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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY ARGALL, FONTANA, ALLOWAY, D. WHITE, RAFFERTY, WAUGH, BRUBAKER, BREWSTER, YUDICHAK AND WOZNIAK, APRIL 21, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO FINANCE, APRIL 21, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Providing for a nonbinding Statewide referendum on property tax |
2 | relief. |
3 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
4 | hereby enacts as follows: |
5 | CHAPTER 1 |
6 | PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS |
7 | Section 101. Short title. |
8 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Voter Options |
9 | for Property Tax Relief Act. |
10 | Section 102. Definitions. |
11 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
12 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
13 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
14 | "House proposal." The three bills proposed by the House of |
15 | Representatives to be included in the nonbinding referendum |
16 | under section 203. |
17 | "Legislative proposal." The three bills proposed and agreed |
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1 | upon by the General Assembly to be included in the nonbinding |
2 | referendum under section 501. |
3 | "Registered elector." A qualified elector who is registered |
4 | to vote under 25 Pa.C.S. § 1102 (relating to definitions). |
5 | "Senate proposal." The three bills proposed by the Senate to |
6 | be included in the nonbinding referendum under section 303. |
7 | Section 103. Intent. |
8 | This act is intended to create a mechanism for the General |
9 | Assembly to provide property tax reform options to registered |
10 | electors through a nonbinding Statewide referendum to be |
11 | conducted as a part of the 2011 municipal election. The results |
12 | of the referendum shall be indicative of the electorate's will |
13 | as it relates to the issue of property tax relief. |
14 | CHAPTER 2 |
15 | PROCESS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
16 | Section 201. Introduction date. |
17 | A member of the House of Representatives who wishes to |
18 | introduce a bill relating to property tax relief to be included |
19 | in the House proposal under section 203 for the nonbinding |
20 | referendum shall introduce the bill in the House of |
21 | Representatives by May 1, 2011. |
22 | Section 202. Fiscal notes. |
23 | (a) Fiscal note required.--A bill introduced by a member of |
24 | the House of Representatives under section 201 shall be assigned |
25 | a fiscal note from the Department of Revenue. The Department of |
26 | Revenue shall work with the majority and minority caucuses of |
27 | the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives in |
28 | assigning the fiscal note. |
29 | (b) Contents.--A fiscal note shall provide all of the |
30 | following information: |
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1 | (1) The designation of the fund out of which the |
2 | appropriation providing for expenditures under the bill shall |
3 | be made. |
4 | (2) The probable cost of the bill for the fiscal year of |
5 | its enactment. |
6 | (3) The projected cost estimate of the program for each |
7 | of the five succeeding fiscal years. |
8 | (4) The probable loss of revenue from the bill for the |
9 | fiscal year of its enactment. |
10 | (5) The projected loss of revenue estimate from the bill |
11 | for each of the five succeeding fiscal years. |
12 | (6) The line item, if any, of the General Fund, special |
13 | fund or other account out of which losses of Commonwealth |
14 | funds shall occur as a result of the bill. |
15 | Section 203. Selection of bills. |
16 | The three bills introduced under section 201 that receive the |
17 | most cosponsors shall be proposed by the House of |
18 | Representatives for nonbinding referendum under section 501 and |
19 | shall be considered the House proposal. |
20 | Section 204. Notification of proposal. |
21 | After the House of Representatives has determined the House |
22 | proposal under section 203, the House of Representatives shall |
23 | notify the Governor and the Senate of the House proposal by June |
24 | 1, 2011. |
25 | CHAPTER 3 |
26 | PROCESS IN THE SENATE |
27 | Section 301. Introduction date. |
28 | A Senator who wishes to introduce a bill relating to property |
29 | tax reform to be included in the Senate proposal under section |
30 | 303 for the nonbinding referendum shall introduce the bill in |
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1 | the Senate by May 1, 2011. |
2 | Section 302. Fiscal notes. |
3 | (a) Fiscal note required.--A bill introduced by a Senator |
4 | under section 301 shall be assigned a fiscal note from the |
5 | Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue shall work in |
6 | conjunction with both the majority and minority caucuses of the |
7 | Appropriations Committee of the Senate in assigning the fiscal |
8 | note. |
9 | (b) Contents.--A fiscal note shall provide all of the |
10 | following information: |
11 | (1) The designation of the fund out of which the |
12 | appropriation providing for expenditures under the bill shall |
13 | be made. |
14 | (2) The probable cost of the bill for the fiscal year of |
15 | its enactment. |
16 | (3) The projected cost estimate of the program for each |
17 | of the five succeeding fiscal years. |
18 | (4) The probable loss of revenue from the bill for the |
19 | fiscal year of its enactment. |
20 | (5) The projected loss of revenue estimate from the bill |
21 | for each of the five succeeding fiscal years. |
22 | (6) The line item, if any, of the General Fund, special |
23 | fund or other account out of which losses of Commonwealth |
24 | funds shall occur as a result of the bill. |
25 | Section 303. Selection of bills. |
26 | The three bills introduced under section 301 that receive the |
27 | most cosponsors shall be proposed by the Senate for nonbinding |
28 | referendum under section 501 and shall be considered the Senate |
29 | proposal. |
30 | Section 304. Notification of proposal. |
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1 | After the Senate has determined the Senate proposal under |
2 | section 303, the Senate shall notify the Governor and the House |
3 | of Representatives of the Senate proposal by June 1, 2011. |
4 | CHAPTER 4 |
5 | LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL |
6 | Section 401. Selection of legislative proposal. |
7 | (a) Legislative proposal.--In the event that the House |
8 | proposal and Senate proposal contain the same bills, those bills |
9 | shall be the legislative proposal for consideration in the |
10 | referendum under section 501. |
11 | (b) Conference committee.--In the event that the House |
12 | proposal differs from the Senate proposal, the matter of |
13 | selecting the legislative proposal to be included in the |
14 | nonbinding referendum shall be resolved through a conference |
15 | committee. |
16 | (c) Deadline.--The deadline for determination of the |
17 | legislative proposal to be included in the nonbinding referendum |
18 | under section 501 shall be no later than June 30, 2011. |
19 | CHAPTER 5 |
20 | STATEWIDE REFERENDUM |
21 | Section 501. General rule. |
22 | At the 2011 municipal election, a Statewide nonbinding |
23 | referendum shall be conducted for the purpose of considering the |
24 | legislative proposal. The election shall be conducted in |
25 | accordance with the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), |
26 | known as the Pennsylvania Election Code. |
27 | Section 502. Notice. |
28 | No later than 30 days after the effective date of this |
29 | section, the Department of State shall notify the election |
30 | officials of each county of the Statewide nonbinding referendum |
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1 | to be conducted at the 2011 municipal election. |
2 | Section 503. Form of question. |
3 | (a) Generally.--The question on the referendum shall provide |
4 | registered electors with the choice of the three bills included |
5 | in the legislative proposal to determine the will of the |
6 | electorate as to the preferred method to provide property tax |
7 | relief. A registered elector may select one bill. |
8 | (b) Question.--The referendum question shall read as |
9 | follows: |
10 | When the General Assembly considers the issue of property |
11 | tax relief, which one of the following options do you |
12 | prefer? |
13 | (c) Summary of bills.--For the purposes of the question under |
14 | subsection (b), each bill in the legislative proposal shall |
15 | include all of the following information: |
16 | (1) Bill number. |
17 | (2) Brief summary of the bill. |
18 | (3) New aggregate Statewide revenue generated. |
19 | (4) New aggregate Statewide property tax eliminated. |
20 | Section 504. Nonlegal interpretive statement. |
21 | The Department of State shall draft a nonlegal interpretive |
22 | statement that shall accompany the nonbinding referendum |
23 | question in accordance with section 201.1 of the act of June 3, |
24 | 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election |
25 | Code. The department shall also provide election officials of |
26 | each county with the information contained in the Pennsylvania |
27 | Bulletin as required under section 505. |
28 | Section 505. Certification of results. |
29 | The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall certify the results |
30 | of the referendum in accordance with the act of June 3, 1937 |
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1 | (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, and |
2 | shall transmit notice to the Legislative Reference Bureau for |
3 | publication as a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. |
4 | CHAPTER 6 |
5 | MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS |
6 | Section 901. Effective date. |
7 | This act shall take effect immediately. |
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