HARRISBURG — Closing out a year where partisanship in the Capitol took a heavy toll on the state, lawmakers came together to attack a threat acknowledged by both parties — the danger to children of unregulated vaping and e-cigarette nicotine devices.
A bipartisan bill on that threat was one of six signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro last week. Another, sponsored by Allegheny County Rep. Dan Deasy, a Democrat, updates the state Liquor Code to accommodate the desire to hold catered gatherings with alcohol in association with funerals.
Still other new laws have to do with the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary, unemployment compensation law changes, repeat DUI offenders, and township supervisor vacancies.
The nicotine devices bill got praise from both sides. It calls for an “electronic nicotine delivery system directory” that will be run out of the state attorney general’s office. The law will allow that office and the Department of Revenue to inspect and review records at businesses pertaining to nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes — and impose penalties for noncompliance.
Democratic bill sponsor Rep. Jeanne McNeill of Lehigh County said there currently is “no clear way for states to determine which products are legally authorized by the FDA.” Speaking at a committee meeting in October, Washington County Republican Sen. Camera Bartolotta said she agreed completely with the premise of the bill.
“We want to prevent illicit and dangerous products from being sold — and pretending to be safer products,” Bartolotta said.
More than 1.6 million U.S. children say they use vaping products, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A statement on the federal agency’s website said over half of e-cigarettes on the market are illegal products, with the “majority deriving from China.”
The state attorney general, Republican Dave Sunday, praised the bill and said some vaping products are packaged to attract children. “The reality is that users of these unregulated products have no idea what they are actually consuming,” Sunday said.
The bill sponsored by Deasy, meanwhile, removes a hindrance from the law that has cropped up when organizers seek to hold an a catered event, with alcohol, in association with a funeral.
The current setup requires a liquor license holder with an “off-premises catering permit” to give the state Liquor Control Board seven days notice that it will be involved in such an event. The new law waives the seven-day requirement for what it calls “end-of-life memorial events.”
“It is a common sense change” that acknowledges the reality that many funerals are planned within the first seven days after a death, according to Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage & Tavern Association. The state liquor code, he said, is “a little bit outdated” in places.
Shapiro signed the bills less than six weeks after the end of a partisan and harmful 135-day-long state budget impasse. It caused furloughs, disruptions to families and workplaces, and the loss of millions of dollars by counties.
The other bills signed into law by Shapiro last week do the following:
- One sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jason Dawkins of Philadelphia amends the unemployment compensation law to make it easier for domestic violence survivors to get benefits if they stop working out of fear for their safety.
- One sponsored by Republican Rep. Rob Kauffman of Franklin County sets up a new offense for people who drive under the influence within 10 years of completing an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for DUI.
- A new law penned by Democratic Rep. Bob Freeman of Northampton County creates an expedited process for filling township supervisor vacancies.
- The sixth bill in the batch signed into law by Mr. Shapiro will let the state place a privately funded “commemorative semiquincentennial bell” within the state Capitol complex in Harrisburg. Bill sponsor Sen. Greg Rothman, R-Cumberland, said the bell would “celebrate our nation’s founding and recognize the legacy of Pennsylvania’s leading role for generations to come.”
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