House Bill 265

contains all mandatory provisions required by the

VAWA

including:1. Per the victim’s request, the defendant being tested forHIV within

48 hours

of being held for trial throughindictment or preliminary hearing;2. Test results provided to the victim and to the defendantas soon as is practicable;3. Follow-up HIV testing providedas medically appropriate.

Consequences of Inaction

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, which administers the alloca-tion of these grants, Pennsylvania hasreceived more than

$3.8 million

underthe

VAWA

since 2006, but has alreadybeen locked out of approximately

5percent

of this guaranteed federalfunding for not enacting the type of statute provided through

House Bill265

.For example, the

PennsylvaniaCommission on Crime and Delin-quency

received a

$750,000

grantin 2006, but forfeited

5 percent

$37,500

simply because state law doesnot comply with the

VAWA

. Brokendown another way, that’s

$37,500

which cannot be used to make sureabused women and their children havea safe place to sleep. That’s

$37,500

which cannot be used to make surethere are enough counselors to meetthe needs of those battered by a lovedone.All totaled, if

House Bill 265

does not become law by theend of 2010, Pennsylvania’s domestic abuse programs will lose

5percent

of more than

$3 million

awarded to communities acrossthe Keystone State in 2007, 2008 and each year thereafter.By adopting the

VAWA

, Congress has already demonstratedthat they are on the same side with Jennifer and other domesticabuse victims who want the peace of mind of knowing whetherthey have been exposed to the HIV virus.Rest assured, I will continue to use every legislative mechanism atmy disposal to protect and restore this guaranteed federal fundingand, most importantly, return Pennsylvania to the right side of thelaw through ﬁnal passage of

House Bill 265

Reform Report

STATE REPRESENTATIVE MARK MUSTIO

Spring 2010

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAID

HARRISBURG, PAPERMIT NO. 529

Just like many of the bills I have authored since ﬁrst taking ofﬁce in June 2003, the

HIV-Related Testing for Sexual Offenders Act(House Bill 265)

is inspired by the real life story of a districtresident.However, as you will see from the following excerpts takenfrom my recent testimony before the

Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee

, the personal and economic costs of legislative inaction are too highto be denied by business as usualpolitics in Harrisburg.

Jennifer’s Story

A student attending one of Penn-sylvania’s universities, Jennifer’s lifewas tragically interrupted whenshe was raped. Thankfully, the per-petrator was caught quickly aftercommitting this despicable andcowardly act. Jennifer immediately sought helpfrom medical professionals. Shewent to the hospital and was seenby doctors and nurses and later avictim’s advocate.Both Jennifer’s mother and fathercontacted the district attorney andthe police. At every stop along theway, Jennifer and her parents askedif the perpetrator could be testedfor HIV.As a victim, Jennifer wanted peaceof mind. She wanted to know if the man who raped her had alsogiven her a life-threatening illness.She wanted to know if she should start treatment for the HIVinfection, called nPEP, which must be given within a short timeframe for maximum effectiveness and to avoid other potentiallydangerous side effects.Unfortunately, no one Jennifer or her family members spoketo knew of a way to have her attacker tested to reveal his HIVstatus.

The Legislation

If not for Jennifer’s courage to come forward, I would neverhave known about the federal

Violence Against Women Act(VAWA)

that requires all 50 states to enact a law that requiresan attacker to be tested for HIV upon request of the victim.Referred to the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 5, 2009,

HIV Testing for Sex Oﬀenders Act ProtectsRape Victims and Millions in Federal Funding

Representative Mustio recently testiﬁed before the PennsylvaniaHouse Judiciary Committee regarding the immediate need toenact his legislation requiring immediate HIV testing for sexual offenders. If Pennsylvania fails to enact House Bill 265 by the end of the 2009-10 legislative session, the Commonwealth will forfeit millions of dollars in guaranteed federal funding beneﬁting victimsof rape and domestic abuse.

Mustio Takes On Big

Problem:

Pennsylvania General Assembly

America’s Largest,Most Expensive Full-TimeState Legislature

Reform Solutions:

The

101-day 2009-10 state budget impasse

mounting corruption charges

and a

stategovernment

that has

greatly overreached

its bounds,in terms of

size

and

taxpayer-expense

, these are just some of the reasons I have re-introduced a newand dramatically improved version of my legislation to

downsize

the

Pennsylvania General Assembly

andimmediately signed on to another proposal to return our

nation’s largest

and

most expensive full-time stateLegislature

part-time status

House Bill 55

If approved in two consecutive sessions of the GeneralAssembly and by voter referendum, my constitutionalamendment would accomplish the following:•

Reduce

the number of state

Senate members

from

; with corresponding

reductions

in both

Senate staff

and

operating costs

.•

Reduce

the number of state

House members

from

203

185

; with corresponding

reductions

in both

House staff

and

operating costs

House Bill 1554

proposes integrated amendments to thePennsylvania Constitution to return the

PennsylvaniaGeneral Assembly

to its original foundation of a

part-time citizens legislature

.•Under this proposal, the

Legislature

would be in ses-sion

60 days

every two years

and a

two-year budget

would be debated and passed.•For the remainder of their terms,

individual statelawmakers

would

return home

regular jobs

,unless called into

emergency session

by the

governor

or a

legislative majority

.•

Pennsylvania General Assembly members

wouldreceive

part-time pay

for

part-time work

.•The total amount of state tax dollars currently spenton

staff salaries

medical beneﬁts

and

legislativeper diems

such as

automobiles

cell phones

mileage

meals

lodging

etc.

would also be

eliminated

substantially reduced

Bringing State Government to You

Mustio AppointedHouse Republican Deputy Whip

House Republican Whip Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny)

has appointed me to serve as a

House Republican deputy whip

for the 2009-10 legislative session. As a deputywhip, I am called upon to handle a variety of House floorresponsibilities, including helping to monitor floor attendance,assisting in obtaining accurate vote counts and communicatingcaucus positions prior to House floor debates. In addition, I have returned for my fourth consecutiveterm as a member of the

House Labor Relations

Liquor Control

and

Professional Licensure

committees and,for the ﬁrst time, a member of the

House Urban Affairs

committee.

Mustio Tapped forSelect Committee to ImproveMinority, Women andDisadvantaged BusinessInclusion

In April 2009,

House Republican Leader Sam Smith

appointed me to serve on a select bipartisan House commit-tee to investigate the degree to which minority-, women-, anddisadvantaged-owned businesses are receiving consideration forstate government contracting, federal stimulus funding and otherprocurement opportunities.In late January, the

Select Committee

introduced a 10-billpackage of legislation to implement our initial recommenda-tions.If enacted, my legislative contribution,

House Bill 2149

, wouldtighten the

prompt payment requirement

for contractorsand subcontractors in the

Pennsylvania Procurement Code

by shortening the current time frame from

14 days to ﬁve

For the latest

overnment Problems With Real Reform Solutions

Representative Mustio recently participated in a state Capitol press conference to reveal the results of a Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) study conﬁrming thatenacting the National Security Begins at Home illegalimmigration reform package would save Pennsylvaniataxpayers no less than $728 million annually. Mustio’slegislation (House Bill 1773) would terminate the professionallicense of any employer for knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

House Bill 2053

Rejecting the concept of government-run health care, wherebureaucrats make decisions instead of patients and their doctors,recently I added my support to the

Freedom

Choice

HealthCare Act

.Regardless of any actions taken by the federal government to mandateall citizens to buy health insurance or face a penalty, if enacted,

House Bill 2053

would:•

Protect the right of individual Pennsylvanians to enter intoprivate contracts with health care providers for health careservices and to purchase private health care coverage or services.

•

Prohibit any branch of state government, agency or department from directly or indirectly imposing any typeof penalty or ﬁne on individuals or employers choosing toobtain or decline health care coverage or for participationin any particular health care system or plan.

Passage of

House Bill 2053

will further ensure that any health carereforms implemented in Pennsylvania will reduce costs and expand theavailability of coverage, rather than increasing taxes and decreasing thefreedom of choice in health care for all Commonwealth residents.

Mustio Backs Legislation toKeep Government’s Hands Off Your Health Care

Representative Mustio gets a ﬁrst-hand tour of Robert MorrisUniversity’s RISECenter which useslife-like computerized mannequins to allow medical students and current health careprofessionals topractice important skills needed toprovide safe, quality care to patients.

Legislative Updates visit RepMustio.com

Problem:Multi-Billion Dollar Pension Crisis

Reform Solutions:

Through the ﬁrst seven months of this ﬁscal year,Pennsylvania is facing a

$375 million

and

risingbudget deﬁcit

with absolutely no reserve fundsleft to produce a balanced

2010-11 state budget

-if overall spending is not dramatically reduced. Addto this, the

multi-billion dollar state

and

schoolemployees pension crisis

, which is scheduled to

spike

2012

, and Pennsylvania has all the makings foran

unprecedented ﬁscal catastrophe

.As a member of the

House Republican Reform Task Force

, which is now exclusively focused on addressingthis critical issue, I am supporting the following solutionsto alter the manner in which retirement packages areoffered to future state and public school employees:

House Bill 1174

This reform legislation would replace pension plans for

future state

and

public school employees

with

deﬁned contribution retirement accounts

similarto

401(K)s

. Implementation of legislation such as

House Bill 1174

would remove the Commonwealth’s

monthly dispersal obligation

, while providingemployees with greater ﬂexibility for their retirementincome.

House Bill 2135

is another piece of pension reformlegislation that is dependent upon establishing a

deﬁnedcontribution system

. Unlike

House Bill 1174

HouseBill 2135

applies exclusively to

future public schoolemployees

and does not

eliminate pensions

. Rather,this legislation creates a

hybrid system

that effectivelymixes a reduced version of the current

deﬁned beneﬁtplan

with a

401(K) type deﬁned contribution plan

. Inaddition,

House Bill 2135 caps

the amount in which the

employer contribution rate

can increase over the nextseveral years.

Mustio Supported EnergizePA Initiative YieldsLarger Than Expected State Revenues

As one of the original co-sponsors to the “EnergizePA” plan(House Bill 1050) to expand natural gas drilling across390,000 additional acres of state forest land, Representative Mustio made a legislative visit to Atlas Energy Resources, LLC’s Marcellus shale wells. Proposed and enacted in response toGov. Ed Rendell’s original proposal to tax Marcellus natural gasextraction, EnergizePA has exceeded expectations resulting inbids totaling $128 million. The plan is expected to generate at least $60 million in revenue for 2010 and an additional $180million in 2011—virtually negating the need for new or increased taxes.