PRINTER'S NO. 2753
No. 484 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY J. WHITE, BENNINGTON, M. SMITH, BRENNAN, CONKLIN,
KORTZ, CRUZ, READSHAW, GEORGE, MAHONEY, SHIMKUS, SOLOBAY,
PASHINSKI, RUBLEY, KOTIK, HENNESSEY, THOMAS, JAMES, WALKO,
YOUNGBLOOD, HORNAMAN, PETRONE, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH, MUNDY,
FABRIZIO, GERGELY AND GABIG, OCTOBER 26, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, OCTOBER 26, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Directing the Joint State Government Commission to study the
2 Uniform Power of Attorney Act and Pennsylvania's current
3 power of attorney statute to determine whether any amendments
4 should be made to Pennsylvania's current statute.
5 WHEREAS, A power of attorney is a fairly simple and
6 inexpensive means by which an individual can provide for another
7 person to be the individual's surrogate decision maker,
8 especially at those times when the individual is unable to make
9 decisions for himself; and
10 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's power of attorney statute, 20 Pa.C.S.
11 Ch. 56, was enacted in 1982; and
12 WHEREAS, The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform
13 State Laws has existed since 1892 to make recommendations
14 regarding what laws should be uniform among the states and to
15 prepare sample uniform acts; and
16 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania participates in the National Conference
17 of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws; and
1 WHEREAS, The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform
2 State Laws promulgated the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in 2006
3 for consideration and enactment by the states; and
4 WHEREAS, The Uniform Power of Attorney Act has been enacted
5 in one state, New Mexico, and has been introduced in four other
6 states, Maine, Maryland, Michigan and Minnesota; and
7 WHEREAS, The Uniform Power of Attorney Act was promulgated
8 after a study of the power of attorney statutes in the 50
9 states, which indicated that the state statutes were
10 increasingly different from each other and that new and
11 unforeseen issues had arisen since earlier uniform power of
12 attorney statutes had been promulgated; and
13 WHEREAS, It has been approximately ten years since the Joint
14 State Government Commission last reviewed Pennsylvania's power
15 of attorney statute and recommended amendments; therefore be it
16 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the Joint
17 State Government Commission to have its Advisory Committee on
18 Decedents' Estates Laws study the Uniform Power of Attorney Act
19 and Pennsylvania's current power of attorney statute to
20 determine whether any amendments should be made to
21 Pennsylvania's current statute; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission report
23 its recommendations to the House of Representatives within 18
24 months of the adoption of this resolution.
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