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PRINTER'S NO. 2212
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1651
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY SANKEY, DIAMOND AND ZIMMERMAN, JULY 8, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JULY 8, 2017
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled
"An act relating to the finances of the State government;
providing for the settlement, assessment, collection, and
lien of taxes, bonus, and all other accounts due the
Commonwealth, the collection and recovery of fees and other
money or property due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or
any agency thereof, including escheated property and the
proceeds of its sale, the custody and disbursement or other
disposition of funds and securities belonging to or in the
possession of the Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims
against the Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and
appeals to the courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to
the Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth
and all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting
moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,
authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes
to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of
section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of
certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every
department, board, commission, and officer of the State
government, every political subdivision of the State, and
certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,
association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or
collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws
imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or
other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the
Commonwealth," in procedure for disbursement of money from
the State Treasury, providing for withholding payments to
certain institutions of higher education.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known
as The Fiscal Code, is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 1509. Withholding Payments to Certain Institutions
of Higher Education.--(a) Notwithstanding any other provision
of law to the contrary, the State Treasurer may not issue a
warrant for payment to an institution of higher education for
which the State Treasurer has received a determination from the
Secretary of Education under subsection (b)(3), unless and until
the Secretary of Education submits notification under subsection
(b)(4) to the State Treasurer.
(b) (1) A person who believes that an institution of higher
education is hindering the person's exercise of rights
guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution may file a written complaint with the Secretary of
Education.
(2) The Secretary of Education shall investigate a complaint
filed by a person under paragraph (1) and, after providing the
institution of higher education with an opportunity to respond
to the complaint, determine whether the institution of higher
education is hindering the person's exercise of rights
guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution.
(3) If the Secretary of Education determines that the
institution of higher education is hindering the person's
exercise of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution, the Secretary of Education shall
submit a certified copy of its determination to the State
Treasurer.
(4) If, after submitting the determination to the State
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Treasurer under paragraph (3), the Secretary of Education
becomes satisfied, upon further investigation, that the
institution of higher education no longer hinders the exercise
of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution, the Secretary of Education shall provide written
notification to the institution of higher education and State
Treasurer.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) The term "institution of higher education" means a
State-related university, a university within the State System
of Higher Education, a community college operating in this
Commonwealth and a private college or university entitled to
award academic degrees in this Commonwealth in accordance with
law.
(2) The term "rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to
the United States Constitution" means the rights to freedom of
speech, expression and the press. The term does not include a
form of expression that:
(i) is determined as obscene in accordance with the Miller
Test, as developed by the Supreme Court of the United States in
Miller v. California , 414 U.S. 881 (1973);
(ii) does comprise an act of sedition, as defined by 18
U.S.C. Ch. 115 (relating to treason, sedition, and subversive
activities); and
(iii) does constitute libel or slander in accordance with
the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in New
York Times Co. v. Sullivan , 376 U.S. 254 (1964), Gertz v. Robert
Welch, Inc. , 418 U.S. 323 (1974), and Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v.
Greenmoss Builders' 472 U.S. 749 (1985) and TXO Production Corp.
v. Alliance Resources Corp. , 509 U.S. 443 (1993) .
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Section 2. An agreement entered into on or after the
effective date of this section that conflicts with or is
intended to exclude the application of section 1509 of the act
shall be void and unenforceable.
Section 3. This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) The addition of section 1509 of the act shall take
effect July 1, 2020.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
immediately.
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