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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 7, 2013 02:28 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Kerry A. Benninghoff |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Constitutional Amendment - Public Charities |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to clarify that it is the exclusive role of the General Assembly to determine in law what the qualifications of institutions of purely public charity should be. This legislation is necessary due to an April 2012 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision (Mesivtah Eitz Chaim of Bobov, Inc. v. Pike County Board of Assessment Appeals) denying public charity status to a summer camp in Pike County that qualifies as such under the Pennsylvania Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act (Act 55 of 1997). Further, the Court stated that charitable organizations cannot receive public charity status unless first satisfying a 1985 judicially created test. It is important to note that in crafting Act 55, the General Assembly relied on the same five criteria established by the Court in 1985, but the act elaborates more clearly how an entity must demonstrate satisfaction of each criterion. By placing its own test above the measureable and constitutional provisions set forth by the General Assembly in Act 55, the Court has set the Commonwealth back decades in a key area of the law for Pennsylvania’s health care, educational, and other charitable organizations. In fact, its decision will return the state to a time of confusion, inefficiency, and conflicting decisions, and will likely result in a surge of costly litigation that we can ill afford. To address this issue, my legislation would amend the Constitution to preserve the General Assembly’s role as the sole determiner of what defines a purely public charity. This will allow the legislature to maintain certainty and uniformity across the state in this area of the law, rather than allowing the standards to be built one court decision at a time. As with all amendments to the state constitution, this language must be passed by the General Assembly in two consecutive legislative sessions. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Noel anoel@pahousegop.com or 717-783-1918. |
Introduced as HB724