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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 28, 2013 08:58 AM |
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| From: | Representative Dan Truitt |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Municipal Liability - Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages |
Did you know that if you were to be hit by a city, township, or borough trash truck, the municipality in question would only be responsible for up to $500,000 of damages in the aggregate, including medical expenses and loss of income? What happens if your expenses and/or loss of income exceed $500,000? Unfortunately, you would be on the hook without any recourse. This $500,000 limit was set years ago and could easily be exceeded with the current costs of healthcare. Upon learning about this, I considered increasing the cap and tying it to inflation, but, that still would not address the real problem with the current law and I decided to try a different approach: I will soon be introducing legislation that eliminates the cap on economic damages so that the cap on municipal liability applies only to non-economic damages. 42 Pa.C.S. § 8553(C) outlines the 6 types of losses recognized when taking action against a local government entity. Economic damages are outlined in (c) (1), (3), and (6) and includes loss of earnings, medical and dental expenses, and property losses. Under my legislation, the $500,000 aggregate limit would only apply to (c) (2), (4), and (5), which include non-economic damages. So, if you get run over by your municipality’s street sweeper through no fault of your own, the municipality will pay for your medical bills and lost income, regardless of the amount, but, their liability for non-economic damages will still be capped. The proposed legislation is attached. I hope that you will consider co-sponsoring this legislation. |
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