Pennsylvania Senate returns to Harrisburg, gun laws and school property on the tabl

By Brian Sheehan
CBS 21 News
September 23, 2019

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The first day of fall this year coincides with the Senate’s return to Harrisburg.

A wide-variety of topics are on the table this session, including gun legislation, school property tax reform, and changes to the statute of limitations following the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.

The Senate’s return comes amid an explosive end to the last session as lawmakers worked to pass the state budget in June.

“As we come back into session, there’s a lot of things: school funding that’s coming on: charter schools; Restore PA; there’s a lot of issues with gun violence,” Sen. John DiSanto said.

DiSanto says over the next 14 session days, both Republicans and Democrats will work to sort through a variety of bills addressing gun legislation.

“We’ve been hearing some things about the red flag laws. That seems easy enough to me. And that’s another thing we’re going to caucus on. I think we’ll see some kind of legislation that deals with gun violence,” Sen. Lisa Boscola, (D-18th District), said.

Over the next two days, the Senate will conduct hearings on behavioral health and Second Amendment rights.

“We have an existing mental health procedures, law. As part of this process, I expect that we’ll look at that and see if that’s an appropriate mechanism to look at should we broaden that? Should we make modifications to that?” Sen. Lisa Baker, (R-20th District), said.

Another topic likely to come up is school property taxes.

“We had a work group all summer long on property taxes. Bipartisan, bicameral group there,” Sen. Jake Corman (R-Senate Majority Leader), said.

The issue has been brought up for decades.

But after several meetings throughout the summer, it’s still on the minds of many.

“We have a funding formula here in Harrisburg that doesn’t make any sense at all. It needs to be revamped. And school districts that are losing population need to lose that money that follows them. Where school districts like in Bethlehem and Easton that are gaining population, they seek to be shortchanged because the formula isn’t treating them right,” Boscola said.

“Everyone just got their school property tax bill and looking to see what the various proposals are. Is there a new start afresh, is there a modified version? So, I do hear from individuals frequently that it’s a high priority for many,” Baker added.

The issue of Statute of Limitations is also expected to be discussed as early as this week.

“There seems to be some discussion well, if you’re a Boy Scout for instance, or a priest and you can sue the Catholic Church or sue the Boy Scouts, why shouldn’t you be able to sue district if it was a teacher, or the city if it was a police officer,” Boscola said.

Boscola says she hopes legislators found a balance sometime in the near future.

Meanwhile, Baker says she wants to see change, and is working to help give victims a voice.

“My staff and I have been working with the Victim Advocate, Jennifer Storm, to create a site on the victim advocate website where any victim would like to submit testimony can do so in writing,” she said.

The last session day of the year is scheduled for December 18th.