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Fall 2009
NEWS
For The 144
th
From State Representative
KATHY WATSON
www.KathyWatson144.com
New Laws Impacting Your LifeIMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM REP. WATSON
If you would like to receive automatic news alerts or information about important state government programs and services, pleasevisit www.KathyWatson144.com and click on “Sign Up for E-News Updates.” By signing up, you will receive news releases and leg-islative updates.Below are brief summaries of some of the bills that have been enacted into law inthe current 2009-10 Legislative Session.Perhaps you, a member of your family or afriend will find this information helpful.
Act 1
(HB 84) establishes the
“Prevent-able Serious Adverse Events Act”
,which prohibits a health care provider whois responsible for causing an adverse eventfor a patient from seeking payment from ahealth payor, patient or other responsibleparty. A preventable serious adverse eventis defined as an event that occurs in a healthcare facility that is within the provider’scontrol to avoid, but occurs due to an error or system failure and results in a patient’sdeath, disfigurement, disability or loss of body function. Pennsylvania’s Departmentsof Public Welfare, Health, and State havespecific duties and responsibilities under the provisions of
Act 1
.
Act 18
(HB 270) amends Title 23 (Do-mestic Relations) and permits a former mayor, a former or retired Pennsylvania jus-tice, judge or magisterial district judge whois not serving as a senior judge or senior magisterial district judge, and who meetscertain criteria, to solemnize marriages.
Act 30
(HB 1770) allows those who arecollecting unemployment compensationto receive an additional seven weeks of federally-funded extended benefits under the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
.This bill is retroactive to July 1, 2009.
If you have filed an application for UC benefits within the last year and havea specific question about eligibility, please call 1-888-313-7284.
Act 31
(HB 1654) amends Title 7 (Banksand Banking) to provide for the licensureand better regulation of the mortgage in-dustry and names Chapter 61 of Title 7, asthe
“Mortgage Licensing Act.”
The intentof the legislation is to bring Pennsylvania’smortgage licensing law into compliance withthe federal
Secure and Fair Enforce-ment (SAFE) for Mortgage Licensing Act.
Some of the important changes inChapter 61 include: removes licensureexemptions for mortgage originators; pro-vides a bonding requirement for mortgageoriginators; increases from 12 to 20 hoursthe pre-licensing education requirement for loan originators; provides for the denial of a Mortgage Originator license. Changeshave been enacted in an effort to better police the mortgage industry.
Act 37
, (SB 240), the
Emergency Medical Services System Act
, re-writes
Act 45 of 1985
, and places the newlyestablished and consolidated
Act 37
intoTitle 35 (Health and Safety). Additionally,
Act 37
amends Title 75 (Vehicle Code)by expanding the definition of “emergencyvehicle.” Included among the major provi-sions and expanded requirements of the
Emergency Medical Services System Act
is that it defines the scope and prac-tice of EMS providers in accordance withnational standards, rather than basing itsolely on the EMS curriculum.
Act 38
(HB 39) strengthens Pennsylva-nia’s animal cruelty laws in reference to sur-gical procedures performed on dogs. Thefollowing procedures may be performedby a veterinarian, but are now a summaryoffense if performed by an unlicensed indi-vidual: cropping, trimming, cutting off, caus-ing or procuring to be cropped, trimming or cutting off, the whole or part of the ear or ears of a dog; debarking a dog by cutting,causing or procuring the cutting of its vocalcords, or by altering, causing or procuringthe alteration of any part of its resonancechamber; docking, cutting or procuring thedocking or cutting off the tail of a dog over five days old; performing surgical births or causing or procuring a surgical birth; or cutting off, causing or procuring the cuttingoff of the dewclaw of a dog over five daysold.
For more information on these or any other state laws or legislation in-troduced, please visit
www.legis.state. pa.us
, click on “Session Information”,under the section labeled “Find”.
Legislation Becomes New Law
LegislationExtending HealthInsurance Benefitsto Young AdultsThrough Age 29Becomes Law
In a move to extend health carebenefits to individuals who mayotherwise lose coverage due toage, the House and Senate passed
Senate Bill 189
. Signed by theGovernor on June 10 as
Act 4
, thenew law mandates that at the optionof a policyholder, a health insurer must provide coverage benefits tothe insured employee’s child upthrough and including the age of 29.The policyholder on a group policywill be the employer offering healthbenefits to his or her employee.However, the employer would notbe required to contribute to anypremium increase. According to the provisions of thebill, a child would have to meet thefollowing eligibility requirements:
Is not married;
Has no dependents;
Is a Pennsylvania resident
,or is enrolled as a full-time studentat an institution of higher learning;and,
Is not covered by another healthinsurance policy.
It is important to note, that if the child is a student attendingcollege out-of-state, he or shemust maintain Pennsylvaniaresidency in order to qualify.Act 4
, which became effectiveon September 10, applies to theHealth Maintenance Organization Act (HMOs) and to the “Blues” onnew contracts and contract renewalsoccurring 90 days after the effectivedate of September 10, 2009.
Transportation News
House Passes Legislation Dealing withTeen and Distracted Drivers
On April 27, 2009, Pennsylvaniamoved one step closer to enactingstricter laws designed to protect teendrivers.
House Bill 67
, a com-prehensive transportation safety billintroduced by Rep. Joseph Markosek(Westmoreland County), passed bya vote of 168-24.
House Bill 67
contains the major provisions of Rep.Watson’s current
House Bill 289
.Over the last three legislative sessions,Watson introduced bills to protect teensholding junior driver’s licenses.“I have sponsored legislation and par-ticipated in numerous public hearingsto further improve the state’s graduatedlicensing law for teen drivers,” saidWatson, who serves as the Republicanchairman of the House Subcommitteeon Transportation Safety. “Distracteddriving, especially for young drivers,is one of the fastest-growing causesof serious car crashes, and it’s timeto reduce those distractions and savemore lives.”Specifically,
HB 67
limits the number of passengers permitted in a vehicledriven by a junior driver (ages 16 ½ to18) to only one under the age of 18,with the exception of siblings residingin the same household as the driver.This portion of the legislation is knownas “Lacey’s Law” in honor of LaceyGallagher who was killed in a single-vehicle crash in April 2007.Other provisions of
HB 67
borrowedfrom Rep. Watson’s teen driving legis-lation include: increasing the requirednumber of hours of behind-the-wheeltraining from 50-65, including 10 hoursof nighttime driving and 5 hours of driv-
TRAVEL NOTE
The Pennsylvania Departmentof Transportation (PennDOT) is upand running with its 511PA informa-tion system. By dialing 511 from alandline or cellular phone, travelersmay access a free, 24-hour servicewhich provides the latest traffic delaywarnings, weather forecasts, regionaltourism information, and links to major airports and transit agencies. Theservice is also available on the Webat
www.511PA.com
.Personalized traveler alerts arealso available by text message ande-mail for individuals who wish to reg-ister for these services online.
Cellphone users and text messag-ers should contact their pro-viders regarding local airtime,roaming or texting charges.
Rep. Watson urges all drivers torefrain from accessing the systemwhile operating a motor vehicle.
Winter SafetyReminders forMotorists
Pennsylvania drivers should beaware that state law requires the re-moval of snow and ice from vehicles,including rooftops, prior to operation.Failure to comply could result in a fineranging from $200 to $1,000. Fallingdebris from a moving vehicle presentsa danger to all motorists and pedestri-ans travelling on the roadways.In addition, Pennsylvania enacteda law in January 2007 which requiresthat vehicle headlights be turned onin conjunction with windshield wiperswhenever inclement weather or poor atmospheric conditions are present.This includes rain, snow, sleet, fog,mist, etc. Violators could be assesseda fine of up to $100 per offense.Please do your part to help keepour roads safe by obeying these andall of Pennsylvania’s motoring andtraffic laws.
ing in inclement weather; and making it aprimary offense for anyone in the car under the age of 18 to be riding without a seatbelt.Under the current law, a driver may be citedfor not wearing a seat belt only if stoppedfor another traffic violation.
HB 67
contains additional safety mea-sures for teen drivers. The bill definesand bans the use of
“interactive wirelesscommunications devices”
by youngdrivers and requires reports of accidentswhich occurred while these devices werein use.
HB 67
also clarifies suspensionsimposed on junior drivers as a result of speeding.In an effort to make the legislationcomprehensive,
HB 67
addresses driver distractions for all adult drivers, as well.Official accident reports would includeinformation about whether an interactivewireless communication device was inuse at the time of the accident; PennDOTwould be required to compile data and pub-lish a report about the use of such devicesin vehicles involved in an accident; prohibitthe placement of video receiving equip-ment (monitor, television, video screen,etc.) in a vehicle where it would be visibleto the driver. Finally,
HB 67
establishesan additional penalty for distracted drivingand defines the offense.To read the full text of
HB 67
, which hasbeen referred to the Senate TransportationCommittee for consideration, please visitthe General Assembly’s website at
www.legis.state.pa.us.
On a related note, Rep. Watson alsointroduced
House Resolution 480
, rec-ognizing the week of October 18 throughOctober 24 as “National Teen DrivingSafety Week” in Pennsylvania.
Highway Safety Now Enhanced at
www.DriveSafePA.org
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING2010 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESCALENDARS
Due to this year’s budget constraints,
no House calendars
will be printedfor 2010. While recognizing that this is unfortunate, we believe it is a validand appropriate decision given the expense involved in the printing and theCommonwealth’s current economic condition. Hopefully, the state’s fiscalsituation will improve in 2011. We apologize for any inconvenience.
www.KathyWatson144.com
for the 144th District
Construction of the 202 Parkway has finally begun! Therefore, below is an overview of the Parkway construction process with an update on current status.
The 202 Parkway is a nine-mile stretch of road beginning at Route 63 (Welsh Road)in Montgomery Township and ending atthe Route 611 Interchange in DoylestownTownship, and aligned between Upper State and Stump Roads. It will includea four-lane roadway with five-feet widepaved shoulders between Route 63 andRoute 463 (Horsham Road); and a two-laneroadway with five-feet wide paved shoul-ders between Horsham Road and the 611Interchange. Completion of the roadway isscheduled for late 2011.The Parkway design includes bridgesover Route 309; Almshouse Road; and NewBritain Road, with below-grade crossingsat Pickertown and Wells Roads. The onlyat-grade intersections within the BucksCounty portion of the road will be wherethe Parkway meets and crosses CountyLine Road; Limekiln Pike; Bristol Road; andLower State Road. All necessary permits for the four stagesof Parkway construction have been granted.Stage one, referred to as
Section 701
, theMontgomery County portion of the roadwaybetween Welsh and Horsham Roads, hasbeen cleared and graded, with culverts andstormwater basins now in place. The workis being completed by J.D. Eckman, Inc.Stage two, referred to as
Section 721
,is a 3.4 mile section of roadway betweenPickertown Road and the Route 611Interchange. The low-bid contractor for this section is James D. Morrissey, Inc.of Philadelphia. Weather permitting, pre-liminary construction should begin beforewinter sets in.Stage three, referred to as
Section 711
,is the middle portion of the roadway, locatedbetween Pickertown Road and HorshamRoad. Bids opened on September 10,and preliminary construction is set to beginbefore winter.The final stage of the Parkway,
Section7WM
, is known as the Wetlands Mitigationsite. Mandated by federal law, a site wasselected along the Little Neshaminy Creek,north of County Line Road. This sectionwas developed to mitigate the impact of the construction of the Route 202 Parkwayon wetlands and wildlife. Work has beenperformed on
Section 7WM
for more thansix months. This includes spring plantingswhich follow the directives of the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers and provide suitablehousing for ducks, geese, frogs, toads,and other aquatic invertebrates. Work onthis section will continue through the fallof 2009.
Proposed Detours:
During the two-year long construction, there will be somedetours as the construction progresses andapproaches certain intersections. Planscall for Bristol Road to be a one-way detour (heading northwest) through the summer of 2010 to avoid interfering with Central BucksSchool District’s fall bus schedule. A detour around Pickertown Road is slated for late2010 once Bristol Road is re-opened. Everyeffort is being made not to gridlock the areaduring construction.
Adjacent Projects:
In an effort toreduce traffic congestion in the areas sur-rounding the Parkway, County Line Road(
Section WD1
) will be widened betweenStump Road and Route 202; constructionis to begin in July of 2010. The widening of Horsham Road (between Upper State andNorth Wales Roads) is continuing.For more information and latest updates,visit the official US202, Section 700 websiteat
http://www.us202-700.com
.
Visit the 202 Parkway at
www.us202-700.com
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Rep. Watson Newsletter - Autumn 2009
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