PRINTER'S NO. 612
No. 552 Session of 1987
INTRODUCED BY FUMO, ROCKS, REIBMAN, PECORA, BELL, STAPLETON,
STOUT, RHOADES AND ANDREZESKI, MARCH 11, 1987
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 11, 1987
AN ACT
1 Providing for a voluntary contribution system to aid public
2 television broadcasting; creating a Public Television
3 Broadcasting Fund; and imposing powers and duties on the
4 Pennsylvania Public Television Network Commission and the
5 Department of Revenue.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Short title.
9 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Public
10 Television Assistance Act.
11 Section 2. Purpose.
12 It is the purpose of this act to help public television
13 achieve its goals by providing a means for the residents of this
14 Commonwealth to support public television by establishing a
15 voluntary contribution system on State income tax returns.
16 Section 3. Definitions.
17 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
18 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
19 context clearly indicates otherwise:
1 "Commission." The Pennsylvania Public Television Network
2 Commission.
3 "Department." The Department of Revenue of the Commonwealth.
4 "Fund." The Public Television Broadcasting Fund established
5 by section 5.
6 Section 4. Voluntary contribution system.
7 (a) Space on form.--The department shall provide a space on
8 the face of the Pennsylvania individual income tax return where
9 an individual may voluntarily designate a contribution, of any
10 amount desired, to the fund.
11 (b) Tax revenues not affected.--The amount designated by an
12 individual on the income tax return shall be deducted from the
13 tax refund to which the individual is entitled and shall not
14 constitute a charge against the income tax revenues due the
15 Commonwealth.
16 (c) Reporting.--The department shall determine annually the
17 total amount designated under this section and shall report the
18 amount to the State Treasurer, who shall transfer that amount
19 from the General Fund to the fund. The department shall be
20 reimbursed from the fund for administrative costs incurred
21 beyond the cost savings it realizes as a result of individual
22 total refund designations.
23 (d) Information.--The department shall provide adequate
24 information concerning the fund in its instructions which
25 accompany individual income tax returns, which shall include the
26 listing of an address, furnished to it by the commission, to
27 which contributions may be sent by those taxpayers who wish to
28 contribute to the fund but who do not receive refunds.
29 (e) Applicability.--This section applies to taxable years
30 beginning on or after January 1, 1988.
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1 Section 5. Public Television Broadcasting Fund.
2 (a) Creation.--In order to carry out the purposes of this
3 act, there is created a special fund in the State Treasury,
4 which shall be known as the Public Television Broadcasting Fund.
5 (b) Deposits.--Money received from the voluntary
6 contribution system established in section 4 shall be deposited
7 in the fund.
8 (c) Appropriation.--The General Assembly may appropriate
9 funds into the fund for the purposes of this act.
10 (d) Continuous appropriations.--The money contained in the
11 fund is continuously appropriated to the commission to be
12 allocated under section 6.
13 Section 6. Allocation.
14 The commission shall allocate the money in the fund to the
15 individual public television stations in this Commonwealth. The
16 basis of the allocation shall be the amount of money received by
17 the public television station from individual contributors. The
18 commission shall total the individual contributions made to all
19 public television stations in this Commonwealth, then determine
20 the ratio of each station's individual contributions to the
21 Statewide total; and the individual public television station
22 shall receive funds equal to that ratio.
23 Section 7. Effective date.
24 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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