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Approp Dept of State 3-24-15.Tr 1 1 2 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3 APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 4 MAIN CAPITOL 5 ROOM 140 HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 6 7 BUDGET HEARING DEPARTMENT OF STATE 8 9 TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 1:30 P.M. 10 11 BEFORE: 12 HONORABLE WILLIAM F. ADOLPH, JR., Majority Chairman 13 HONORABLE KAREN BOBACK HONORABLE JIM CHRISTIANA 14 HONORABLE GARY DAY HONORABLE GEORGE DUNBAR 15 HONORABLE GARTH EVERETT HONORABLE KEITH GREINER 16 HONORABLE GLEN GRELL HONORABLE SETH GROVE 17 HONORABLE WARREN KAMPF HONORABLE FRED KELLER 18 HONORABLE TOM KILLION HONORABLE JIM MARSHALL 19 HONORABLE KURT MASSER HONORABLE DAVID MILLARD 20 HONORABLE DUANE MILNE HONORABLE MARK MUSTIO 21 HONORABLE MIKE PEIFER HONORABLE JEFFREY PYLE 22 HONORABLE MARGUERITE QUINN HONORABLE CURT SONNEY 23 HONORABLE MIKE VEREB HONORABLE JOSEPH MARKOSEK, Minority Chairman 24 HONORABLE MATTHEW BRADFORD HONORABLE TIM BRIGGS 25 HONORABLE MICHELLE BROWNLEE 2 1 BEFORE: (cont’d' 2 HONORABLE MIKE CARROLL HONORABLE SCOTT CONKLIN 3 HONORABLE MARY JO DALEY HONORABLE MADELEINE DEAN 4 HONORABLE MARIA DONATUCCI HONORABLE EDWARD GAINEY 5 HONORABLE JOHN GALLOWAY HONORABLE STEPHEN KINSEY 6 HONORABLE MICHAEL O ’BRIEN HONORABLE CHERELLE PARKER 7 HONORABLE KEVIN SCHREIBER 8 ALSO PRESENT 9 HONORABLE KERRY BENNINGHOFF HONORABLE CRIS DUSH 10 HONORABLE JOE EMRICK HONORABLE ELI EVANKOVICH 11 HONORABLE JULIE HARHART HONORABLE SUSAN C. HELM 12 HONORABLE STEVEN C. MENTZER HONORABLE DARYL METCALFE 13 HONORABLE BRAD ROAE HONORABLE JAMES SANTORA 14 HONORABLE MARK B. COHEN HONORABLE JARET GIBBONS 15 HONORABLE WILLIM C. KORTZ HONORABLE HARRY READSHAW 16 DAVID DONLEY, MAJORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 17 CURT SCHRODER, MAJORITY CHIEF COUNSEL RITCHIE LAFAVER, MAJORITY DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 18 MIRIAM FOX, MINORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANNE BALOGA, MINORITY LEGAL COUNSEL 19 20 21 22 BRENDA J. PARDUN, RPR P. O. BOX 278 23 MAYTOWN, PA 17550 717-426-1596 PHONE/FAX 24 25 3 1 INDEX 2 NAME PAGE 3 PEDRO CORTES 6 ACTING SECRETARY 4 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good 3 afternoon, everyone. I’d like to reconvene the 4 House Appropriations Committee budget hearings. 5 With us this afternoon is the 6 Department of State. It’s my pleasure to have 7 before us the Acting Secretary, Pedro Cortes. 8 Along with the Acting Secretary, we have Thomas 9 Weaver, Executive Deputy Secretary, and Justin 10 Cowan, Director of Finance and Operations. 11 Good afternoon, gentlemen. 12 ACTING SECRETARY CORTES: Good 13 afternoon. 14 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Which is the 15 custom of this committee, during budget hearings, 16 Chairman Markosek and I, we invite the chairman of 17 the standing committees of the House that relate to 18 the department that is before us. Your department 19 happens to have two standing committees that have 20 an awful lot of back and forth with your 21 department. And that is the Professional Licensure 22 Committee, as well as the State Government 23 Committee. 24 With us this afternoon is Chairman 25 Metcalfe, the Republican chair of the state House 5 1 committee, and Representative Mark Cohen, the 2 Democratic chair. I understand that the 3 Professional Licensure chairmen are on their way. 4 And when they arrive, I will introduce them to you. 5 Oh, here she is right now. Here she is 6 right now. Unlike the Professional Licensure 7 Committee, the House Appropriations Committee 8 starts on time. 9 This is Chairman Julie Harhart, the 10 Republican chair of the Professional Licensure 11 Committee. 12 And here comes the late Harry Readshaw, 13 the Democratic chair. So, nice to have both of 14 you. 15 MINORITY CHAIRMAN MARKOSEK: You have 16 to be careful when you say late Harry Readshaw. He 17 owns a funeral home. 18 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: So, what we 19 will do, Mr. Secretary, after your opening 20 comments, I will then — and Chairman Markosek will 21 make some opening remarks, and I will allow 22 Chairwoman Julie Harhart to go first. Ladies 23 first. 24 Now that I embarrassed her for being 25 late, I’m trying to make up for that. 6 1 REPRESENTATIVE HARHART: You didn’t 2 embarrass me. 3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: 4 Mr. Secretary. 5 ACTING SECRETARY CORTES: Thank you, 6 Mr. Chairman. 7 And good afternoon to you and to 8 Chairman Markosek and the other chairmen and the 9 members of the committee. On behalf of the 10 Department of State, thank you for the opportunity 11 to appear before the committee to discuss the 12 Department of State’s 2015-2016 proposed budget. 13 As you know already, sitting to my 14 right is Mr. Tom Weaver, Executive Deputy Secretary 15 of the Department of State, as well as to my left 16 Mr. Justin Cowan, the Director of the Bureau of 17 Finance and Operations. 18 If acceptable to you and to the 19 committee members, I respectfully propose to forego 20 opening remarks and, instead, proceed to questions 21 from the committee, with my written testimony which 22 I understand will be entered into the record. 23 Preliminarily, I note that in recent 24 days, some committee members have submitted to the 25 department requests for information and bill 7 1 reviews. My staff and I are working on those 2 requests. We're committed to responding promptly 3 and will do so while attending to other 4 time-sensitive requirements, such as today's 5 s peci al el e cti o n in the House 170th District, which 6 is a special election to fill the vacancy that was 7 left by former State Representative Brendan Boyle, 8 when he was elected to congress. 9 So with that, thank you again, 10 Mr. Chairman. And I appreciate the opportunity to 11 be here today. 12 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you, 13 Mr. Secretary. 14 Chairman Markosek. 15 MINORITY CHAIRMAN MARKOSEK: Thank you, 16 Chairman Adolph. 17 Mr. Acting Secretary, welcome. And 18 very happy to hear of your appointment. Nobody 19 comes more prepared for the job that you've now 20 been asked to do than you. I know you were the 21 previous secretary and have a lot of experience, 22 great resume, and I certainly wish you well on your 23 confirmation to the job as full-time secretary. 24 And I'd like to also welcome the two 25 gentlemen with you and the rest of your staff here 8 1 today. I know you all do a very good job. And 2 back in the day, when I was the acting chairman, I 3 guess, of the Professional Licensure Committee, we 4 did a lot of work with the Department of State, so 5 I’m very familiar with what you do. I think you’re 6 doing a great job. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING SECRETARY CORTES: Thank you, 9 sir. 10 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: At this 11 time, I’d like to have the chair of the 12 Professional Licensure Committee, Representative 13 Julie Harhart, ask the first series of questions. 14 REPRESENTATIVE HARHART: Thank you, 15 Mr. Chairman. 16 Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 17 Did I miss the whole testimony thing 18 here or -­ 19 ACTING SECRETARY CORTES: No, no. 20 REPRESENTATIVE HARHART: No? Oh, okay. 21 I do have a question. The department’s 22 Bureau of Enforcement Investigation, BEIU, plays a 23 very important role in Pennsylvania’s oversight of 24 state licensed professions and occupations. 25 I’d like you to comment on the current 9 1 staffing level at the BEI and whether you believe 2 it’s adequate, given its obligations. 3 ACTING SECRETARY CORTES: Thank you, 4 Madam Chairman. 5 At the present time, the complement for 6 the Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation, we 7 feel that it’s adequate. At the present time, we 8 have one hundred forty-seven staff, including 9 inspectors and investigators. 10 In the current budget, there is -- it’s 11 a proposal for additional positions that we believe 12 are necessary to address the growing demand of the 13 department as it relates to the inspections that we 14 do and the investigations. In the current budget, 15 we have four new positions that would be allocated 16 to enforcement and investigation, and that is -­ 17 relates to the increase that we’re seeing in the 18 licensing community. 19 If we go to the years -- the fiscal 20 year 2008-2009, we had about eight hundred fifty 21 thousand licenses in the state. That figure stands 22 today at about nine hundred eighty-two thousand. 23 So, an increase of about a hundred thirty thousand 24 licensees, and we expect that, in not the too long 25 future, that number will surpass a million. 10 1 So, along with the extra licensees come 2 increased complaints, and with those complaints, a 3 proper review. So, we feel that we are -- we're 4 well staffed. The staff is motivated, working 5 hard. If we could receive the support for the 6 additional four positions for BEI, that would put 7 us in better shape to do what we have to do. 8 REPRESENTATIVE HARHART: Okay. Thank 9 you. 10 Just one more. This is, I think, an 11 easy one. 12 Can you give us an idea as to when you 13 might expect the position of the commissioner of 14 the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs 15 to be filled? It hasn't been filled for quite a 16 while.
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