those on parole face, ensuring fair, consistent sentencing, probation practices that are evidence-based, and initiatives that expand communications and compensation for crime victims,” he said.

The bills move to the state House of Representatives for consideration there.

Pregnancy-Related Deaths

The Senate on April 25 unanimously approved legislation that would create a statewide review committee to identify and investigate pregnancy-related deaths among expectant and new mothers.

House Bill 1869, which was sponsored by state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh, would establish a 14-member Maternal Mortality Review Committee, made up of experts who would obtain a more accurate count of the deaths of women who die within one year of the end of a pregnancy, determine their cause and develop recommendations to prevent such deaths.
State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, said maternal mortality rates have doubled in Pennsylvania since 1994.

Baker, who is chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, the Democratic chairwoman of the committee, teamed to help push the measure through the upper house.

“We need to better identify the cause of pregnancy-related deaths and recommend actions to prevent them,” Baker said on the Senate floor.

It now proceeds to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

Gun Safety

Wolf in a press conference on April 23 called on the General Assembly to pass what he called “common-sense gun safety legislation.”

Among those steps, Wolf said, was the quick passage in the House of Senate Bill 501, which the Senate recently unanimously passed, and which would prevent domestic abusers with protection from abuse orders against them from owning or possessing guns.

SB 501 was sponsored by Sen. Thomas H. Killion, R-Delaware.

Wolf also called for measures to authorize the Pennsylvania State Police to make
background checks of all gun buyers, closing a loophole for private sales. •