State Capitol Update
The state Senate will return to session from its summer break this week. The state House is scheduled to reconvene the week of September 30. There are currently two vacant seats in the state House for the 195th & 201st District. Both are heavily favored Democrat districts and are projected to reinstate a 102 to 101 Democrat majority after the September 17th special election.
There will be only a few remaining scheduled session days in October and November to conclude the two-year General Assembly. In the November election , all 203 seats in the state House are up, as well as half of those in the Senate. The battle for the House majority will be particularly intense as the Democrats have held the control by a slim one vote margin for most of the session. Because of the few legislative days left this fall, and the fact that it is an election year, expectations are that not much substantive work will get done in the coming weeks. There are a couple of issues, however, that the PPA is carefully watching.
Revenue from Skill Games to Fund Mass Transit
There is a growing pressure within the General Assembly to significantly increase mass transit funding for those systems across the state. Over the summer, Governor Shapiro proposed that revenue from skill games be established as a dedicated funding source for mass transit programs. The regulation and taxation of skill games has been a contentious issue in the legislature. The powerful casino interests oppose the existence of skill games and have been fighting any plan that would establish their legitimacy. As this debate has intensified, one proposal that has surfaced that is of concern to many PPA members would limit skill games to those entities that have liquor licenses. The vast majority of smaller convenience stores cannot afford to purchase liquor licenses. Revenue from skill games have become a critical revenue source for many small stores. PPA has been communicating to key legislators its opposition to the liquor license prerequisite.
Repeal of State’s Electric Utility Deregulation Law
Another issue that has been stirring is a push by PPL and PECO to repeal the state’s deregulation law. This move would allow electric utilities to return to the generation business. This move comes at a time of increase focus for the expansion of electrification efforts in regard to climate change goals. Some of the electric utilities are looking for a legislative pathway this fall to enact this bill. This would be a significant game changer in the Commonwealth’s energy profile. PPA is collecting more information regarding the impact of this proposal on our members. One concern is whether re-regulation would result in the expansion of the ability of utilities to subsidize electrification expansion projects with ratepayer money. Another is the impact on the electricity reseller market in which many PPA members have been involved.
Low Carbon Fuel Proposals
On Wednesday of this week, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy will conduct an informational hearing to take testimony on the subject of “Waste to Fuel. “ The committee will hear presentations from segments of the renewable natural gas, biofuels industry, and the agriculture community. This hearing was called to educate Senators as to the progress in the development of these fuels. A link to live stream the 9:30 AM hearing can be found here. The Chair of the Committee -Senator Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming)- submitted a memo last year indicating his interest in exploring the creation of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard in the state. The informational hearing would provide a renewable fuel that are generally part of LCFS programs. However, this hearing will not consider the subject of clean fuel standard legislation. In recent weeks, Rep Paul Takac (D-Centre ) submitted a similar memo indicating his interest in exploring a LCFS (read more here).
