Trial Engrossment of Amendment A05276 to House Bill 2413 P.N. 3572, Regular Session 2019-2020

A05276

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

2413

Session of

2020

INTRODUCED BY DUSH, STRUZZI, ROTHMAN, CONKLIN, DONATUCCI,

OBERLANDER, CAUSER, BOBACK, SCHMITT, WARNER, OWLETT, HILL-

EVANS, O'MARA, BOROWICZ, BURNS, HELM, GLEIM, READSHAW, SONNEY

AND KIRKLAND, APRIL 17, 2020

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, APRIL 17, 2020

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 cancer control, prevention and research, for

ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint

Underwriting Association, for entertainment business

financial management firms, for private dam financial

assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; 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 additional special funds and restricted

accounts, providing for COVID-19 response transfers for

assistance to the Commonwealth's volunteer service

organizations.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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 1737-A.1. COVID-19 response transfers for assistance to

the Commonwealth's volunteer service organizations.

(a) Transfers.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law

to the contrary, the Secretary of the Budget may transfer the

sum of $10,000,000 from special funds under the Governor's

jurisdictio n to a restricted account as provided under

subsection (b) to assist the operations of the Commonwealth's

volunteer service organizations.

(b) Deposit.--The funds transferred under subsection (a)

shall be deposited by the Secretary of the Budget into a

restricted account within the General Fund of the State Treasury

as necessary to make payments under this section and, when

transferred, are hereby appropriated to carry out the provisions

of this section related to the Commonwealth's COVID-19 response.

transfer of funds if the transfer would result in a deficit in

any of the funds.

(d) Authorization.--The Secretary of the Budget shall only

be authorized to make transfers under subsection (a) to the

extent that written approval for the transfer is received from

the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the

House of Representatives.

(e) Distribution of funds.--The Secretary of the Budget, in

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consultation with the State Fire Commissioner, shall distribute

the funds in the restricted account under subsection (b) to each

volunteer service organization in this Commonwealth in the form

of a grant equal to the amount of funds available in the

restricted account divided by the number of applications

received for a grant program under 35 Pa.C.S. Ch. 78 (relating

to grants to fire companies and emergency medical services

companies) for the application period beginning on September 1,

2019. periods beginning on September 1 of calendar year 2017,

2018 or 2019. An agreement or application by a volunteer service

organization shall not be required to receive a grant under this

subsection.

(f) Report.--No later than September 30, 2020, the Secretary

of the Budget shall provide a report detailing all spending

related to the COVID-19 response the Commonwealth has made under

this section, including the name of each recipient of funds and

the dollar amount issued. The Secretary of the Budget shall

provide the report to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of

the Senate, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the House

of Representatives, the chairperson and minority chairperson of

the Appropriations Committee of the Senate, the chairperson and

minority chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of the

House of Representatives, the chairperson and minority

chairperson of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness

Committee of the Senate and the chairperson and minority

chairperson of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness

Committee of the House of Representatives.

(g) Expiration.--The authority to transfer funds under

subsection (a) shall expire on September 30, 2020.

(h) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following

A05276 - 3 -

words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this

subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"COVID- 19." The novel coronavirus as identified in the

Governor's Proclamation of Disaster Emergency issued on March 6,

2020.

"Volunteer service organization." A volunteer EMS company,

volunteer fire company or volunteer rescue company as defined in

35 Pa.C.S. § 7802 (relating to definitions).

Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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