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| The Barb Wire |
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The latest news from the State Capitol |
Please do not reply directly to this email, as it returns to an unmanned account.
You are welcome to contact me through this link.
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Session Update
This week was packed with bills both from the House and the Senate, as the number of days to pass legislation in 2024 are limited. Some of the bills mimicked what is already happening in everyday life for constituents, like the Lyme Disease education and protocols bill, as an example.
It is important to note that, again, some bills were amended in appropriations that are not financial in nature, that is against our House rules. The people’s voices are not allowed to weigh into any of those amendments. The biggest issues in the 199th were the Sunday hunting bill, which didn’t end up running on third this week, and the majority party in the House moved to table all of the amendments that would make the bill better.
The Food Processing Residuals (FPR) bills were held for amendment but ran on second consideration with the majority voting in the affirmative. We have one more week in session the week of Oct. 21, where we will see the FPR bills go out of the House and into the Senate. At this point, it is a matter of time whether the bills get to the governor’s desk for signing.
Senate Bill 801, regarding literacy for all, introduced by Sen. Aument, was systematically stripped down to a study only. This Science of Reading bill has already been passed in over 25 states, stresses the need for phonics in our reading instruction, yet the majority party in the House wanted to simply study it with your tax dollars. While many schools in the 199th have already made the switch in the curriculum, and are seeing great strides because of it, there are many schools with low literacy achievement needing to make that switch for the sake of the kids and the future of the Commonwealth.
I also had the opportunity to speak on House Bill 2412, an act providing for interagency cooperation regarding employee misclassification; and establishing the Employee Misclassification Working Group. You can watch my remarks here.
And finally, it came to my attention this week that the Department of Vital Statistics is going through an IT upgrade, and there are barriers now to obtaining a death certificate. I called the Health Department and was assured that the situation is being worked on and will be resolved soon. If you have any issues with this, please give our office a call.
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District Office Closings
Due to the Columbus Day holiday and several events this week, our district office will be closed to the public every day next week, except Tuesday, Oct. 15. It will be open from 8:30 a.m. to noon only. Come see us at the two senior expos next week or please call the office and make an appointment.
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Protecting Public Safety in Our Communities
From rural to urban Pennsylvania, no community has been spared from the crime crisis. In our ongoing effort to improve public safety, House Republicans have developed a four-pillared approach to addressing violent crime in Pennsylvania with focuses on prevention, policing, prosecution and punishment.
Earlier this week, we unveiled bills focused on the prosecution and punishment portion of the package. To address prosecution, the measures would establish a public safety assessment program for severe violent offenders, modeled after the Megan’s Law registry; create a unit within the Office of Attorney General to offer prosecutors to county district attorney offices if extra help is needed; and address bail guidelines.
With regard to punishment, measures would limit discretion of the court when it comes to following sentencing guidelines and require sentences for crimes of violence to be served consecutively, rather than concurrently, when multiple people have been victimized.
Read more about the prosecution and punishment proposals here.
In case you missed it last week, more information about the prevention and policing portions of the package is available here.
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How Do I Vote by Mail in PA?
Voters unsure if they can or want to go to the polls to cast their ballot on Election Day next month have the option of voting by mail instead.
Your first step should be checking your voter registration status to ensure you are registered and your information is up to date. If you are not currently registered, the last day to do so is Monday, Oct. 21.
Once you’ve confirmed your registration status, you can apply for the mail-in ballot. Applicants must provide a driver’s license or PennDOT identification number, if you have one. If not, you must provide the last four digits of your Social Security number and upload your signature (if applying online).
To apply online, or to download a paper copy of the application, click here.
You may also apply in person at your county voter registration office. If your county’s ballots are available, you could also vote at that time, assuming your mail-in ballot application is approved. Check the availability of ballots in your county here.
The deadline to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29. The deadline to return your ballot to your county election office is 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. Additional information about voting by mail is available here.
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Sunday Hunting Bill
This was a hotly disputed topic this past week. I will paraphrase Game and Fish Chairman David Maloney on why many of us opposed the bill, which eventually was put on hold, after the Democrat leader of the House tabled all of the amendments. The overarching argument is that adding Sundays would provide more opportunity for hunters. If you look through Pennsylvania’s history, hunters today have more opportunity than at any time before. The approximate number of hunting days, over the last 50 years, is as follows:
1970s-80s: ~18-27 days per year
1990s-2000s: ~34-56 days per year
2010-18: ~47-77 days per year
2019-23: ~60-90 days per year
If Sundays are added to the hunting season it would not be to the benefit of the waterfowl hunting community. Migratory bird hunting is overseen by the federal government, and because PA doesn’t allow for Sunday hunting the Commonwealth receives 10 extra “compensatory days” for the waterfowl hunting season. With Sunday hunting the waterfowl season would go from 90 days to 80 days.
Written Permission to Hunt on Sundays:
Families that have hunted the same private property for generations would be breaking the law unless they have a signed piece of paper in their pocket while they hunt. This stipulation of the bill would only harm good law-abiding people who have a generational handshake agreement with the property owner. This is onerous, unnecessary, and enables the abuse of otherwise law-abiding hunters.
Farmer/Hunter Cooperative Program:
Firstly, this program already exists to a great degree through regulation. PGC has five programs already to assist farmers in culling the wildlife that harms their business. The No. 2 program on the list is largely what is being placed in statutes. Farmers will ALWAYS complain about animals eating their crops. These complaints have been heard since the early years of the Game Commission, and they have merit, as a farm owner myself. Animals eating crops should not give farmers free reign to kill deer, bear, elk or other wildlife at will, and it should be managed.
Under existing law, farmers, their farmhands and their family are free to shoot wildlife day or night, with flashlights to spotlight them and with total disregard for safety zones.
This proposed change to statute would create a registry of hunters and enable the unmitigated killing of wildlife – mainly deer – throughout the Commonwealth. It is both unnecessary and absolute overkill.
Farmer as a PGC Commissioner:
I have my concerns with the commissioner appointment process, but to require by statute the composition of the Game Commission is a slippery slope. We don’t need these mandates.
Furthermore, two of the nine commissioners already meet the definition of farmer within the bill.
This proposal is unnecessary and is purely to appeal to the Farm Bureau.
Trespass Provisions:
Accidentally walking onto private land, while hunting, is now a serious offense worthy of jail time under this legislation. Just two offenses, whether accidental or not, can land a hunter in jail for six months. Furthermore, the offenses in the bill call for the revoking of hunting privileges and disallow PGC from making that determination on their own. We are going to place significant fines and penalties on otherwise good people by enacting this legislation.
Trespassing with a Hunting Dog:
This bill provided a chance to get rid of the easily abused “hunting dog exemption” from Title 34. Currently, if you are “unarmed” and trying to find your hunting dog you are free to trespass on private property throughout the state with total disregard for the property owner.
It has been well documented that this exemption from trespass is abused by hunters – hunters who give sportsmen a bad reputation – to train their dogs through residential neighborhoods, through orchards, across pastures and more. Our caucus defends the right to private property, and this exemption is an affront to that right.
Instead of removing this exemption, Senate Bill 67 would retain it.
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Farm to School Grant - Cumberland County
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture announced the PA Farm Bill Farm-to-School Grants of $462,607 to 45 schools, school districts and childhood education centers in 26 counties. Grants of up to $15,000 will fund projects aimed at improving access to healthy, local food and increasing hands-on agriculture learning for children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Congratulations to St. Patrick School in our district for earning a $11,500 grant for a new partnership with the LEAFProject (Leadership, Education, and Farming) to bring back a Kindergarten Tasting Program and introduce a sixth-grade project aimed at promoting healthy eating habits among students and fostering an understanding of the science behind food and farming.
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Water Utility Customer Assistance Programs Now Open
Starting Oct. 1, Fiscal Year 2025 funding for Pennsylvania American Water’s customer assistance programs opens to all eligible Pennsylvania customers. Below is an overview of their H2O Help to Others Program.
I encourage area residents to see if you qualify for their customer assistance by contacting Dollar Energy Fund at 1-888-282-6816 or applying online here.
Depending on your household income, you may qualify drinking water and wastewater grants of up to $500 per household per year and discounts starting at 30%.
Water service assistance
• Grants of up to $500 per household per year.
• A 30% to 90% discount on the monthly service fee and a 20% to 80% discount on the monthly volumetric charges, which saves the average residential customer using 3,201 gallons/month $17.66 to $64.99 every month.
Wastewater service assistance
• Grants of up to $500 per household per year.
• A 37% to 85% discount on the total wastewater charges, which saves the average residential customer using 3,201 gallons/month $40.53 to $93.12 every month.
Arrearage forgiveness program
• Forgives $25 of participating customers’ past due balance when they make a current monthly bill payment in full, plus a $5 co-payment.
• For example, if a qualifying customer has a past due balance of $240 and a monthly bill of $30, through the Arrearage Forgiveness Program the customer would pay $35 each month for eight months to fully eliminate their past due balance.
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Medicare Annual Open Enrollment Begins Oct. 15
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries begins Tuesday, Oct. 15, and continues through Saturday, Dec. 7. Any new coverage selected or changes to existing benefits will take effect Jan. 1, 2025.
During open enrollment, new Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for Medicare prescription drug coverage and health plans to complement Medicare, and current Medicare beneficiaries can review and join, switch or drop Medicare Advantage or prescription drug coverage so it better meets their needs.
To help Medicare beneficiaries understand their options, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging offers free, objective health benefits counseling through Pennsylvania Medicare Education and Decision Insight (PA MEDI). Available at Pennsylvania's 52 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), PA MEDI counselors can assist Medicare beneficiaries with plan comparisons, help with enrollment in a new plan, and evaluate eligibility for any of Pennsylvania's Medicare cost-savings programs.
To learn more about PA MEDI assistance, click here. PA MEDI can also be reached at 1-800-783-7067 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Older adults also may call their local Area Agency on Aging for assistance. Click here for a link to contact information.
Information is also available at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
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PennDOT Driver License, Photo Centers Closed for Columbus Day Holiday
All PennDOT driver license and photo centers, including the Riverfront Office Center in Harrisburg, will be closed Saturday, Oct. 12, through Monday, Oct. 14, in observance of Columbus Day. Customers may still obtain a variety of driver and vehicle products and services online through PennDOT's Driver and Vehicle Services website, dmv.pa.gov.
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Upcoming Events
Please register at RepGleim.com/events
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| Office Locations |
| District Office: 437 E North Street | Carlisle, PA 17013 | Phone: 717-249-1990 |
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| 427 Irvis Office Building | House Box 202199 Harrisburg, PA 17120-2199 | 717-772-2280 |
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