Sen. Tracy Pennycuick

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new Office of Employee Ownership within Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development to support businesses where employees hold ownership stakes. The office will be led by a governor-appointed advocate who is responsible for educating business owners, identifying barriers to employee ownership, and collecting data on these enterprises. Additionally, the legislation establishes a grant program that provides technical and financial assistance to help employee-owned groups develop or improve their operations. Local agencies such as municipalities and certified economic development organizations will administer these funds to eligible businesses across the state.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Pennsylvania's Vital Statistics Law to allow licensed practical nurses working in hospice care to officially pronounce death under specific conditions. To qualify, the patient must be under hospice care with a valid Do Not Resuscitate order, and the nurse must complete required training on assessing vital signs and postmortem care. The law clarifies that while nurses can declare death based on the cessation of breathing and heartbeat, they cannot determine the cause of death, which remains the responsibility of physicians or coroners. Additionally, the bill expands fee waivers for certified copies of death records to include a broader range of military personnel, veterans, and their dependents.

Maddy summaryThis law allows first-class townships to use up to one mill of their property tax revenue to pay salaries and benefits for fire suppression employees. The township board of commissioners can choose to set aside half of this tax revenue for these purposes, though they have the option to waive this limit if needed. This change directly affects the financial management of fire services in these specific municipalities by providing a dedicated funding source.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows second-class townships to levy a special annual tax of up to three mills to fund fire protection services. The revenue can be used to buy and maintain fire equipment, build facilities for housing it, support local and outside fire companies, and train personnel. Townships may use up to one mill of this tax to pay salaries and benefits for their own fire suppression employees, though they can choose to waive this limit. If a township wants to collect more than three mills in taxes for these purposes, the plan must be approved by a vote of the township's residents.

Maddy summaryThis law allows Pennsylvania boroughs to collect a special tax of up to three mills to fund fire protection services, including purchasing equipment, building firehouses, and hiring firefighters. The bill permits boroughs to use up to one mill of these funds for paying firefighter salaries and benefits, though the local council can choose to waive this limit. If a borough wants to set the tax rate higher than three mills, it must first ask the voters to approve the increase through an election.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Pennsylvania's Sign Language Interpreter and Transliterator State Registration Act to expand the group of people covered to include those who are deafblind and to clarify definitions for services like video remote interpreting. It requires individuals providing these services to be state-registered by the Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, with specific exceptions for volunteers, students, religious settings, and short-term visitors. The legislation also outlines how the office must review educational programs and establishes a process for provisional registration, ensuring that the state maintains oversight while allowing for necessary flexibility in various contexts.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Pennsylvania's Public School Code to require that teachers and reading instructors receive training in structured literacy, a method grounded in scientific research that explicitly teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The legislation mandates that professional development for educators be conducted during paid work hours and removes the previous requirement to include characteristics of dyslexia in certain educational materials. Additionally, the law establishes a council to develop a list of approved training programs and requires schools to notify parents when their kindergarten through third-grade students show reading deficiencies, providing periodic updates on progress. These changes apply to public schools and charter schools, ensuring that reading instruction follows evidence-based practices while accommodating students with disabilities and limited English proficiency.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands workers' compensation coverage to include post-traumatic stress injuries for emergency medical services personnel responding to specific traumatic events. It defines a qualifying traumatic event as incidents involving serious injury or death, threats to life, mass casualties, or crime scene investigations, and extends the time limit for filing claims to one year after the injury occurs. The legislation also sets a maximum benefit period of 104 weeks for these stress-related injuries and allows treatment by licensed psychologists or psychiatrists. By updating the state's Workers' Compensation Act, the law ensures that EMS workers who suffer from psychological trauma related to their duties can receive financial and medical support.

Maddy summaryThis Pennsylvania bill modifies the state's tax code to improve how corporations and other entities can resolve tax disputes with the Department of Revenue. It establishes a formal settlement conference process where neutral officers, who must be experienced attorneys or accountants, facilitate negotiations between taxpayers and the state to reach voluntary agreements. The legislation also allows the tax board to extend deadlines for filing appeals under certain conditions and mandates that these settlement discussions remain private and confidential. By creating specific procedures for compromise settlements and requiring timely reporting to the General Assembly, the bill aims to streamline the administrative review of tax issues.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Pennsylvania laws regarding sexual offenses and child safety by replacing the term "child pornography" with "child sexual abuse material" to better reflect modern digital content. It specifically addresses the creation and sharing of sexually explicit images generated by artificial intelligence, defining these new technologies and expanding legal protections to include them. The legislation also clarifies penalties for transmitting such images, adjusting some offenses from felonies to misdemeanors while introducing new categories for the abuse of minors and the unlawful dissemination of intimate images.