Drug and Alcohol Expo Set for Oct. 26
Join me for our annual Drug and Alcohol Awareness Expo, set for Thursday, Oct. 26, from 6-8 p.m. at Palmerton High School, located at 3525 Fireline Road Palmerton.
The expo will feature dozens of resources with information about preventing drug and alcohol use and promoting healthy habits. Information about Narcan, the heroin overdose antidote, will be available, as well as tips for parents, including a mock teen bedroom. A private room will be set up for discreet discussions with a physician.
This event is open to all ages, and children are invited to wear Halloween costumes to trick-or-treat with vendors at the expo. A prescription drug-drop box will be on site for the safe disposal of unwanted or expired prescription drugs.
House GOP Continues Fight for Responsible Budgeting
Lawmakers were back in Harrisburg this week continuing the effort to bring the 2017-18 state budget process to a close.
The main component still outstanding is a bill to complete funding of the $32 billion spending plan. While the governor has pushed for higher taxes and the state Senate approved a plan to impose nearly $600 million in new taxes – more than $400 million of which would come in the form of new and increased taxes on consumer utility bills – House Republicans are fighting for a more responsible, less burdensome solution.
While negotiations on a revenue plan continue, lawmakers did approve two important measures that will help save taxpayer dollars in the long term. House Bill 785 would enact substantial debt reduction and responsible debt management policies that would save taxpayers an estimated $3.14 billion in debt service over the next 20 years. House Bill 785 heads back to the Senate for consideration.
The House also approved a key welfare reform measure that could ultimately require physically and mentally able adults to meet work requirements in order to receive benefits. Under the bill, the state Department of Human Services would seek approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to implement the requirement. House Bill 59 will go to the governor’s desk for his signature.
Work Set to Begin on Mansion House Hill Road
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 5 announced this week that work to remediate a recent rock slide along Route 209/Mauch Chunk Street in Mahoning Township, Carbon County, is scheduled to begin next week.
Work is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Oct. 10, and will entail full closures of Route 209 north and south on weekdays (Mondays through Fridays) between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. During these full closures, Route 209 traffic will be detoured on Packerton Dam Road, Hemlock Drive, Route 902, South 9th Street, Route 443, Route 209, Harrity Road, Fairyland Road, Long Run Road, Maury Road and Route 903.
A single lane will be open on Route 209 north and south weekdays from 2 p.m. to 9 a.m. and from 2 p.m. on Fridays through 9 a.m. Mondays.
Workers will remove fallen rock from the roadway, scale back and remove additional rock from the mountain, install mesh netting to help prevent future rocks from falling, mill and pave Route 209 north in the work area, and perform other ancillary work.
On Sept. 8, multiple large rocks slid off the side of the mountain alongside Route 209 between Race Street and Oak Avenue. Since then the two-lane section of Route 209 north going up Flagstaff Mountain (“Mansion House Hill”) has been reduced to a single lane. When this work is complete the second lane on Route 209 north will re-open.
This section of Route 209 has an average daily traffic volume of 9,814 vehicles.
New Enterprise Stone & Lime, Inc. of New Enterprise, is the general contractor on the $354,103 emergency project that is expected to be complete by Oct. 27.
For more information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those made possible by or accelerated by the state transportation funding plan (Act 89), or those on the department’s Four and Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov.
Better Protecting Consumers from Data Breaches
Legislation is expected to advance in the state House in the coming weeks to respond to recent breaches of personal and financial data. Two new House bills are designed to further protect consumers who are victims of data breaches that open them to possible identity theft.
The first proposal would require notification of a breach from the entity where the breach occurred to the affected consumer within 30 days and to the state attorney general. The notification would include the date the breach occurred, the type of information subject to the breach, a toll-free number and the address of credit reporting agencies. The entities must also develop policies to safeguard and discard personal consumer information.
The second bill would waive the current credit freeze fee, which charges up to $10 per account. In the instance of a data breach, consumers would be provided with three months of free credit monitoring and up to three free credit reports for one calendar year after the date the breach is reported. None of these would apply to a credit reporting agency that has not experienced a breach.
These two bills were introduced following the Equifax data breach, which was the largest data breach in history – exposing the personal information of at least 143 million Americans, including 5.4 million Pennsylvanians.
‘Right to Try’ Bill Heads to Governor
In giving hope to individuals facing terminal illnesses, legislation is now on the governor’s desk that would allow eligible patients to use investigational drugs, biological products and devices not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Under House Bill 45, if these patients want to try medications that have not completed the rigorous FDA testing and approval process, they should be permitted to make that choice. As part of the bill, a manufacturer would be permitted to make these products available to eligible patients once the products successfully complete the first phase of clinical trials.
Physicians would not be held liable for recommending experimental products to their terminally ill patients, nor would the bill create a private cause of action against the manufacturers that make the drugs. While the bill does not require insurers to cover these products, they may do so at their own discretion.
“Right to Try” laws are in effect in 37 other states.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
To honor those who have fought breast cancer or are fighting it now, the fountain at the Pennsylvania State Capitol’s East Wing was dyed pink on Monday for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The pink fountain is also a reminder to all women of the importance of mammograms and early detection. Every day, 37 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Pennsylvania, and more than 2,000 Pennsylvania women die each year from the disease. However, more than 2.8 million breast cancer survivors are alive today in the United States.
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