Finance Committee Approves Bill to Open Spending Records

Education Committee Approves Charter School, Alternative Ed Measures

Committee actions highlighted the events of the session week of May 5, according to Senator Bob Robbins (R-50).

The Senate Finance Committee approved Senate Bill 1350, the Taxpayer Transparency Act, on Wednesday, according to Senator Robbins, a co-sponsor of the measure.

SB 1350 would direct the Office of Budget to create and maintain a searchable budget database-driven website that the public can access, for free, to obtain:

Information on grants and contracts provided by government agencies. All transactions above $25,000 would be accessible to the public;
Agency performance indicators and quarterly performance results compared to these indicators;
Agency line-by-line appropriation analysis including user-friendly detailed monetary breakouts and detailed narrative descriptions.

"This bill is another step toward making state government more open and accountable to the people or Pennsylvania," Senator Robbins said.

The Senate Education Committee approved legislation co-sponsored to allow children of military personnel to enroll in a Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School as well as a bill to restore essential state funding to support Pennsylvania's alternative education charter schools.

Currently, if a military family is stationed in another state and owns a residence in Pennsylvania their child is not eligible to attend a cyber charter school. Senate Bill 1281 designates that if a child's parents own a residence in the school district that child will be considered a resident of the district.

"If the parents have a residence in Pennsylvania and pay property taxes for support of Pennsylvania schools, they should be entitled to a Pennsylvania public education for their children," said Dr. Nick Trombetta, CEO of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. "Senate Bill 1281 will correct this situation. The sacrifices our military families make in the service of our country should not include their children's education."

Senate Bill 1277, sponsored by Senator Robbins, clarifies that charter schools that provide alternative education services as their primary mission are eligible for alternative education grant funds.

"I am pleased that the Education Committee has reported this bill out for consideration by the full Senate. These charter schools have received this funding since Fiscal Year 1999-2000, but the Department of Education recently determined under the current statutes, they are not eligible for that money and should not have received these funds in the first place," Senator Robbins said. "The truth is these programs are very successful and deserve to receive this support and that's something that we are working to rectify."

On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Senate Bill 472, legislation to formally enact into law the Science Technology Partnerships Program, better known as "Science in Motion.

Committee approval sets the stage for a final Senate vote on the bill as early as next week, according to Senator Robbins, prime sponsor of the measure.

The program, which is already in place in many areas of the Commonwealth, makes state funding available to higher education institutions to purchase high tech science equipment. This equipment is then transported to and shared with surrounding schools.

"The truth is American students are lagging behind many other western nations in the fields of math and science. I strongly believe that we must support partnerships between colleges and high schools as a way to encourage young people to explore those technical fields," Senator Robbins said. "Science in Motion is an outstanding program that gives students the opportunity to go beyond the text book and see that science is a field that has no boundaries, limited only by the imagination."

This past year, more than 300 public, private, and parochial schools were served throughout the state by 11 higher education institutions: Cedar Crest College, Clarion University, Drexel University, Gannon University, Gettysburg College, Juniata College, Susquehanna University, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Ursinus College, Westminster College, and Wilkes University.

Background information about Science in Motion, including the program's most recent Annual Report, is available at www.scienceinmotion.org.

The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill 536 -- a proposal to strengthen Pennsylvania's Dog Purchaser Protection Act, commonly known as the Puppy Lemon Law.

SB 536 makes the following changes to Pennsylvania's Puppy Lemon Law:

Under the current law, consumers may only seek reimbursement if their dog suffers from a curable illness. Because many health problems, such as Hip Dysplasia, cannot be cured, but can be treated, the law would now provide for reimbursement for treatment of incurable conditions.
Currently a hereditary or congenital condition must be certified by a veterinarian within 30 days of the purchase. Some hereditary conditions, such as hip dysplasia, typically take longer than 30 days to manifest. If the condition is certified beyond 30 days of the date of purchase, the consumer has no remedy they can pursue under the law. The bill extends the time period to 90 days.
Presently, in order to recover any loss from the seller for a sick dog, a consumer must obtain, within ten days of purchase, certification from a veterinarian that the dog has a contagious or infectious disease. This requirement may be difficult to fulfill depending on the nature of the tests performed by the veterinarian. The legislation extends the time period to 14 days to give the veterinarian more time to reach a medical determination on the health of the dog.
Under the law, consumers who received a certification from a veterinarian that their dog is ill must notify the seller of the certification within two days and provide the certification to the seller within five days. These requirements place unnecessary burdens upon consumers, who may be caring for a sick dog. The bill increases two days to five and five days to seven.
The definition of "unfit for purchase" currently means any disease, deformity, injury, physical condition, illness or any defect which is congenital or hereditary and which "severely affects" the health of the animal. "Severely" is subjective and acts to limit the consumer's right to recover. The bill replaces "severely affects" with "a significant adverse effect on" the health of the animal.

For More Information on Pennsylvania's Puppy Lemon Law Visit the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Website at: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov

Contact:

Michael Hengst
(717) 787-1322