Following is a listing of executive and legislative action for the week of Oct. 26. Both houses of the General Assembly were in recess at press time. The state House of Representatives is scheduled to return to session Nov. 10. The Pennsylvania Senate was subject to recall by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.

Signed Into Law

Gov. Tom Wolf signed several bills into law Oct. 29, including measures to expand opportunities for ex-offenders to move on; supporting mental health; protecting sexual assault survivors; and improving access to benefits for military families.

  • House Bill 440 expands on the state's historic Clean Slate law by removing an obligation to pay any outstanding court-ordered financial obligations before eligible cases can be sealed. Any restitution owed for convictions committed is not waived. The bill also requires that when a person receives a pardon, that record is automatically sealed and if they receive a not-guilty verdict the record is expunged. "House Bill 440 furthers Pennsylvania's role as a national model for commonsense, bipartisan criminal justice reforms by removing a significant barrier from obtaining a clean slate due to failure to be able to pay court costs," Wolf said. "I believe in second chances and I am pleased that our legislature feels the same way and demonstrated it by passing this legislation." The main sponsor of HB 440 was state Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland.
  • House Bill 1439 and its companion measure, House Bill 1696, require health insurers that want to offer comprehensive health insurance coverage in Pennsylvania to verify that they have completed and fully documented their efforts to provide mental health and substance-use coverage that is comparable to physical health services with respect to cost sharing, in- and out-of-network coverage, and other treatment limits. Insurers must also make that documentation available to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, upon request, to demonstrate compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. "Mental health care is health care and we must not treat it any differently than any physical health care need," Wolf said. The main sponsor of HB 1439 was state Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Luzerne, and HB 1696 was primarily backed by state Rep. Tom Murt, R-Montgomery.
  • House Bill 1984 provides safety, protection and stability for survivors of rape or incest, and their children who are conceived as a result of the offense. The legislature passed this bill unanimously. HB 1984 makes it possible for the victim of rape or sexual assault to terminate the parental rights of the person who committed rape or sexual assault that resulted in the birth of a child. The bill's prime sponsor was House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre.
  • Senate Bill 1076 indefinitely extends the life of Pennsylvania's military family relief assistance program. The main sponsor for that measure was Pennsylvania Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne.

COVID-19 Reporting

Pennsylvania Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, on Oct. 29 urged Wolf to sign a measure that she said would improve reporting of COVID-19 deaths and bring transparency to reporting.