THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY HORNAMAN, McILVAINE SMITH, CALTAGIRONE, CURRY, MIRABITO, BRENNAN, D. COSTA AND HALUSKA, JULY 20, 2009

AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, AUGUST 4, 2009   

AN ACT

Amending Title 45 (Legal Notices) of the Pennsylvania

Consolidated Statutes, adding a definition of "community

<--

paper of mass dissemination"; and further providing for legal

advertising further providing for level of advertising rates

<--

and for establishment and change of advertising rates; and

providing for additional publication on Internet websites.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 101(a) of Title 45 of the Pennsylvania

<--

Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding a definition to read:

§ 101.  Definitions.

(a)  Definitions applicable to printing or newspaper

advertising laws.--Subject to additional definitions contained

in subsequent provisions of this title which are applicable to

specific provisions of this title, the following words and

phrases when used in:

(1)  this title; or

(2)  any other law relating to printing or newspaper

advertising;

shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the

meanings given to them in this subsection:

* * *

"Community paper of mass dissemination."

(1)  A printed paper or publication, bearing a title or

name, and conveying reading or pictorial intelligence of

passing events, local or general happenings, printing

regularly or irregularly editorial comment, announcements,

miscellaneous reading matter, commercial advertising,

classified advertising, legal advertising and other notices,

and which has been issued in numbers of four or more pages at

short intervals, either daily, twice or more often each week,

or weekly, continuously during a period of at least six

months, or as the successor of such a printed paper or

publication issued during an immediate prior period of at

least six months, and which has been circulated and

distributed from an established place of business to the

community at large.

(2)  For purposes of this definition, continuous

publication shall not be deemed interrupted by any

involuntary suspension of publication resulting from loss,

destruction, failure or unavailability of operating

facilities, equipment or personnel from whatever cause, and

any community paper of mass distribution so affected shall

not be disqualified to publish official and legal advertising

in the event that publication is resumed within one week

after it again becomes possible.

(3)  A community paper of mass dissemination shall do one

of the following:

(i)  Distribute through the United States mail to

entire local zip codes.

(ii)  Distribute by carriers to the majority of

established addresses, or be widely available at

numerous, widely visited public locations within the

political subdivision effecting the advertising and have

the distribution independently verified by an accredited

auditor of circulations.

* * *

Section 2.  Title 45 is amended by adding a section to read:

§ 311.  Use of community papers of mass dissemination.

(a)  General rule.--Any government unit may, at its

discretion, authorize publication in a community paper of mass

dissemination in substitution of publication in a newspaper of

general circulation.

(b)  Construction.--Nothing in this section alters or affects

the obligation to publish a legal notice in a legal newspaper.

Section 1.  Sections 303 and 304 of Title 45 of the

<--

Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:

§ 303.  Level of advertising rates.

(a)  General rule.--All official and legal advertising shall

be charged for at an established or declared rate or price per

single column, line of reading matter measured in depth by the

point system, or at a rate or price per inch single column. When

such official and legal advertising is not classified and is not

published according to prescribed or recognized forms, and no

rate has been established or declared, such rate for official

and legal advertising shall not be in excess of the rates

usually charged or received by the publication publishing such

official and legal advertising for commercial, general, or other

advertising.

(b)  [Exception.--Where official and legal advertising is

usually and ordinarily published according to recognized or

prescribed forms, or particular matters are itemized and

classified under general headings, subsection (a) shall not

prohibit the fixing of definite prices or sums for publishing

official and legal advertising, regardless of the number of

single column lines or space required for each item, notice, or

advertisement published in any separate matter or proceeding,

and regardless of rates established, fixed, charged or received

for commercial, general or other advertising. The purpose of

this subsection is to enable newspapers to take into

consideration, as elements, when fixing advertising rates or

charges, location of the advertisement in the newspaper, the

purpose to be served, the character of the advertising, and that

a newspaper is entitled to compensation for its readiness at all

times to render an advertising service.] Exceptions.--

(1)  Notwithstanding any other provision in this section,

from the effective date of this paragraph through June 30,

2012, a newspaper of general circulation shall not charge a

government unit a rate or price that exceeds 75% of the legal

advertising rates in effect on July 1, 2009, or that exceeds

75% of the lowest base classified advertising rate charged by

the newspaper to its noncontractual commercial customers for

advertisements of the same size, composition and use,

whichever is lower.

(2)  After June 30, 2012, the rate or price may be raised

no more than the annual cost-of-living increase calculated by

applying the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index

for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New

Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area, for the most recent 12-

month period for which figures have been officially reported

by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor

Statistics. In no event shall the rate or price charged under

this paragraph exceed 75% of the lowest base classified

advertising rate charged by the newspaper to its

noncontractual commercial customers for advertisements of the

same size, composition and use.

(3)  The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to

fees for services requested by a government unit in addition

to publication, or to legal advertising for which the cost is

reimbursed to the government unit.

§ 304.  Establishment and change of advertising rates.

(a)  General rule.--All newspapers of general circulation,

official newspapers and legal newspapers accepting and

publishing official and legal advertising, are hereby required

to fix and establish rates and charges for official, legal and

all other kinds of advertising, offered or accepted for

publication, and such publications shall furnish, on demand, to

any person having use for the same, detailed schedules, stating

the rates and charges which shall be deemed to be in force and

effect until changed or altered, and, when changed or altered,

such publication shall give the person authorized or required to

publish advertising, before demanding or receiving compensation

at any increased rate, notice that the rates and charges of such

publication for advertising have been changed or abrogated, and

that increased advertising rates and charges have been

established or fixed.

(b)  Publication of notice.--No later than 30 days after the

effective date of this subsection and 30 days prior to any

change in rates as allowable under section 303 (relating to

level of advertising rates), each newspaper of general

circulation which accepts publication of legal notices shall be

required to print for three consecutive days a notice in 12-

point type of the rate or charge which the newspaper intends to

charge for the publication of legal notices. Such notices shall

be placed in the section where legal notices are ordinarily

published. At the same time, the newspaper shall deliver to each

government unit within its area of circulation a notice of its

rates and charges for the publication of legal notices.

(c)  Annual audit.--The legal advertising rate charged by

newspapers of general circulation shall be subject to annual

audit at the discretion of the Auditor General of the

Commonwealth.

Section 2.  Title 45 is amended by adding a section to read:

§ 308.1.  Additional publication on Internet websites.

(a)  General rule.--Except as otherwise provided by statute,

every notice or advertisement required by law or rule of court

to be published in one or more newspapers of general

circulation, unless dispensed with by special order of court,

shall also be published on an Internet website with a searchable

database of legal notices, maintained by or contracted to

provide such service by a newspaper of general circulation.

Publication shall be subject to the same stipulations and

regulations as those imposed for the publication of print

notices.

(b)  Exceptions.--

(1)  This section shall not apply if high-speed Internet

broadband service is not available in the newspaper's area of

publication and circulation.

(2)  Provided that print publication requirements are

satisfied, temporary disruption of an Internet posting shall

not affect the validity or legal effect of an advertisement

where such disruption is caused in whole or in part by causes

beyond agency control, including fire, flood, explosion, war,

strike, embargo, act of God, acts or omissions of carriers,

transmitters, telephone companies, Internet service

providers, vandals or hackers.

Section 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.