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Appropriations panel adopts amendment tied to Solar for All despite Republican objections
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee adopted amendment A00982 to House Bill 11 89 after Republicans objected that the amendment removed Solar for All language from the fiscal code and violated House Rule 19a.
The House Appropriations Committee adopted amendment A00982 to House Bill 11 89 after Republican members said the change improperly removed Solar for All language from the fiscal code and exceeded the committee’s scope.
The objection hinged on House Rule 19a, which Republicans cited to say the Appropriations Committee must limit consideration to fiscal impacts and not the substantive merits of a bill. "House rule 19 a states the Appropriations Committee shall be limited in its consideration of any such bill which has received consideration to the fiscal impacts of the bill and shall not consider the substantive merits of the bill," said Representative (Republican member). The same member added, "The amendment proposes to eliminate language from the fiscal code dealing with the Solar for All program. This is clearly a substantive amendment that should not be incorporated in the Appropriations Committee."
Chairman Harris responded that the committee considered the change to have a fiscal impact. "Of the Chairman's opinion that this has fiscal impact on the Commonwealth and therefore we will move forward with the amendment," he said. Committee roll-call statements in the transcript show Republicans voted no on the amendment and Democrats voted yes; the amendment A00982 was adopted.
The underlying House Bill 11 89 was described in committee as dealing with statutory authority for the Treasury Department to establish a Pennsylvania Money Match Program and other fiscal-code provisions tied to unclaimed property. The transcript records that, following adoption of amendment A00982, the bill as amended had no further discussion and was rereported to the floor.
The committee record shows the dispute was procedural and limited to whether the amendment’s changes to the fiscal code were within Appropriations' permitted scope; the transcript does not contain additional details on how the adopted amendment will change Solar for All program operations or funding.
