THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY PERRY, METCALFE, AUMENT, CLYMER, COX, CUTLER, EVERETT, FLECK, GEIST, GRELL, GROVE, HARRIS, HICKERNELL, KAUFFMAN, KNOWLES, KRIEGER, METZGAR, MOUL, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, PYLE, RAPP, READSHAW, ROCK, SWANGER, TALLMAN AND VULAKOVICH, FEBRUARY 24, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 24, 2011  

AN ACT

Providing for financial penalties to be imposed on certain

municipalities and for the powers and duties of the Secretary

of the Commonwealth.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Sanctuary

Municipalities Financial Penalty Act.

Section 2.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Commonwealth agency."  The term shall have the same meaning

as provided in 2 Pa.C.S. § 101 (relating to definitions).

"Commonwealth appropriation."  Any direct appropriation of

Commonwealth funds or any direct or indirect expenditure of

Commonwealth funds by a Commonwealth agency. The term shall not

include any funds provided or expended for any of the following:

(1)  Law enforcement or corrections purposes.

(2)  The operation of courts.

(3)  Emergency preparedness or disaster response.

(4)  Medical services.

"Municipality."  A municipality as defined in 1 Pa.C.S. §

1991 (relating to definitions).

"Sanctuary municipality."  A municipality that has adopted an

ordinance, policy or procedure to encourage unauthorized aliens

to reside in the municipality, including, but not limited to,

any that:

(1)  prohibit, restrict or discourage municipal employees

from sending, receiving or maintaining information regarding

the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual

or exchanging the information with any other Federal, State

or local government entity;

(2)  prohibit, restrict or discourage municipal employees

from asking individuals their citizenship or immigration

status; or

(3)  provide public benefits, unless required by Federal

or State statutes or court decisions, except for any of the

following:

(i)  Emergency medical care.

(ii)  Law enforcement, arrest, prosecution,

incarceration, detainment and related expenses.

(iii)  Benefits provided to the public at large, such

as maintenance of roads, sidewalks, public parks and

similar government property.

"Secretary."  The Secretary of State of the Commonwealth.

"Unauthorized alien."  An alien who is not lawfully present

within the United States.

Section 3.  Financial penalty.

A Commonwealth appropriation to benefit a municipality or the

residents of a municipality which municipality fails to

cooperate in an investigation under this act or has been

designated a sanctuary municipality under this act shall be

placed in an escrow account and shall not be released until at

least 30 days after the secretary certifies that the

municipality has taken corrective action as provided under

section 4(g) or renewed cooperation as provided under section

4(e).

Section 4.  Sanctuary municipality designation.

(a)  Determination.--The secretary shall determine whether a

municipality is a sanctuary municipality as provided under this

section.

(b)  Complaint.--An enforcement action shall be initiated by

means of a written, signed complaint to the secretary's office

and shall be submitted by a Commonwealth resident. A valid

complaint shall include an allegation which describes the

ordinances, policies or procedures adopted by a municipality to

encourage unauthorized aliens to reside within the municipality.

(c)  Investigation.--Upon receipt of a valid complaint, the

secretary shall request information from the municipality which

is the subject of the complaint. The requested information may

include any of the following:

(1)  Copies of any ordinances, resolutions, policy

manuals or employee handbooks.

(2)  Copies of any electronic mail, letters, memoranda or

other communications with or to employees of the

municipality.

(3)  Any other information needed to make a determination

under this section.

(d)  Procedure.--The secretary shall, by regulation,

establish a procedure and timeline for municipalities to do all

of the following:

(1)  Respond to requests under subsection (c).

(2)  Cooperate with ongoing investigations.

(e)  Cooperation.--Any municipality which fails to cooperate

with an investigation by the secretary under this section shall

be subject to the same penalties as a municipality which has

been determined to meet the definition of a "sanctuary

municipality" under subsection (f). Notice of either failure to

cooperate or certification that cooperation has been renewed

shall be published as follows:

(1)  In the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

(2)  On the Internet website of the Department of State.

(f)  Determination of sanctuary status.--If, after

investigation, the secretary determines by a preponderance of

the evidence that the municipality meets the definition of a

"sanctuary municipality," the secretary shall provide notice of

that determination to the municipality. The notice shall include

a list of specific ordinances, policies or procedures which

encourage unauthorized aliens to reside in the municipality. The

secretary shall publish a summary of the notice as follows:

(1)  In the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

(2)  On the Internet website of the Department of State.

(g)  Correction.--Any municipality which the secretary

determines to be a sanctuary municipality shall repeal any

ordinance or cease any policy or procedure which encourages

unauthorized aliens to reside in the municipality. The secretary

shall, upon receipt of sufficient evidence that a municipality

has taken corrective action to repeal the ordinance or cease the

policy or procedure, publish a certification of the corrective

action as follows:

(1)  In the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

(2)  On the Internet website of the Department of State.

Section 5.  Duty of Commonwealth agencies.

(a)  Review.--On a daily basis, each Commonwealth agency

shall review notices posted pursuant to section 4(e), (f) and

(g) on the Internet website of the Department of State.

(b)  Compliance.--Each Commonwealth agency shall comply with

the requirements of section 3 based on the daily review under

subsection (a).

(c)  Immunity.--A Commonwealth agency or employee of a

Commonwealth agency shall be immune from liability resulting

from the imposition of the financial penalty under section 3 if

the agency complied in good faith with the requirements of this

act.

Section 6.  Commonwealth agency law.

The provisions of this act shall be subject to 2 Pa.C.S. Chs. 

5 Subch. A (relating to practice and procedure of Commonwealth

agencies) and 7 Subch. A (relating to judicial review of

Commonwealth agency action).

Section 7.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.