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Legislative Update - April 2008

April 23, 2008
April 17, 2008
April 2, 2008

April 23, 2008

House Agriculture Committee to Consider SB 1020

The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to consider SB 1020 (which recodifies and updates Act 217 - the Conservation District Law) on May 14, 2008. We have an agreement with the Governor’s office, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Environmental Protection to support the bill as it is written. We’re hoping the House will pass the bill without amendments and send it to the Governor’s office in the near future.

Below is a list of House Agriculture Committee members and the counties they represent. If you live or work in one of those Counties, please consider contacting your representative and asking them to vote in favor of the bill. Please consider writing, e-mailing, or calling the legislator’s district office within a week so they have the information before the Committee meeting.

Template Letter to House Agriculture Committee (Word)
SB 1020 Fact Sheet (Word)

House Agriculture Committee members:

Rep. Mike Hanna, committee chairman – Centre, Clinton
Rep. Gary Haluska, committee vice-chairman – Cambria
Rep. David Kessler, committee secretary – Berks
Rep. Mike Carroll – Luzerne, Monroe
Rep. Scott Conoklin – Centre
Rep. Pete Daley – Fayette, Washington
Rep. Richard Grucela – Northampton
Rep. Harold James – Philadelphia
Rep. Babette Josephs – Philadelphia
Rep. Tim Mahoney – Fayette
Rep. John Myers – Philadelphia
Rep. Frank Oliver – Philadelphia
Rep. Tim Solobay – Washington
Rep. Mike Sturla – Lancaster
Rep. Thomas Yewcic – Cambria, Somerset
Rep. Rosita Youngblood – Philadelphia
Rep. Art Hershey, minority committee chairman – Chester
Rep. Bob Bastian – Bedford, Somerset
Rep. Karen Boback – Columbia, Luzerne, Wyoming
Rep. Michele Brooks – Crawford, Lawrence, Mercer
Rep. Jim Cox – Berks
Rep. Gordon Denlinger – Lancaster
Rep. Mike Fleck – Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin
Rep. David Hickernell – Dauphin, Lancaster
Rep. Rob Kauffman – Cumberland, Franklin
Rep. Mark Keller – Franklin, Perry
Rep. Sandy Major – Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming
Rep. David Millard – Columbia
Rep. Don Moul – Adams, Franklin
Rep. Tina Pickett – Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna

April 17, 2008

Budget Process and "Fair Share for Clean Water Funding Plan"

PACD is gearing up for the budget process and focusing on how the state budget affects folks close to home. You may want to consider sending out a letter to legislators concerning the budget. The letter could highlight programs that may suffer in your district if the next fiscal year’s budget does not include adequate conservation district funding. By personalizing the funding deficiencies, it serves to localize the issue.

Template Letter (Word)
Template Press Release (Word)

Please consider sending the letter to your House and Senate members and the press release to your local press.

At the last Executive Board meeting, it was decided to join a coalition with a number of other associations interested in promoting funding increases for conservation districts, agricultural nutrient reduction programs, other agricultural programs, funding for point-sources such as municipal authorities to upgrade their systems and related changes in the nutrient trading credit program. This idea, termed “Fair Share For Clean Water Funding Plan” has not been introduced thus far, but you can read a fact sheet here. Additional information is available on the PACD website: http://www.pacd.org/about/fairshare/default.htm.

April 2, 2008

SB 1020 Passed the Senate Appropriations Committee by a Unanimous Vote!

Great News! SB 1020, legislation strongly supported by PACD, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee this week by a unanimous vote. This bill recodifies and updates Act 217 and is supported by PACD, PA Department of Agriculture, DEP, and the Governor's office. For more information on the bill, please visit the PACD website at http://www.pacd.org/events/Capitol_Day/Priorities.pdf. For a copy of the bill please go to http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/
billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2007&sind=0&body=S&type=B&BN=1020.

An amendment was added to the legislation that would accomplish the following tasks:

Allow Commonwealth agencies to agree to fee schedules for work performed by conservation districts for E&S, stream encroachments and other work or services;
Prior to the SCC’s approval of any delegation agreement, any Commonwealth agency would have to provide the SCC with analyses of funding and compensation, conditions affecting funding, and a clear delineation of the duties, authorities, deliverables and tasks to be performed under the delegation agreement;
Allow directors to serve no longer than six months beyond an expired term; and
Allow successors to fill unexpired terms if they have been an associate director who has had two or more years of active service.

Previous Legislative Updates