Pennsylvania State Capitol. Photo: Shutterstock

Following is a listing of executive and legislative action for the week of Aug. 26. Both houses of the General Assembly were still on summer recess at press time. The state House of Representatives is scheduled to return to session Sept. 17. The Pennsylvania Senate is expected to return Sept. 23.

Lead Abatement

Gov. Tom Wolf on Aug. 28 called on the General Assembly to increase access to blood testing for children in alignment with federal guidelines, increasing local response efforts and planning for training of more certified lead abatement professionals.

Wolf said in an appearance at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that his aim was to create a "lead-free Pennsylvania" and improve the state's ranking as having the sixth-highest percentage of children suffering from lead poisoning.

"This is not good for the future of Pennsylvania, so today I am calling for the legislature to pass universal lead testing this fall," Wolf said.

According to a Wolf administration statement, only about 30% of children in Pennsylvania have been tested for lead, and about 4.6% of those children had elevated blood lead levels.

Federal guidelines advise parents and guardians to have their children given a finger prick test for lead exposure between age 9 and 12 months and then again at age 24 months. Schools are encouraged to test children when they enter the classroom at age 6 or sooner. Early detection is vital for identifying and eliminating sources of lead exposure before permanent damage occurs.

Wolf was joined by medical personnel, lawmakers and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

"Testing is really the first step to lead poisoning treatment," state Rep. Donna Bullock, D-Philadelphia, said. "Children with high lead levels in their blood will need more treatment, medication and maybe even hospitalization. My family was able to treat my son more easily, because my pediatrician tested him early and it was a small amount of lead. With early testing, we can work with families to reduce the risk of further exposure and more effectively treat children. This is why I support the governor and my colleagues' efforts to encourage lead testing at an earlier age."

Wolf also called for the creation of local response teams to develop plans to care for children with elevated blood lead levels, modeled on similar groups that map out response to infants born with substance use disorders.

Wolf's plan also includes training to get more Pennsylvanians certified in lead remediation. As of last week, the Wolf administration said, there were 773 individuals and 124 companies certified by the Department of Health to do lead remediation work.

"This is just the start of my plan for a lead-free Pennsylvania," Wolf said. "I plan to continue to work with the General Assembly as the fall session gets underway to pass legislation on universal lead testing and to ensure we are responding to the needs of Pennsylvanians around this important health issue."

DUI Offenders

Pennsylvania Sen. Tom Killion, R-Delaware, on Aug. 28 announced the introduction of what he called groundbreaking legislation that would require the use of innovative technology to combat repeat DUI offenses.

The legislation was named "Deana's Law" in memory of Deana Eckman, a Delaware County woman killed in a February crash. Killion's legislation is Senate Bill 773, numbered in honor of Deana's birth month and year.

SB 773 currently has 13 bipartisan co-sponsors and has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.

"We must utilize everything at our disposal to keep those who have multiple DUIs from endangering lives on our roadways," Killion noted. "My bill will mandate the use of continuous alcohol monitoring (CAM) devices for the first time in Pennsylvania."

Similar to home arrest monitors and other devices affixed to offenders, CAM devices are strapped to the wearer. At regular intervals, CAM devices sample and test the wearer's insensate perspiration for the presence of alcohol. As sensitive and reliable as Breathalyzers, CAM devices upload test results to a base station installed in the wearer's home and transmits them to the monitoring agency.

"CAM devices work. They effectively deter offenders from consuming alcohol," Killion said. "You keep someone from drinking, you keep them from turning a three-ton vehicle into a killing machine."

Requiring those arrested for a third or subsequent DUI offense be fitted with a CAM device is just one of the innovative methods and changes provided for in Deana's Law. SB 773 would also increase jail time for those convicted of four DUIs or more, and require the imposition of consecutive sentences after conviction.

Charter Schools

A public comment period has opened to gather information on the need for charter school reform, the Wolf administration announced Aug. 26.

Wolf said in an appearance in Erie on Aug. 29 that modernizing the state's charter school law is necessary because the current law "is failing students, teachers, school districts and taxpayers."

The administration has begun the process of developing new regulations, and Wolf encouraged education stakeholders to submit comments to inform the Pennsylvania Department of Education's proposals.

"We cannot wait any longer to take action," Wolf said. "Improving transparency and holding underperforming charter and cyber charter schools accountable will level the playing field with school districts and help to control costs for taxpayers."

Brick-and-mortar charter and cyber charter schools, and for-profit companies that manage many of them, are not held to the same ethical and transparency standards of traditional public schools. Charter schools cost taxpayers $1.8 billion last year, but school districts and the state have limited authority to hold charter schools accountable, according to the Wolf administration.

Higher Education

The Higher Education Funding Commission held its inaugural and organizational meeting Aug. 27 and is set to begin its work reviewing and making recommendations related to higher education funding, affordability and effectiveness and administration and operations, according to Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera.

During the commission's first meeting, Browne and Rivera, along with state House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-York, were elected to co-chair the commission.

"Pennsylvania has one of the most diverse and comprehensive higher education systems in the country," Browne said. "The commission will take a more thorough review of how higher education institutions are funded by the commonwealth, hear testimony from a wide range of experts on higher education and determine which factors should be considered when deciding how to allocate state funds in the future. I look forward to working with the commission members to develop a plan to distribute higher education funding in a way that provides for greater overall success of our higher education institutions and the students they serve."

The 19-member Higher Education Funding Commission, established in Act 70 of 2019, is tasked with developing a higher education funding formula and identifying factors that may be used to determine the distribution of funding among the public institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania.

The Higher Education Funding Commission must issue a report of the commission's findings and recommendations to Wolf and the General Assembly. The new funding formula developed by the commission, however, shall not go into effect unless the formula is approved by an act of the General Assembly and enacted into law.

Public institutions of higher education defined in Act 70 include community colleges, rural regional colleges, the state-related institutions, the state-owned institutions, the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and Penn College of Technology.

The commission is expected to hold its first meeting to hear testimony in September. Harrisburg Students

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, circulated a co-sponsor memo Aug. 27 for legislation to allow students in Harrisburg City schools to attend a school of their choice through tuition scholarships.

"Every child deserves access to quality education, and we have a responsibility to ensure that families who cannot afford that education receive assistance to do it," Turzai said. "In some situations, the needs of Pennsylvania children require comprehensive intervention to make sure they receive a proper education."

The Harrisburg School District has remained among the worst-performing Pennsylvania schools for decades, despite sustained efforts at reform, both locally and through state involvement, according to a statement from the speaker's office.

Turzai's bill would establish a pilot scholarship program to help the children of Harrisburg City schools affordably attend a nearby private or other public school. It would require a receiver appointed to any school district of the second class, in a city of the third class, within a county of the third class, to establish a program of scholarship grants available to all students. The bill would apply to second-class school districts situated in third-class cities that are housed in third-class counties under Pennsylvania law. There are 13 such districts in the state. Any of these districts would fall under this legislation, if they enter receivership.

Currently, Harrisburg is the only such school district in Pennsylvania that is under receivership.

The scholarships would be, at a minimum, half of the per-student Basic Education Funding subsidy received by the school district from the state. For Harrisburg, this number was $8,200 in the most recent school year, thereby creating a minimum $4,100 scholarship that would be given by Harrisburg schools.

In addition to the minimum scholarship grant from the local school district, the state would provide an additional $3,000 for each student who receives a scholarship grant. Combined, the estimated $7,100 scholarship would provide affordability for Harrisburg children to attend most of the private schools in the region.

Nearby school districts would have the choice to opt in to accept Harrisburg students under Turzai's proposal.

Student Loans

Attorney General Josh Shapiro and 11 other state attorneys general sent a letter Aug. 28 to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos urging once again that the federal government provide data to help states address the ongoing problems with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The PSLF program was created in 2007 to help student loan borrowers who give back to their country or community by working in a public service field, but on DeVos' watch, only about 1% of applicants have been approved for forgiveness. The attorneys general are demanding access to this data in order to identify problems with the program and learn how best to assist borrowers.

The coalition raises alarms about the ongoing issues with the PSLF program, noting that borrowers may be forced to abandon their public service careers just to be able to repay their student loans.

This is the second time that attorneys general have demanded information. In October 2018, attorneys general requested that the department provide information about the program and its plans to reform it. The department's response, they said, was incomplete.

"Hundreds of thousands of Americans pursued careers in public service based on a promise that the government would forgive their loans after they fulfilled the requirements of the program," Shapiro said. "These are our teachers, our firefighters, and our police officers. They committed themselves to the betterment of our communities for at least 10 years, and yet the federal government is not following through on its commitment to them. I'm proud to stand with my colleague attorney generals in demanding that Secretary DeVos fulfill the promise that was made to America's public servants and provide the data necessary for states to understand how to best assist borrowers in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program."

The coalition sending the letter includes the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and the District of Columbia.