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

Education Funding

Gov. Tom Wolf on May 22 announced his opposition to Senate Bill 2, a school voucher plan that would create saving accounts for students in low-performing public schools that could be used for private education.

“Senate Bill 2 would take us backwards and could mean many millions of dollars being cut from public schools,” Wolf said in a statement.

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association, according to the Wolf administration statement, has said the bill would siphon scarce resources from public schools and direct those funds to private schools.

“Senate Bill 2 would set up schools to fail and we cannot accept that as adequate for any of our children. I urge the full Senate to reject this measure and let's focus on giving our schools, students, teachers, and administrators the tools and resources that they need to succeed.”
SB 2, sponsored by Pennsylvania Sen. John DiSanto, R-Dauphin, cleared the Senate Education Committee on a 7-5 vote just before Wolf announced his opposition. The bill would create Educational Savings Accounts for students attending a school ranked in the bottom 15 percent in the state.

“Let's give kids in the poorest performing public schools a real opportunity to get the education that works for them,” DiSanto said in a statement.

Standardized Testing

The Senate has approved two measures sponsored by Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, one that would study the effectiveness of standardized testing in schools and another aimed at streamlining certification requirements for vocational teachers.

Senate Resolution 322, which would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the effectiveness of standardized testing—including Keystone Exams and SATs—and their use as indicators of student academic achievement, was adopted on May 23 without a floor vote. It had been unanimously approved in the Senate Education Committee.

“There is a vigorous debate regarding the effectiveness of the data produced by Keystone Exams and other standardized testing,” Aument said in a statement. “It is critical to ensure this data is reliable to provide teachers, schools, parents and taxpayers with feedback that will be useful in promoting a better system of education for students.”

Senate Bill 1104 would reform certification requirements for vocational teachers to make Pennsylvania's teacher certification requirements similar to mandates in other states. It passed on a 48-1 vote.

Domestic Violence

The state Senate on May 23 unanimously passed a measure that would create a sentencing enhancement that would apply when children witness incidents of domestic violence.
Senate Bill 1092, which was sponsored by Sen. Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery, would introduce as an aggravating element whether a minor witnessed through sight or sound an assault against a family or household member.

“There is a devastating impact on children who witness domestic violence,” Mensch said. “The short-term consequences include increased anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, aggression, difficulty concentrating, social isolation, and lack of empathy. The long-term consequences are similarly troubling. Additionally, when these affected children grow up they are more likely to engage in dangerous behavior and are more likely to be caught up in a vicious cycle of abuse; they become an abuser or an abused person themselves.”

Working with Mensch on the bill were the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and Cabrini University's Center for Children of Trauma and Domestic Violence Education, according to a statement on the Senate GOP website.

Sex Offenders

The state House of Representatives on May 23 passed, on a unanimous vote, a measure to fix Pennsylvania's version of Megan's Law to ensure that persons removed from the sex-offender registry under a state Supreme Court decision would be obligated to continue to register.

The House voted to concur in Senate amendments to House Bill 1952, which was drafted in the wake of the justices' 2017 decision in Commonwealth v. Muniz, which held that those convicted prior to the effective date of the 2012 amendments to the law could not be required to register, as that requirement was among the punishments for the predicate sex offense, and punishment may not be added to crimes after the fact.

Wolf in February signed into law Act 10 of 2018 as the initial response to Muniz. It was enacted to ensure that 12,000 persons required to register as sex offenders would remain subject to the requirements in effect at the time of their offense.

The sponsor of HB 1952, state Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin, said it added “highly technical” language to the law to restate Act 10 and reinforce “the General Assembly's intent that sex offenders who would have been removed from commonwealth's registry of sex offenders due to the case of Commonwealth v. Muniz will continue to register if their period of registration has not expired.”

Critical Infrastructure 

The Senate on May 23 passed, on a 28-20 vote, legislation to would increase penalties for those who trespass on “critical infrastructure” facilities.

The measure's sponsor, Sen. Mike Regan, R-York, said Senate Bill 652 would add “teeth” to Pennsylvania law and better protect critical infrastructure facilities.

“It is important to understand that trespassing and damaging facilities is currently illegal,” Regan said. “This legislation is not banning activity that is already against the law but instead it specifies exactly what level of crime a person can be charged with when they partake in such illegal activities.”

SB 652 would make trespassing on a critical infrastructure facility a third-degree felony and doing damage or inhibiting business a second-degree felony. Each would carry a maximum prison term of one year and a minimum fine of $5,000.

The bill's definition of “critical infrastructure facility” encompasses 21 categories, including petroleum refineries, electrical power plants, gas and oil pipelines, cellular communication towers and railroad tracks.

SB 652 now goes to the House for consideration.

Investment Strategy

Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella on May 23 announced he is expanding the state Treasury's passive investment strategy to include the publicly traded fixed-income portfolio, a move that—along with earlier shifts in its equity portfolio—saves nearly $9 million per year in Wall Street fees, according to a Treasury statement.

Torsella said the move also takes a further step to change the state government's
“pay-to-play” culture.

“My job is to help build the futures of Pennsylvanians by putting their interests first, not Wall Street's,” he said in a statement, continuing that adding fixed-income investments “completes a process we began last year to capture better market returns for the lowest possible cost.”

The transition of fixed income investment holdings to passive strategies, where available, is expected to take place over the next month. Torsella will authorize the transition of more than $2.9 billion in fixed income investment holdings from active managers to lower-cost passive strategies, resulting in an estimated savings of $3.78 million annually that was paid in fees.

Passive investments buy and hold securities proportionately to their weighting in broad market indexes, and require lower fees, the Treasury statement said. •