THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY ROAE, CUTLER, DENLINGER, GABLER, HORNAMAN, KORTZ, MURT, RAPP, ROCK AND VULAKOVICH, FEBRUARY 2, 2009

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 2, 2009  

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), entitled

"An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct of the

executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth by the

Executive Department thereof and the administrative

departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,

including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or

Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or

authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative

departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and

duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative

officers, and of the several administrative departments,

boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the

Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive

and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of

certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and

other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,

and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the

number and compensation of the deputies and all other

assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and

commissions shall be determined," in powers and duties of the

Department of General Services, further providing for

automobiles.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 2407 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.

177, No.175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, amended

or added June 3, 1943 (P.L.833, No.352), February 23, 1956 (1955

P.L.1080, No.350) and December 18, 1968 (P.L.1232, No.390), is

amended to read:

Section 2407.  Automobiles.--(a)  The Department of [Property

and Supplies shall, upon the effective date of this act, take

over, and thereafter] General Services shall assume

responsibility for, the maintenance and operation of all

automobiles owned by the Commonwealth, or any administrative

department, board, or commission thereof, except the Department

of [Highways] Transportation.

[After the effective date of this act, all] (b)  All 

automobiles required for use by the administrative departments,

boards, commissions, and officers of the State Government, shall

be purchased by the Department of [Property and Supplies]

General Services, but, in purchasing automobiles required for

the use of any department, board, or commission, having

authority to purchase automobiles out of money appropriated to

it, the Department of [Property and Supplies] General Services 

shall act as purchasing agency.

(c)  No automobile may be purchased by the Department of

General Services, either on behalf of the Commonwealth or a

purchasing agency, unless the automobile has a manufacturer's

suggested retail price of twenty-thousand dollars ($20,000) or

less, subject to annual adjustment based on the percentage

change in the Consumer Price Index for the most recent preceding

12-month period, and the automobile has been reported by the

manufacturer as having a test rating of at least thirty (30)

miles per gallon on the highway.

(d)  The Department of [Property and Supplies] General

Services shall make or contract for the making of all repairs to

automobiles owned by the Commonwealth, except those operated by

the Department of [Highways] Transportation, unless in any case

it shall specifically authorize any department, board,

commission, or officer, to make or order the making of repairs

to any specified automobiles, and, except emergency repairs

necessarily made while any automobile is away from its garage.

(e)  (1)  The Department of [Property and Supplies] General

Services may assign to any department, board, or commission,

such automobiles as may be required by it for full-time daily

use, and such automobiles shall be operated by employes of such

departments, boards, or commissions.

(2)  The department shall maintain a sufficient number of

automobiles, not assigned to departments, boards, or

commissions, to meet the requirements of departments, boards,

and commissions which do not require the full-time daily use of

automobiles, and to meet extraordinary and occasional demands of

all departments, boards, and commissions, other than the

Department of [Highways] Transportation.

(3)  Such automobiles with or without chauffeurs, shall be

furnished to departments, boards, or commissions, upon

requisition of the heads of the respective departments, or of

the executive officers of the respective boards or commissions.

(4)  This [paragraph] subsection shall not be construed to

prohibit a State officer or employe from being reimbursed for

the use of his own automobile on State business, but all such

reimbursements shall be made under and subject to the rules of

the Executive Board regulating the payment of expenses to State

officers and employes.

(f)  (1)  The cost of oil, gasoline, tires, repair parts for

and repairs to automobiles permanently assigned to departments,

boards, and commissions, shall be paid out of the appropriations

to such departments, boards, and commissions, but the Department

of [Property and Supplies] General Services shall contract for

all such oil, gasoline, tires, repair parts, and repairs, except

that repairs may be made by the Department of [Highways]

Transportation, and, if authorized as hereinbefore provided, by

other departments and by boards and commissions.

(2)  For the use of other automobiles, departments, boards,

and commissions shall be billed by the Department of [Property

and Supplies] General Services, upon a mileage basis, at such

amount per mile as the Department of [Property and Supplies]

General Services, with the approval of the Governor, shall

determine. Amounts payable for the use of such automobiles shall

be paid out of the appropriations to such departments, boards,

or commissions to the Department of [Property and Supplies]

General Services, and shall be, by it, paid into the General

Fund of the State Treasury, through the Department of Revenue.

(g)  The Department of [Property and Supplies] General

Services shall require every administrative department,

including the Department of [Highways] Transportation, and every

independent administrative and departmental administrative board

or commission, to report to it monthly, upon forms supplied by

it, and with such detail as it shall require, the places to and

from which each automobile was operated, the mileage traveled,

the amount of oil and gasoline purchased, the names of employes

of the department, board, or commission operating each

automobile, the names of the employes of the department, board,

or commission for whom the automobiles were operated, and such

other information as may be necessary to enable the Department

of [Property and Supplies] General Services to make and keep

complete records of the use and cost of operation of all State

automobiles, except that it shall not be necessary for the

Department of the Auditor General, the Treasury Department, or

the Pennsylvania State Police, to report the places to and from

which, or the names of the persons by or for whom automobiles

were operated.

(h)  The types and number of automobiles to be purchased by

the Department of [Property and Supplies hereunder] General

Services under this section shall be subject to approval by the

Executive Board, and the use of automobiles by State officers

and employes shall be subject to the rules and regulations of

the Executive Board.

(i)  Subject to the approval of the Board of Commissioners of

Public Grounds and Buildings, the Department of [Property and

Supplies] General Services may sell automobiles, owned by the

Commonwealth, when it deems it is in the public interest to do

so. The proceeds of such sales shall be paid into the State

Treasury, shall be credited to the appropriation to the

department for the purchase of automobiles, or to any

department, board or commission having authority to purchase

automobiles with money appropriated to it, and are hereby

appropriated to the respective department, board or commission

for the purchase of automobiles.

Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.