PRINTER'S NO. 3253
No. 2553 Session of 1994
INTRODUCED BY MASLAND, GORDNER, DENT, BEBKO-JONES, MANDERINO,
ROONEY, TIGUE, SATHER, SEMMEL, CARONE, E. Z. TAYLOR, KING,
GODSHALL, HENNESSEY, BELFANTI, MUNDY, GERLACH, FAJT,
SERAFINI, COY, BUNT, SAYLOR, STERN, BAKER, STABACK, BATTISTO,
RUBLEY, VEON, STEELMAN AND ULIANA, MARCH 7, 1994
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 7, 1994
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), entitled
2 "An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct of the
3 executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth by the
4 Executive Department thereof and the administrative
5 departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,
6 including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or
7 Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or
8 authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative
9 departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and
10 duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative
11 officers, and of the several administrative departments,
12 boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the
13 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive
14 and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of
15 certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and
16 other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,
17 and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the
18 number and compensation of the deputies and all other
19 assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and
20 commissions shall be determined," further providing for crime
21 victims' compensation definitions, awards, subrogation and
22 restitution.
23 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
24 hereby enacts as follows:
25 Section 1. The definitions of "out-of-pocket loss" and
26 "victim" in section 477 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177,
1 No.175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, amended
2 August 14, 1991 (P.L.331, No.35), are amended to read:
3 Section 477. Definitions.--So far as it relates to the crime
4 victim's compensation provisions, the following terms shall be
5 defined as:
6 * * *
7 "Out-of-pocket loss" means the unreimbursed and
8 unreimbursable expenses or indebtedness incurred for medical
9 care, nonmedical remedial care and treatment rendered in
10 accordance with a religious method of healing as approved by the
11 board, or other services, including psychological counseling,
12 prosthetic devices, eyeglasses or other corrective lenses, or
13 dental devices, reasonably necessary as a result of the [injury]
14 crime upon which the claim is based and for which the claimant
15 either has paid or is liable, to include expenses for physical
16 examinations and materials used to obtain evidence. In no case
17 shall property damages or compensation for pain and suffering be
18 included.
19 "Victim" shall mean a person against whom a crime has been
20 committed, other than the alleged offender, who, as a direct
21 result of the crime, suffers physical or mental injury, death
22 [or the], loss of earnings or out-of-pocket loss as herein
23 defined, and shall include a resident of Pennsylvania against
24 whom an act has been committed which otherwise would constitute
25 a crime as defined in this act but for its occurrence in a state
26 other than Pennsylvania and for which the person would otherwise
27 be compensated by the crime victim compensation program of the
28 state where the act occurred but for the ineligibility of such
29 program under the provisions of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984
30 (42 U.S.C. § 10601, et seq.), as amended.
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1 Section 2. Section 477.9(a)(2) of the act, amended June 30,
2 1984 (P.L.458, No.96), is amended and the section is amended by
3 adding a subsection to read:
4 Section 477.9. Awards.--(a) No award shall be made unless
5 the board or board member, as the case may be, finds by a
6 preponderance of the evidence that:
7 * * *
8 (2) The person who was injured or killed or who suffered a
9 loss was a victim or intervenor as defined in section 477.
10 * * *
11 (g) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, an award
12 to a victim suffering solely an out-of-pocket loss as a result
13 of damage to or loss of health-related devices, including
14 prosthetic devices, eyeglasses or corrective lenses, dental
15 devices or hearing aids, which resulted from a crime, shall not
16 exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).
17 Section 3. Sections 477.12 and 477.13 of the act, added July
18 9, 1976 (P.L.574, No.139), are amended to read:
19 Section 477.12. Subrogation.--Payment of an award made
20 pursuant to this act shall subrogate the [Commonwealth] board,
21 to the extent of such payment, to any right of action accruing
22 to the claimant or the victim the intervenor to recover losses
23 resulting from the crime with respect to which the award is
24 made. In such case, the [Commonwealth] board shall be entitled
25 to bring an action against the person or persons causing the
26 personal injuries or death for which said payment was made.
27 If an amount greater than that paid pursuant to these
28 provisions is recovered and collected in such action, the
29 [Commonwealth] board shall pay the balance to the claimant. The
30 Attorney General shall enforce any subrogation.
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1 Section 477.13. Restitution.--To the extent that restitution
2 is ordered pursuant to any other existing law, either prior to
3 or subsequent to the making of an award by this board, such
4 restitution shall be paid to the [Commonwealth] board to the
5 extent of [the award by the board] its award.
6 Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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