State Budget Continues to Trump All Other Legislative News

Regardless of the media outlet, all eyes are on the Governor and legislative leaders as they work to resolve the FY 2009-10 budget impasse.  As the budget process takes its next turn – the formation of a conference committee to reach a compromise – increasing the personal income tax and freezing the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax (maintaining the 1.89 mills rate) remain squarely in the middle of the table.

Fortunately, the monies used for capital construction projects are separate from the General Fund (the focus of the current budget struggle) so the Commonwealth is continuing to build, including several state prison projects.  For more state construction and procurement news, contact GCAP at 717-512-6391 or generalcontractorsofpa@gmail.com.

House Bill 11, Amendments to Other Bills Attack Separations Act Mandate Waiver Currently Available to School Districts

A bill that may move in the State House contains a provision that would require school districts under the Department of Education’s Mandate Waiver Program to solicit both single and separate prime bids before they take relief from the state’s Separations Act.  This language is included in Section 21 of House Bill 11(Roebuck, D-Philadelphia) which is referred to as an omnibus school code bill – meaning it addresses multiple education issues in one piece of legislation.  House Bill 11 is currently in the House Education Committee awaiting further action.  Similar language is contained in amendments to other education-related bills not yet scheduled for consideration.

On July 21, GCAP advised the Majority and Minority Chairs of the House Education Committee along with committee members that GCAP opposes Section 21 because  it will result in a disingenuous comparison of school construction delivery methods, and it runs counter to the intent of the Education Empowerment Act which allows a waiver of the separate prime requirement in the first place.

GCAP continues to work with its partners, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officals, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania and AIA Pennsylvania to lobby against requiring school districts to bid both projects both ways because doing so does not result in an “apples to apples” comparison of construction bids.  For more information on how you can help with this issue, please contact GCAP at 717-512-6391 or generalcontractorsofpa@gmail.com.

The exact future of House Bill 11 or any school code legislation remains in question because the Senate has indicated that they will not move on any such legislation in the near future.

Governor, Others Press State Senate to Extend Unemployment Benefits

By a vote of 197-1 in early July, the State House of Representatives sent House Bill 1770 (Gergely, D-Allegheny) to the State Senate for its approval.  The measure would provide an additional seven weeks of unemployment compensation and would be funded with federal stimulus dollars.

One reason the bill has not yet moved in the Senate is because they believe a full discussion on how to make the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund solvent should be tied to any extension of these benefits.  An effort to fix the insolvency problem could result in Pennsylvania’s business community having to pay more in UC costs.  However, the Senate is also demanding that labor/employees also share this burden.  GCAP will continue to lobby this issue, and we will keep you posted via the website. In the meantime, for more information about House Bill 1770 0r UCTF insolvency, please contact GCAP at 717-512-6391 or generalcontractorsofpa@gmail.com.