Gov. Wolf signs legislation requiring child care homes have fire safety equipment

Harrisburg, PA -Governor Tom Wolf signed into law legislation that requires family child-care homes to have fire safety equipment present to protect individuals in care.

Senate Bill 563 amends the Fire and Panic Act, further providing for standards for family child-care homes. Specifically, it requires family child-care homes to have a smoke alarm on each floor, a portable fire extinguisher for class B fires in cooking areas, and a means of egress that complies with R-3 occupancy and licensure requirements under the Department of Human Services’ regulations. The smoke alarms are required to be interconnected via hardwire, Bluetooth connectivity or any other means that allows for communication between the other smoke alarms in the family child-care home. Further, at the time of installation, each smoke alarm is required to be approved by an approved testing laboratory.

The governor also signed an additional 30 bills into law.

House Bill 723 amends the Workforce Development Act to bring Pennsylvania law in compliance with the federal requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

House Bill 1561 amends the Mental Health Procedures Act to further clarify confidentiality practices, bringing the commonwealth into alignment with federal confidentiality laws.

House Bill 1563 amends the Pennsylvania

Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Act to further clarify confidentiality practices, bringing the commonwealth into alignment with federal confidentiality laws.

House Bill 1780 amends the Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act by extending the Underground Storage Tank Environmental Cleanup Program and the Underground Storage Tank Pollution Prevention Program until December 31, 2027.

House Bill 1868 establishes Chapter 33, Military and Veterans’ Licensure, in Title 63 of the Pennsylvania Consolidate Statutes, providing for licensure of military members and their spouses.

House Bill 1935 renews the authorization of Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation

Authority (PICA) Act for Cities of the First Class (Act 6 of 1991).

House Bill 1952 creates a bipartisan committee within the Pennsylvania Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial to identify legacy infrastructure projects throughout Pennsylvania in honor of America250, the nationwide celebration of the United States Semiquincentennial.

House Bill 2412 authorizes the Governor to order any volunteer member of the Pennsylvania National Guard (or if unavailable, a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard on special state duty) to support state and local governments and designated critical infrastructure with cybersecurity functional support and nongovernmental and educational institutions with cyber training or exercises and perform other necessary military duties to the extent that money is appropriated and available for special state duty.

House Bill 2420 further provides for rates of pilotage and computation, for pilotage fees and unit charge and for charges for services.

House Bill 2653 provides the annual appropriation to Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) within the Department of State for 2022-23.

House Bill 2654 provides the annual appropriations to the Department of Labor and Industry and the Office of Small Business Advocate for 2022-23.

House Bill 2655 makes an appropriation from a restricted revenue account within the General Fund to the Office of Small Business Advocate for 2022-23.

House Bill 2656 makes an appropriation from a restricted revenue account within the General Fund to the Office of Consumer Advocate in the Attorney General for 2022-23.

House Bill 2657 makes an appropriation from the Public School Employees’ Retirement Fund for the expenses of the Public School Employees’ Retirement Board for 2022-23.

House Bill 2658 provides the annual appropriation from the State Employees’ Retirement Fund to the State Employees’ Retirement Board for 2022-23.

House Bill 2659 makes appropriations from the Philadelphia Taxicab and Limousine Regulatory Fund and the Philadelphia Taxicab Medallion Fund to the Philadelphia Parking Authority for 2022-23.

House Bill 2661 makes appropriations from a restricted revenue account within the General Fund and federal augmentation funds to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for 2022-23.

House Bill 2662 makes appropriations from the restricted revenue accounts within the State Gaming Fund, Fantasy Contest Fund and Video

Gaming Fund to the Attorney General, the Department of Revenue, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (Board) for 2022-23.

Senate Bill 155 further provides for establishment and membership in the Pennsylvania Military Community Enhancement Commission.

Senate Bill 477 amends Title 53 (Municipalities Generally), in chapter 88, consolidated county assessment, providing for electronic submission of permits and powers of county assessment offices, and in chapter 7, adding subchapter B, municipal boundary change, providing for modernization of municipal boundary laws.

Senate Bill 635 replaces

the term “real property” with “qualifying commercial property” throughout the law relating to the Property-Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program. "Qualifying commercial property” is defined as any real property that is an agricultural, commercial, industrial, or multifamily housing with five or more units owned by an individual, partnership, limited liability corporation, corporation or nonprofit.

Senate Bill 849 changes the definitions related to veterans' employment preference for veterans discharged because of a medical disability. Specifically, the bill amends the definition of a “veteran” to include an individual who has served in the

armed forces of the United States whose last discharge was due to a disability under conditions other than dishonorable.

Senate Bill 861 makes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a party to the Recognition of Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact and provides for the form of the compact.

Senate Bill 904 permits a probation officer to use technology portals in lieu of requiring offenders on probation to appear in person. Under the bill, “technology portal” is defined as “a device, including a cellular phone and other electronic device, that allows simultaneous voice and video communication in real time between the offender and the probation officer.”

Senate Bill 905 adds to the powers and duties of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency's County Adult Probation and Parole Advisory Committee by requiring them to make recommendations and standards for probation and parole personnel, including circumstances under which an offender's schedule should be weighed when making scheduling decisions.

Senate Bill 1047 updates the language regarding the authority of the State Armory Board (board) over armories and other military facilities.

Senate Bill 1159 amends the Local Option Small Games of Chance Act to extend the deadline by which a club may use 60% of

Small Games of Chance proceeds to pay for general operating expenses to December 31, 2022.

Senate Bill 1179 updates the Domestic and Sexual Violence Victim Address Confidentiality Act by adding victims of human trafficking and victims of kidnapping as being eligible to apply to become program participants in the address confidentiality program.

Senate Bill 1186 amends the Vehicle Code to further provide for USA semiquincentennial registration plates and establishing the Semiquincentennial Restricted Account.

Senate Bill 1236 provides for extensive amendments to the Very Small Meat Processor Federal Inspection Reimbursement Grant Program.