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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 8, 2015 03:18 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Brian Sims |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Municipal Tort Liability (former HB 2146) |
| In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation – former House Bill 2146 – amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to increase and adjust for inflation the monetary limitation on damages for municipal tort claims. The cap would be increased from $500,000 to $1,250,000, and would then be adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labor. This bill is intended to address many of the issues that became apparent after a four foot wide water main break resulted in substantial water and electrical damage to more than 100 homes in South Philadelphia in the summer of 2012. The $500,000 cap, from 1980, caused some residents to receive just 19 cents on the dollar for damage caused by Philadelphia’s aging underground infrastructure. I believe that it is long overdue that we adjust this 34-year old tort claim limit to fairly compensate those who have been victimized by public disasters or personal tragedies. When legislators set the $500,000 cap in 1980, they intended political subdivisions of the state to be liable for that value. Over the past 34 years, inflation has caused that liability to shrink at the expense of citizens of the Commonwealth who were harmed by no fault of their own. Increasing and adjusting the cap for inflation follows the intent of those legislators who set the cap in 1980. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation in order to reform an outdated provision in state law and provide fair compensation to those who have suffered a loss. |
Introduced as HB689