PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
GUN BILLS: Pa. House exits, leaving for fall decisions on several key bills :: 06/26/2018
The state House of Representatives acted more like it was the last day of school on Monday seemingly more focused on getting on with their summer than tackling some weighty government reform and criminal justice issues that were ripe for a vote.
And it left a lot of disappointment in its wake.
The chamber recessed until the House Speaker's call although no one seemed optimistic they would return before mid-September.
That killed the chances of getting proposed constitutional amendments to reduce the size of the House and reform the way redistricting is done in time for the reapportionment after the 2020 census.
They also pushed off until the fall a vote on an anti-hazing bill that would have taken effect in time for the start of fall classes on college campuses had they voted on it. It was the same story with a piece of legislation to get guns out of the hands of abusers that advocates for domestic violence victims so wanted for more than a decade.
All of the inaction led to a mountain of frustration for those who hoped to see their cause advance before the summer break. Some still managed to squeeze out a wee bit of optimism that perhaps the victory they so desperately hoped would happen would be achieved in the fall.
But that would be too late for the proposed constitutional amendments that are required to be advertised 90 days before the next election. To get an amendment on the ballot requires the same measure to win approval of the House and Senate in two consecutive sessions.
A proposed constitutional amendment to downsize the House of Representatives from 203 members to 151 had made it through the House and Senate in the last session. It was amended in the House this session to include reducing the size of the 50-member Senate to 38 members, but the Senate stripped out that amendment and sent it back to the House in the same form that passed in the last session.
With just one more vote to go, seven Republican House members held a Monday morning news conference to pressure leadership to call up the measure for a vote so that voters could decide the issue in November. Pennsylvania has the nation's second largest House of Representatives and dropping its size to 151 would have tied it with Maine and Connecticut in having the nation's fifth largest House.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County and chairman of the State Government Committee, said the behind-the-scenes lobbying by House members who might tell their constituents that they support downsizing the chamber but really were fearful of losing their job needed to be exposed.
"I don't think it's the responsibility of leadership to shield and to provide political cover for those who want to mislead, deceive and not show integrity in the process of exercising their duties," he said.
Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill County, who sponsored the legislation, placed the blame on his 117 House colleagues who voted for the proposal in the last session and who are still members but "didn't have the courage to step up to the plate and vote for it this time" to let voters make the final decision.
"I strongly believe that if there had been an indication that this bill would have been 10 [votes] away, I think they [House leaders] would have run it, and I think we would have gotten an opportunity," he said. "I think it's a sham and it's a shame."
Reed said it was a matter of simple nose-counting.
"The bottom line it came down to is it doesn't have the votes. ... This legislative body has decided they don't support it without the Senate being included," Reed said. He shared that he too was a little disappointed, saying, "It's something I truly believe in and think would make this place more functional."
Redistricting reform, meanwhile, seemed to die under the weight of an avalanche of amendments filed on the bill by both Republican and Democratic members.
Reed said he has asked staff to continue talks aimed at seeing if the range of the issues can be narrowed within the next couple of days so there can a more focused debate. If that happens within the next few days, Reed said, he would consider recalling House members for a pre-4th of July session day.
No one seemed particularly optimistic about that happening as lawmakers departed Friday.
But reform activists a who already scored one major victory this year when the state Supreme Court imposed a new congressional district map on Pennsylvania for this year's elections a promised that they are prepared to continue their fight both in the short and long term.
The short-term fight will focus on offering support for legislative candidates who will champion these kinds of reforms.
"We will certainly make this an election issue in November," said Carol Kuniholm, of Fair Districts PA. "We will be looking at people who have helped and supported, and looking at people who have blocked and gotten in the way."
Longer term, Kuniholm said, the group will turn its attention to possible statutory changes that can give more shape and form a especially in light of the Supreme Court's decision a to the redistricting process as it exists in Pennsylvania now.
"We will certainly be back in January with new bills and new ideas and with a lot more information and savvy about how this [legislative] system works, and what we need to do to address it," Kuniholm said.
Then there was the anti-hazing bill. This piece of legislation, which creates the Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law, would impose tiered penalties tied to the gravity of the hazing offense on individuals and holds institutions and organizations accountable. It also included other changes including requiring colleges to publish a report of campus organizations' track record of hazing incidents.
The driving force for this legislation has been the advocacy efforts of Jim and Evelyn Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, whose 19-year-old son Timothy died on Feb. 4, 2017, a little more than 24 hours after he suffered fatal internal injuries in a series of drunken falls following his acceptance into a Penn State fraternity.
Tom Kline, a Philadelphia attorney representing the Piazzas, said they "are sorely disappointed that the overwhelmingly supported anti-hazing bill reached a roadblock in the House today but remain hopeful that it will be passed in the fall."
The other bill that left yet another group of advocates sore and angry was one sponsored by Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-Bucks County, that would have required individuals with a final protection-from-abuse orders to surrender all guns in their possession within 24 hours. An amendment added on Friday made an exception for those abusers who reach a consent agreement with their accusers to stop the complained-of behaviors and, possibly, refrain from future contact.
Reed said that bill came off the calendar not because of the unwritten rule of not moving legislation unless it has support from the majority of the majority caucus, keeping in mind a lot of House Republicans are bedrock Second Amendment supportrs. Rather, he said it was because of "confusion" over that Friday amendment that Quinn reluctantly agreed to as a way to keep the bill alive for a final passage vote.
"There seems to be confusion among the various parties, both for and against it, as to what's actually in the bill," Reed said. "I'd rather make sure everybody fully understands it and that we get it right before we do it."
He said he still expects to give it an up or down vote before the legislative session ends on Nov. 30.
Of course, the delay angered domestic violence advocates who have been working for this legislation for years, and feel that every pause turns into another opportunity for the gun owners' rights lobby to press for new concessions.
"I think that is what we've seen," said Julie Bancroft, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Bancroft said she can't imagine what else the two sides have left to talk about on this issue after several days of intensive caucusing this week and a major concession that removed mandatory gun surrenders in cases where alleged abusers voluntarily agree to a protection-from-abuse order. But she did argue that the additional delay is helping no one.
"Victims of domestic violence don't get to take a summer break from abuse or the fear of violence, and the legislators are leaving them vulnerable," she said.
Quinn, too, expressed anger, directing it at the Firearms Owners Against Crime, for muddying the water with what she considered a misinformation campaign and with her caucus leaders for failing to call a caucus where she and her allies could clarify some of the arguments and proceed to a vote on the same day.
"I don't believe there wasn't any confusion that couldn't have been clarified with a caucus or a discussion," she said, vowing that there will be no further significant concessions on the issue.
"If someone's against the bill, they can vote against it," Quinn said. "But give us the vote."
https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/06/house_of_representatives_leave.html
