No drama expected as Pa. legislative session winds down

HARRISBURG - As the General Assembly returns this week for its final voting days of the 2013-14 legislative session, there is little certainty about which bills will ultimately reach the governor's desk.

But two of Gov. Corbett's top priorities - liquor privatization and pension reform - are not likely to be among them.

After debating those issues for two years, it appears that the House and Senate will adjourn without reaching agreement on single pieces of legislation to privatize the State Stores or address skyrocketing pension costs by shifting state employees to a 401(k)-style benefit plan.

What appears poised for a sprint to the finish line by Thursday is a bill inspired by Mumia Abu-Jamal's commencement address last week. It would allow victims to sue to stop an offender from harassing them.

"Our goal was to get a product that attorneys and members could agree on, and let's get it to the governor," said Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery), sponsor of the bill.

That doesn't mean there won't be last-minute maneuvers to advance contentious pieces of legislation in the final scheduled voting days Tuesday and Wednesday. Supporters of bills to restore hate-crimes protections on the basis of sexual orientation and legalize marijuana for medical use are hoping to attach those bills as amendments to legislation that is scheduled to be voted on.

One closely watched bill that appears poised for passage is the prescription-drug monitoring bill, which would create a controlled-substance database to allow doctors to search to find patients who may be abusing prescription drugs by "doctor shopping."

Another bill, opposed by environmentalists, would eliminate the requirement for 150-foot buffer zones between new development and protected waterways.

Vereb, a former police officer, said he drafted what he called "the Revictimization Relief Act" after he learned that Abu-Jamal was to speak at a Vermont college graduation via audio from the Pennsylvania state prison where he is serving a life sentence in the 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

His bill, which is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union and supported by the governor, would allow the victim of a crime, or prosecutors acting on the victim's behalf, to bring a civil action to stop an offender from engaging in conduct that causes the victim or the victim's family severe mental anguish.

There was movement on the two most talked-about issues - liquor and pensions - this year. But the chambers never reached consensus on a bill to send to Corbett.

The House passed a bill doing away with State Stores, and the Senate passed a bill requiring newly elected officials to be enrolled in a 401(k)-type retirement plan.

Both House and Senate GOP spokesmen blamed Democrats for the failure to agree, despite the fact that both chambers are controlled by Republicans.

"Our leadership team worked incredibly hard to get both those issues done, and we had zero Democratic votes for either one," said Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware). "We need 26 of 27 [GOP] senators. That's a very narrow margin to work with."

Both chambers are scheduled to wrap up their voting schedules Wednesday. But with so many bills in the hopper, there is the possibility that the session will be extended or voting days scheduled in November after the election.

Neither chamber has scheduled a "lame duck" session, which comes after the election and before the start of the new session, when lawmakers and potentially the governor could vote on bills knowing they would leave office in January.

Arneson said the Senate does not intend to hold a lame-duck session, but it has not been ruled out.

Steve Miskin, a spokesman for the House Republicans, said there had been no discussion of a lame-duck session in his caucus.