PA lawmakers have signed no bills

By: Scott Detrow

Not one bill has been signed into law yet this legislative session. But a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi says that may change soon.

By: Scott Detrow
scott_detrow@pubradionews.net

Not one bill has been signed into law yet this legislative session. But a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi says that may change soon.

Transcript:
So far, the Senate has passed 20 bills-that’s one less than the House has approved. No measures have gotten the support of both chambers yet, though legislation allowing parents to keep children on family health insurance plans until their late twenties or thirties has cleared both chambers.

Erik Arneson, the spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, says he’s hopeful lawmakers can clear up differences and agree on a final version of that bill in the weeks to come.

Arneson: “We should be able to get one of those bills to the governor hopefully in April. The Senate had passed that measure late last year. The House just didn’t have time to consider it. Now early in this session we’ve both passed versions of it. So yeah, there’s no reason that shouldn’t be able to get to the Governor’s desk.”

In all, 671 bills have been introduced in the Senate, and 117 have reported out of committee.

Arneson notes the Senate has spent the majority of its time focusing on budget negotiations, though, saying that’s the General Assembly’s top priority this year.

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download. [audio: reports20090330senate.mp3]