Following is a listing of executive and legislative action from Jan. 10 and the week of Jan. 13. Both houses of the General Assembly were in recess at press time. The state House of Representatives was scheduled to return to session Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Senate was set to come back to the Capitol on Jan. 27.

Nonprofit Security

Gov. Tom Wolf on Jan. 15 said the state government would invest $5 million to fund security enhancements for Pennsylvania facilities of nonprofit organizations serving diverse communities.

The grant program, developed in the wake of the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, would help religious and other organizations step up security in their buildings.

"These grants expand the school safety and security grants introduced last year," Wolf said. "And will help our myriad nonprofits address security needs heightened by the heinous attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 and the safety concerns that still exist for religious, social and other nonprofit organizations across the commonwealth."

Administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program was part of Act 83 of 2019, which directs it to administer grants to nonprofit organizations that principally serve individuals, groups or institutions that are included within a bias motivation category for single bias hate crime incidents as identified by the FBI hate crime statistics.

Cellphones

The state House of Representatives, on a 120-74 vote Jan. 15, approved a bill to prohibit cellphone use by drivers.

House Bill 37, sponsored by state Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, would restrict cellphone use to those connecting through Bluetooth technology or using GPS navigation through their phones. Drivers would be prohibited from grasping the phone by hand or supporting it by any body part.

The ban would be more stringent for drivers under 18, with only GPS use allowed, as well as calls to law enforcement or emergency services.

Drivers could use their phones when stopped outside the roadway under the bill.

The ban would be a secondary offense for adult drivers but a primary offense for under-18 drivers.

The measure now proceeds to the Pennsylvania Senate for consideration.

Suicide Prevention

Reducing stigma associated with mental health and suicide attempts can help more people reach out for help was a major conclusion of Pennsylvania's Suicide Prevention Task Force, which issued its initial report Jan. 14.

Wolf helped unveil the report, which also highlighted the need for greater resources to elevate mental health as a public health issue, incentivize the integration of physical and behavioral health and improve suicide prevention resources at the local level.

The recommendations were developed after 10 listening sessions throughout the state.

"My administration is committed to developing a comprehensive suicide prevention plan that will save precious lives, support people in crisis, and help loved ones of attempt survivors and those we've lost," Wolf said. "We've taken a giant first step toward that goal by opening this dialogue with Pennsylvanians."

The task force further called for the removal of barriers to treatment such as cost and insurance gaps; access to more and better data on suicides and suicide attempt to inform policy. Finally the group urged the General Assembly to consider a "red flag" law that would prevent persons at risk of suicide from gaining access to firearms.

Newborn Screening

A measure to increase screening of newborn children for rare genetic diseases and disorders has been introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Senate Bill 983, sponsored by Sen. John DiSanto, R-Dauphin, would expand Pennsylvania's Newborn Child Screening and Follow-up Program by merging the mandatory and supplemental disorder lists so that every baby in Pennsylvania will be screened for every recommended disorder.

The supplemental, or optional, list, contains a number of rare diseases and disorders. It is a longer list than the mandatory one, according to a statement by DiSanto.

Testing for those conditions would be made mandatory under SB 983.

"Some hospitals choose to screen for the optional diseases but many do not, creating a system in which the health of newborns is dependent on where they are born or whether their parents have knowledge of these diseases," DiSanto said in a letter to colleagues.

The bill was assigned Jan. 15 to the Senate Committee on Aging and Youth.

Latino Affairs

Fifteen new commissioners were sworn in Jan. 10 as members of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.

They were joined by 18 returning commissioners at the swearing-in ceremony, a Wolf administration statement said.

New commissioners included Ida Castro, former chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and an executive at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton; Diana Cortes, a civil rights lawyer and chairwoman of the city of Philadelphia Law Department's Litigation Group; and Priscilla Jimenez, an associate at the Philadelphia personal injury law firm Kline & Specter.

"There is a tremendous need to hear from Latinos on everything from health care and education to economic development and the census, and I look forward to working with the commissioners to create a Pennsylvania where everyone can thrive," Wolf said in a statement.

The commission, a volunteer body, was created by executive order in 1971.

Special Election

Lebanon County District Attorney Dave Arnold, a Republican, on Jan. 14 handily won a special election for a seat in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Arnold won nearly 65% of the vote, outpacing his Democratic opponent, Michael Schroeder, a professor at Lebanon Valley College.

The special election took place in the 48th Senatorial District, which includes all of Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties. Arnold's election means the GOP holds on to the seat, which has elected only Republicans since 1963.

Arnold has served as Lebanon County DA for 14 years. He also served as president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and has been a member of the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission.

Upon Arnold's swearing-in, the Senate will have 28 Republicans and 21 Democrats. But the GOP will control the chamber by a 29-21 margin because Sen. John Yudichak, I-Luzerne, caucuses with the Republicans.

The special election was made necessary by the resignation of former Sen. Mike Folmer, who resigned last fall after being arrested on charges of possession of child pornography. Folmer has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial date has been set for Feb. 24.