News Release
For Immediate Release
June 4, 2009
Contact:
Aaron Zappia
(215) 657-7700

Four Greenleaf Bills Move Forward 

SR 52: Protecting Children of Incarcerated Parents 

On Tuesday, June 2, the Judiciary Committee reported SR 52, directing the Joint State Government Commission to establish an advisory committee to study the effects of parental incarceration on the children of incarcerated parents.             

In the United States, more than two million children have a parent who is currently incarcerated.  Nearly ten million children have or have had a parent who was under correctional supervision at some point in the child’s life.  Approximately, 65% of the women in state prison are mothers of children under 18 years of age.  Approximately, 55% of the men in state prison are fathers of children under 18 years of age. 

Parental imprisonment and involvement in the criminal justice system can impose serious financial hardships on a family and can lead to disrupted living arrangements for children.  These factors are linked to an increased risk of delinquency.  Children of incarcerated parents suffer emotional and psychological effects when separated from their parents, beginning with the trauma of arrest and continuing through incarceration, which may last for years to come. 

Incarcerated parents often lose contact with their children and once they lose contact, it is very difficult to re-establish that relationship when the parent is released.  More than half of all incarcerated parents in the United States report that they never receive a personal visit from their children.  Several barriers exist that affect the overall experience of parent-child visits in prison including inadequate or inconvenient visiting hours, difficulty in scheduling visits, geographical location of prison facilities, and visiting procedures or facilities that are uncomfortable or lack child-friendly visiting areas.           

A similar resolution, HR 203, sponsored by Rep. Parker, was approved in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, June 3 by a 192-0 vote.  The unanimous approval of SR 52 would affirm the solid commitment to this issue by members of the state legislature.

SB 138 Gasoline Octane Testing: 

On June 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation sponsored by Senator Greenleaf requiring the Department of Agriculture to conduct random testing of octane levels in gasoline. Pennsylvania is one of only three states that do not require testing of octane levels.           

In a 2007 report, the Auditor General suggested that the state should seriously consider random octane testing at stations across the state.  According to that report, “…customers have no state government assurance they are getting the octane rating they pay for, an assurance that would be most significant to customers who choose gas with the highest octane.” 

A past study by Congress’ General Accounting Office revealed mislabeling of 22% to 53% of the pumps tested in states without testing programs.  In addition, in 1990 the Pennsylvania Association of Weights and Measures performed a random testing of octane levels throughout the state and found a failure rate of 17%.  A 1997 survey of AAA members in Pennsylvania indicated that 84% of those members surveyed favored the establishment of a statewide quality control program to test gasoline. 

“This legislation is a critical consumer protection measure,” said Senator Greenleaf.  “Particularly with gasoline prices so high, we need to ensure that Pennsylvanians are getting what they are paying for.  As well, certain engines require a minimum octane rating to function properly.  I encourage the Senate to act on this measure.” 

Senate Bill 138 has been sent to the full Senate for consideration. 

SB 45:  Licensure Requirements for Landscape Architects

On June 2nd, the State Senate unanimously approved SB 45, Senator Greenleaf’s legislation to enhance continuing education requirements for licensed landscape architects.

The bill raises the minimum continuing education requirement from 10 hours to 24 hours for every two-year period and removes a provision in the law that allows applicants to avoid taking the exam. 

The goal of the legislation, which is supported by the Pennsylvania / Delaware Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, is to increase the level of professionalism of landscape architects in the commonwealth. 

Comparable standards of continuing education hours as those proposed in Senate Bill 45 are required of landscape architects in the states of New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Delaware.

“Landscape architects are responsible for creating outdoor spaces such as parks and recreation areas that greatly enhance the quality of life for residents,” said Greenleaf.  “Pennsylvania’s professional licensure standards for the profession should reflect the value of and the growing demand for landscape architects and be in line with the standards set across the United States.” 

Senate Bill 45 will now be referred to the House of Representatives.

SB 112: Codification of title 61 relating to prisons and parole:  

On June 1, The Senate Appropriations Committee reported Senator Greenleaf’s legislation requiring the codification of Pennsylvania’s Prisons and Parole code.           

The consolidation of Pennsylvania’s laws, or codification, is the process of revising the general and permanent public statutes into a concise code of laws that is clear, consistent and organized.  The law on related subjects is placed together and the language is simplified and put into a more understandable and consistent format. 

Pennsylvania remains the only state in the country without an official compilation of consolidated statutes organized by subject matter. Though this dubious distinction is largely ignored by state lawmakers, and little known to the public, the state’s legal community and good government advocates have been asking lawmakers to complete a codification process that was mandated by the General Assembly in 1970.   

An unofficial compilation, Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes, is published annually by Thomson / West Publishing and is available to the public through the General Assembly website,    http://www.legis.state.pa.us/.  The state annually publishes the Laws of Pennsylvania, referred to as the “Pamphlet Laws” which are organized chronologically.  Purdon’s then organizes these laws into titles according to subject matter.  However, without official action, the laws may only be arranged by subject matter, but lack an understandable editorial structure.  Though the public has access to state laws, the current organization is difficult to research and understand.