THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BELFANTI, GERGELY, GOODMAN, MENSCH, BRENNAN, SIPTROTH, HORNAMAN, CALTAGIRONE, PASHINSKI, DeLUCA, GEORGE, HALUSKA, GRUCELA, FRANKEL, MURPHY, KORTZ, FABRIZIO, CARROLL, K. SMITH, MAHONEY, MURT, MELIO AND YOUNGBLOOD, JUNE 5, 2009

AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009   

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled,

as amended, "An act relating to the finances of the State

government; providing for the settlement, assessment,

collection, and lien of taxes, bonus, and all other accounts

due the Commonwealth, the collection and recovery of fees and

other money or property due or belonging to the Commonwealth,

or any agency thereof, including escheated property and the

proceeds of its sale, the custody and disbursement or other

disposition of funds and securities belonging to or in the

possession of the Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims

against the Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and

appeals to the courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to

the Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth

and all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting

moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,

authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes

to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of

section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of

Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of

certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every

department, board, commission, and officer of the State

government, every political subdivision of the State, and

certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,

association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or

collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws

imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or

other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the

Commonwealth," repealing further providing for the State

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Workers' Insurance Board and for sunset provisions relating

to State Workers' Insurance Fund investment authority.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1732-A of the act of April 9, 1929

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(P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, added July 7, 2005

(P.L.174, No.41), is repealed:

[Section 1732-A.  Expiration.

This subarticle shall expire June 30, 2009.]

Section 1.  Sections 1731-A and 1732-A of the act of April 9,

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1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, added July 7,

2005 (P.L.174, No.41), are reenacted and amended to read:

Section 1731-A.  State Workers' Insurance Board.

Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of section 1512

of the act of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736, No.338), known as the

Workers' Compensation Act, section 504 of the act of November

30, 1965 (P.L.847, No.356), known as the Banking Code of 1965,

section 922 of the act of December 14, 1967 (P.L.746, No.345),

known as the Savings Association Code of 1967, and any other law

of this Commonwealth, the power of the State Workers' Insurance

Board to invest money shall include the power to hold, purchase,

sell, assign, transfer and dispose of securities, including

common stock with the following restrictions:

(1)  Investments in equities may not exceed the lesser

of:

(i)  20% of the State Workers' Insurance Fund's

assets; or

(ii)  the State Workers' Insurance Fund's statutory

surplus after discount, except that in the event that the

statutory surplus is less than 7 1/2% of the book value

of the assets of the State Workers' Insurance Fund, the

investment in equities may not exceed the percentage set

forth in the provisions applicable to savings banks in

section 504 of the Banking Code of 1965.

(1.1)  Investments in equities shall be made subject to

the prudent man rule of section 504(c) of the Banking Code of

1965.

(2)  The State Workers' Insurance Board shall establish a

policy for investments and shall meet at least annually to

develop a schedule for rebalancing its investments in

securities to meet the restriction of paragraph (1).

Section 1732-A.  Expiration.

This subarticle shall expire June 30, [2009] 2014.

Section 2.  The reenactment and amendment of sections 1731-A

and 1732-A shall apply retroactively to June 30, 2009.

Section 2 3.  This act shall take effect immediately.

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