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Senate Republican Emergency Preparedness
Goals |
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Restoring the Public's Trust in our Disaster
Response and Emergency Preparedness
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Ensuring Accountability from Our Public Leaders
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Positioning Pennsylvania As a Leader in
Emergency Management and Homeland Security
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Re-establishment of Pennsylvania as Leader in
Roadway Management
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Proactive Oversight During Policy and
Legislative Development/Implementation
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Improving Public Outreach and Emergency
Notification
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Implementation of a State-of-the-Art 511
Traveler Information System
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Implementation of a Mutual Aid Statute
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Commitment to Fully Staffing and Resourcing Our
Public Safety Agencies
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Compliance with National Emergency Management
Standards
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Implementation of Proven Roadway Management
Standards
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Use of Intelligent Technologies to Improve
Disaster Response Readiness
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Rewrite of Title 35 (PEMA's Statutory Base) –
2008 - Unlike many other states, Pennsylvania's Title
35 on emergency management has not been amended to reflect
changing roles and expectations since the events of 9/11 and
Hurricane Katrina. The legislation will include the
creation of a new Department of Emergency Management and
Homeland Security, as well as focus attention on the
identified gaps and make suggested statutory changes
regarding Commonwealth and local government emergency
management roles.
Senate Approves Five-Year Extension of Fire, EMS
Grants
The Senate approved legislation to reauthorize a popular
grant program for volunteer fire companies and EMS units.
Senate Bill 10, introduced by Sen. Bob Regola
(R-Westmoreland), would have reauthorized the program for
one year. The Senate amended the bill to reauthorize it for
five years, providing a valuable safety net for
Pennsylvania's dedicated emergency responders.
Since 2000, the General Assembly has regularly appropriated
$25 million to the PA Emergency Management Agency to provide
these grants. The five-year authorization would allow
for funding on a steady basis.
House version (House Bill 906) signed into law: Act 10 of
2007
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Committee Approves Tax Credits for Volunteer First
Responders
The Senate Finance
Committee, chaired by Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh,) approved
legislation sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs and
Emergency Preparedness Committee Chair Lisa Baker
(R-Luzerne) to provide tax credits to Pennsylvania's
emergency first responders and their employers as a way to
help fire companies and emergency medical service companies
recruit and retain volunteers.
Senate Bill 1314 would provide a $500 tax credit
for active members of volunteer firefighting and
emergency medical services organizations that are certified
by the State Fire Commissioner or the Director of the
Emergency Medical Services Office in the Department of
Health.
Senate Bill 1316 would provide a $1,000 tax credit
against an employer's personal income tax for each
volunteer fire and emergency services member employed,
up to $5,000 during a specific tax year.
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Senate Passes Legislation to Encourage Regional
Fire Company Partnerships
Volunteer fire departments would receive help
in forging cost-saving, regional partnerships under
legislation approved by the Senate.
Senate Bill 96, sponsored by Sen. Don White (R-Indiana),
creates a new initiative to provide private, non-profit
volunteer fire companies or EMS organizations funds
for mergers, regionalization and other partnerships.
It would also support programs designed to recruit and
retain members, and other innovative approaches to
partnerships that would be evaluated by the state Department
of Community and Economic Development.
The measure takes advantage of money already in place as
part of a $100-million bond issue approved in 2002 to
encourage volunteer departments to work together in a
regional manner. Senate Bill 96 does not mandate
cooperation, but rather provides financial incentives for
departments.
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Senate Approves Bill to Require Confirmation Vote
on PEMA Director
The director of the Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Agency would have to be confirmed by the Senate
under legislation approved by the Senate.
Senate Bill 637 is sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs
and Emergency Preparedness Committee Chair Lisa Baker
(R-Luzerne). PEMA's director is responsible for coordinating
the state's response to natural and manmade disasters,
terrorist attacks and threats to public health and safety.
Requiring Senate confirmation of the PEMA director will
improve agency accountability and ensure that
there is strong communication and coordination in responding
to emergencies.
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Senate Passes Legislation to Secure Emergency
Responder Status for Local Coordinators
Local Emergency Coordinators would receive
emergency responder status, enabling them to do their
job more efficiently and safely, under a bill
approved by the Senate.
Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne), who heads the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, sponsored the
legislation after she was contacted by a local emergency
coordinator from a small municipality in Wyoming County. He
experienced difficulty traveling to many emergencies and
disasters because he could not use outward markings on his
personal vehicle to identify himself.
Senate Bill 1121 will give local emergency
coordinators legal authority to use "visual and audible
signals" provided to other emergency vehicles – including
county emergency coordinators who already have received this
designation.
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Senate Approves Bill
Creating Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement System
Legislation
sponsored by Sen. John Pippy (R-Allegheny) to assist
counties and municipalities in responding to disasters was
approved by the Senate.
Senate Bill 1225 establishes a statewide Mutual
Aid Committee to oversee the implementation of a statewide
mutual aid system. Mutual Aid Agreements are used to
respond to manmade and natural disasters that require
actions beyond the capacity of the municipality or county in
which the incident has occurred.
Pennsylvania is one of 15 states without a statewide Mutual
Aid Agreement. As a result, this vital assistance is often
provided without written agreements or clearly-defined
divisions of responsibility. This outdated approach raises
questions about liability and workers compensation concerns.
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511 Traveler
Information Service Approved by Committee
Legislation to provide Pennsylvania drivers
with access to around-the-clock information about traffic
and road conditions through a new 511 Traveler Information
Service was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee,
chaired by Sen. Roger Madigan (R-Bradford).
Senate Bill 976, sponsored by Senator Madigan and Senate
Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee Chair Lisa Baker
(R-Luzerne), would help prevent traffic tie-ups and
make state roads safer by streamlining the
Commonwealth's current traveler call lines, which are
operated by the Departments of Transportation, State Police
and PEMA. It would provide one call line with up-to-date
information on everything from road conditions to accidents
and detours.
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Senate Votes to Require VoIP providers to Forward
911 Fees to Commonwealth
The Senate approved legislation sponsored by
Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre) that would require voice over
the internet protocol (VoIP) providers who charge customers
for E-911 services to forward those fees to the
Commonwealth.
In May 2005, the FCC issued an order requiring
interconnected VoIP companies to provide customers with
E-911 service. Many of these companies already collect fees
for providing 911 services to customers. However,
Pennsylvania currently has no law that compels them to
forward those 911 fees back to the Commonwealth like
traditional and wireless phone companies must do.
Senate Bill 385 requires all interconnected VoIP
companies to charge customers $1 for each line and forward
that money to Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Agency would then provide the funds to the
counties where the customers are located.
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Joint Hearing Checks On Progress of Statewide
Emergency Radio System
The Senate Communications and Technology
Committee held a joint informational hearing with the Senate
Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee on
October 3 to determine the status of Pennsylvania's
statewide emergency radio system.
In an effort that began during the Ridge Administration, the
radio system now extends over 91 percent of the
Commonwealth's 45,000 square miles, Charles Brennan,
Deputy Secretary for the Office of Public Safety Radio
Services, testified.
While acknowledging measurable progress since the last
oversight hearing in 2005, there was bi-partisan agreement
from committee members that the Administration needs to
press forward with urgency to realize the infrastructure
build-out and deployment.
Committees Probe PA Storm Readiness, Emergency
Preparedness
The Senate
Transportation Committee, chaired by Sen. Roger Madigan
(R-Bradford), and the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency
Preparedness Committee, chaired by Sen. Lisa Baker
(R-Luzerne), held a joint public hearing Tuesday to receive
a status report on the Rendell Administration's
implementation of recommendations to improve upon
serious shortfalls in emergency response and transportation
management made evident in the Valentines Day
snowstorm earlier this year.
The recommendations were the result of
a report issued by James Lee Witt Associates of
Washington D.C. that evaluated the performance of the
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, State Police,
Department of Transportation, and the National Guard during
the February storm. The event stranded hundreds of
motorists on I-78, I-81, and I-80 for up to 20 hours in
sub-freezing temperatures.
Joint Hearing Held on Nuclear Energy and Emergency
Preparedness at PA Nuclear Plants
The Senate Consumer Protection and
Professional Licensure Committee and the Veterans Affairs
and Emergency Preparedness Committee held a public hearing
Oct. 16 to hear testimony on nuclear energy and emergency
management.
Members of the committees discussed Pennsylvania's current
and future use of nuclear energy, emergency
preparedness at Pennsylvania's five existing nuclear plants,
and the role of federal and state entities in regulating the
industry. Nuclear energy currently accounts for 35 percent
of all energy generation in Pennsylvania and 20 percent
nationally.
The meeting also addressed public concerns that have emerged
in recent months following the release of a videotape
showing contracted security staff sleeping in the watch room
at the Peach Bottom nuclear facility in York County. Since
the terrorist attacks of 2001, the nuclear industry has
spent a reported $1.5 billion nationally on security and
infrastructure enhancements to thwart outside intrusions.
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Committee Acts to Boost Games of Chance Fundraisers
For Nonprofits
Two measures that will help volunteer fire
companies and other nonprofit organizations raise funds were
approved by the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen.
Pat Browne (R-Lehigh).
Senate Bill 845, sponsored by Senator Browne, would
raise the prize limit for any one game from $500 to $1,000.
The legislation would also replace the $5,000 weekly prize
limit with a $20,000 weekly cash value prize limit. Payouts
of less than $26 would not count toward the weekly prize
limit. The legislation also includes a new provision that
allows for progressive games to be conducted with a maximum
cash value of $5,000.
The committee also approved
Senate Bill 978, sponsored by Sen. Mike Folmer
(R-Lebanon), which would change the licensing of bingo
associations from annual to biennial. It also increases the
daily prize limit from $4,000 to $8,000 and would allow more
than one licensed association to lease the same premises for
the conducting of bingo.
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