PRINTER'S NO. 3139
No. 2324 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY COHEN, KOSINSKI, THOMAS, BILLOW, HARPER, PESCI,
TRELLO, BELARDI, McNALLY AND MELIO, MARCH 13, 1990
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR RELATIONS, MARCH 13, 1990
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 28, 1937 (P.L.955, No.265), entitled, as
2 amended, "An act to promote public health, safety, morals,
3 and welfare by declaring the necessity of creating public
4 bodies, corporate and politic, to be known as housing
5 authorities to engage in slum clearance, and to undertake
6 projects, to provide dwelling accommodations for persons of
7 low income; providing for the organization of such housing
8 authorities; defining their powers and duties; providing for
9 the exercise of such powers, including the acquisition of
10 property by purchase, gift or eminent domain, the renting and
11 selling of property, and including borrowing money, issuing
12 bonds, and other obligations, and giving security therefor;
13 prescribing the remedies of obligees of housing authorities;
14 authorizing housing authorities to enter into agreements,
15 including agreements with the United States, the
16 Commonwealth, and political subdivisions and municipalities
17 thereof; defining the application of zoning, sanitary, and
18 building laws and regulations to projects built or maintained
19 by such housing authorities; exempting the property and
20 securities of such housing authorities from taxation; and
21 imposing duties and conferring powers upon the State Planning
22 Board, and certain other State officers and departments,"
23 further providing for the security officers of housing
24 authorities by increasing their jurisdiction and by
25 subjecting them to collective bargaining laws.
26 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
27 hereby enacts as follows:
28 Section 1. Section 4(a) of the act of May 28, 1937 (P.L.955,
29 No.265), known as the Housing Authorities Law, is amended to
1 read:
2 Section 4. Formation of Housing Authorities.--(a) There are
3 hereby created separate and distinct bodies, corporate and
4 politic, one for each city (as herein defined), and one for each
5 of the counties of the Commonwealth. Each such Authority may be
6 known as the housing authority of the city or the county, as the
7 case may be, but shall in no way be deemed to be an
8 instrumentality of such city or county, or engaged in the
9 performance of a municipal function. Such Authorities shall be
10 deemed employers under the act of June 24, 1968 (P.L.237,
11 No.111), referred to as the Policemen and Firemen Collective
12 Bargaining Act. Each such Authority shall transact no business
13 or otherwise become operative until and unless a finding is
14 made, as hereinafter provided in this section.
15 * * *
16 Section 2. Section 10(ff) of the act, added October 5, 1980
17 (P.L.690, No.140), is amended to read:
18 Section 10. Powers of an Authority.--An Authority shall
19 constitute a public body, corporate and politic, exercising
20 public powers of the Commonwealth as an agency thereof, which
21 powers shall include all powers necessary or appropriate to
22 carry out and effectuate the purpose and provisions of this act,
23 including the following powers, in addition to others herein
24 granted:
25 * * *
26 (ff) In the city of the first class, to appoint [security]
27 police officers who shall have the same rights, powers and
28 duties as police officers in the Commonwealth in and upon the
29 grounds and buildings of the Authority [and]; in their immediate
30 and adjacent vicinity; in instances of hot pursuit, within the
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1 boundaries of the city of the first class [and who], and, when
2 necessary, elsewhere. These police officers shall be authorized
3 to arrest persons for the commission of any offense, and the
4 keepers of the jails and other places of detention in the city
5 of the first class shall receive all persons arrested by such
6 [security] police officers for purposes of detention until they
7 are dealt with according to law: Provided, however, That such
8 [security] police officers successfully complete the course of
9 instruction provided under the act of June 18, 1974 (P.L.359,
10 No.120), referred to as the Municipal Police Education and
11 Training Law. The act of June 24, 1968 (P.L.237, No.111),
12 referred to as the Policemen and Firemen Collective Bargaining
13 Act, shall apply to these police officers for collective
14 bargaining and binding arbitration purposes. The Authority
15 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, give preference in
16 hiring [security] police officers first to any person living in
17 public housing and receiving any form of State or Federal public
18 assistance, and second, to any other person living in public
19 housing.
20 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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