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

Following is a listing of executive and legislative action for the week from Aug. 1 through 7. Both houses of the General Assembly were in summer recess, with the state House of Representatives set to return to session Sept. 17 and the Pennsylvania Senate scheduled to reconvene Sept. 23.

Gun Violence

Gov. Tom Wolf, speaking in the wake of two high-profile mass shootings, in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, played host Aug. 7 to a bipartisan event at the Capitol Rotunda in remembrance of the victims of gun violence and as a call to action for federal and state lawmakers to take up proposals for stricter gun laws.

In a statement released Aug. 5, Wolf referenced the Tree of Life Shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue last year in addition to the mass shootings over the weekend and dozens of recent shootings in Pennsylvania cities as the most pressing reasons to take immediate action to reduce gun violence.

“Over the past few months, my administration has been consulting partners and members of the General Assembly on what more the executive branch can be doing to reduce gun violence and keep weapons from dangerous individuals,” he said. “We want to ensure we are using the full weight of the executive branch to combat this problem.”

Wolf also called for stronger hate crimes laws; targeting domestic terrorism and white nationalist ideology; and increasing investment in mental health care systems and struggling communities.

“But we cannot limit our action to any one of these problems, either,” he said. “This crisis demands swift but comprehensive reforms. We know what we are doing now is not enough.

The status quo is costing people their lives and robbing many Americans of their peace of mind and freedom to live their daily lives without fear. We cannot accept this violence and fear as normal. We must take action.”

Wolf issued an order for commonwealth flags at state government institutions to fly at half-mast from Aug. 5 through 8.

Firearms Industry

Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella on Aug. 6 joined a coalition of institutional investors to promote transparency and safety measures that contribute to the responsible use of firearms.

In the initiative, public employee investment funds and large private asset managers have agreed to advance a set of standards, called Principles for a Responsible Civilian Firearms Industry, that would compel manufacturers, distributors, retailers and other industry actors to help address gun safety, promote responsible use of firearms, and reduce investment risk.

Torsella said Pennsylvania’s decision to get behind the principles is consistent with his effort to engage in environmental, social and governance issues as an institutional investor.

“Gun violence in Pennsylvania, and across the country, is devastating our communities, tearing apart families, and leaving too many empty seats at the dinner table,” Torsella said. “When I feel that improvements can be made to better protect the people of our commonwealth and their tax dollars, I will fight for them. This framework represents actionable change, reduces risk, and improves long-term shareholder value for Pennsylvanians. I’m proud to support these principles and join with other institutional investors to urge the firearm industry to become part of the solution to this crisis.”

Also part of the coalition, according to a statement from the Treasury, are the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS); the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS); Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds; Florida State Board of Administration; Maine Public Employees Retirement System; Maryland State Retirement and Pension System; Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA; OIP Investment Trust; Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund; Rockefeller Asset Management; San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System; State Street Global Advisors; and Wespath Investment Management.

Workers’ Compensation

Wolf administration officials announced Aug. 6 a solution to a glitch that resulted last year in many employers paying higher insurance costs.

Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman and Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak entered into agreements with two insurers and the Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau to protect Pennsylvania businesses and lessen the chances of errors in the filing of loss costs, which help determine the rates businesses pay for workers’ compensation insurance.

The inflated insurance costs were adjusted when the Insurance Department in December 2018 approved a midyear loss cost revision filing. That step was necessary because of an error in a filing submitted by the PCRB, which took effect April 1, 2018, that was used to determine workers’ compensation insurance rates for Pennsylvania businesses.

“The error in loss cost filings … resulted in incorrect information being used by the PCRB, resulting in some businesses paying higher rates than they should have,” Altman said. The error was precipitated when Highmark Casualty sold its workers’ comp business to the insurer BrickStreet.

“Following an investigation, the Insurance Department determined the incorrect reporting of loss cost data to the PCRB occurred and was approved by the PCRB because of insufficient internal controls at both insurers and the PCRB,” she explained. “Our department has now taken action, through consent orders with Highmark Casualty, BrickStreet, and the PCRB, to ensure that these companies have sufficient internal controls to lessen the chance of a similar error impacting Pennsylvania businesses’ insurance rates in the future.”

Oleksiak said that once the State Workers’ Insurance Fund was made aware of the error, it acted promptly to make its Pennsylvania policyholders whole. SWIF retroactively revised and corrected the rates for its policyholders who had been overcharged, and informed all of its affected policyholders of the change in premium. These corrected rates accounted for approximately $10 million returned to Pennsylvania businesses.

Opioid Deaths

Wolf on Aug. 1 announced that opioid overdose deaths declined by 18% from 2017 to 2018, according to federal Drug Enforcement Agency statistics.

“This is a good piece of news in our ongoing fight; however, new challenges, including the increase of overdoses from other drugs in the past few weeks and months, mean that our work must continue to address the devastating effects of substance use disorder,” Wolf said.

“We remain laser-focused and committed to continuing to address substance use disorder in the commonwealth.”

Work to address the opioid crisis has focused on three areas, according to a Wolf administration statement: prevention, rescue and treatment. Collaborative work with state agencies and local, regional and federal officials has resulted in substantial action to address the opioid crisis.

Giving one example, Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller detailed the creation of a helpline, KinConnector, for families in kinship care situations, including grandparents raising their grandchildren because of the opioid crisis. The KinConnector helpline can help kinship care families access local, state and federal resources.

The helpline is the first step of KinConnector’s work. A website of resources is currently in development and will launch later this year.

Additionally, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said a statewide naloxone giveaway in December 2018 focused on rescue and received significant participation, putting more than 5,000 free kits into the hands of Pennsylvanians. Since then, the Department of Health has been working to plan additional giveaway events. Levine announced that Sept. 18 and 25 will be used for statewide distribution of naloxone kits with additional details to be announced in the coming weeks.