PRINTER'S NO. 2211
No. 1520 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY KASUNIC, KITCHEN, MELLOW, MUSTO, O'PAKE, STOUT,
LOGAN, COSTA, GREENLEAF, KUKOVICH, LAVALLE, ORIE,
TARTAGLIONE, A. WILLIAMS AND C. WILLIAMS, AUGUST 30, 2002
REFERRED TO MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS, AUGUST 30, 2002
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), entitled
2 "An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct of the
3 executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth by the
4 Executive Department thereof and the administrative
5 departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,
6 including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or
7 Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or
8 authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative
9 departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and
10 duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative
11 officers, and of the several administrative departments,
12 boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the
13 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive
14 and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of
15 certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and
16 other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,
17 and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the
18 number and compensation of the deputies and all other
19 assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and
20 commissions shall be determined," creating the Department of
21 Veterans' Affairs and defining its functions, powers and
22 duties; transferring certain agencies to the Department of
23 Veterans' Affairs; and making repeals.
24 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
25 hereby enacts as follows:
26 Section 1. Section 201 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177,
27 No.175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, amended
28 December 30, 1984 (P.L.1299, No.245) and repealed in part May
1 26, 1988 (P.L.414, No.72), is amended to read:
2 Section 201. Executive Officers, Administrative Departments
3 and Independent Administrative Boards and Commissions.--The
4 executive and administrative work of this Commonwealth shall be
5 performed by the Executive Department, consisting of the
6 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7 Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, and
8 Secretary of Education; by the Executive Board, and the
9 Pennsylvania State Police; by the following administrative
10 departments: Department of State, Office of Attorney General,
11 Department of Corrections, Department of the Auditor General,
12 Treasury Department, Department of Education, Department of
13 Military Affairs, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Insurance
14 Department, Department of Banking, Department of Agriculture,
15 Department of Transportation, Department of Health, Department
16 of Labor and Industry, Department of Aging, Department of Public
17 Welfare, Department of General Services, Department of Revenue,
18 Department of Commerce, Department of Community Affairs and
19 Department of Environmental Resources; and by the following
20 independent administrative boards and commissions: Pennsylvania
21 Game Commission, Pennsylvania Fish Commission, State Civil
22 Service Commission, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and
23 the Pennsylvania Securities Commission.
24 All of the provisions of this act, which apply generally to
25 administrative departments, or generally except to the
26 Department of the Auditor General, the Treasury Department and
27 the Office of Attorney General, shall apply to the Executive
28 Board and to the Pennsylvania State Police.
29 Section 2. As much as relates to the Department of Military
30 Affairs in section 203 of the act, amended December 3, 1970
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1 (P.L.834, No.275), is amended to read:
2 Section 203. Advisory Boards and Commissions.--The following
3 advisory boards and commissions are placed in and made parts of
4 the respective administrative departments, as follows:
5 In the Department of Military Affairs,
6 State Military Reservation Commission[,
7 State Veterans' Commission];
8 * * *
9 Section 3. Section 206 of the act, amended December 30, 1984
10 (P.L.1299, No.245), is amended to read:
11 Section 206. Department Heads.--Each administrative
12 department shall have as its head an officer who shall, either
13 personally, by deputy, or by the duly authorized agent or
14 employe of the department, and subject at all times to the
15 provisions of this act, exercise the powers and perform the
16 duties by law vested in and imposed upon the department.
17 The following officers shall be the heads of the
18 administrative departments following their respective titles:
19 Secretary of the Commonwealth, of the Department of State;
20 Auditor General, of the Department of the Auditor General;
21 State Treasurer, of the Treasury Department;
22 Attorney General, of the Office of Attorney General;
23 Secretary of Education, of the Department of Education;
24 Adjutant General, of the Department of Military Affairs;
25 Insurance Commissioner, of the Insurance Department;
26 Secretary of Banking, of the Department of Banking;
27 Secretary of Agriculture, of the Department of Agriculture;
28 Secretary of Transportation, of the Department of
29 Transportation;
30 Secretary of Health, of the Department of Health;
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1 Secretary of Labor and Industry, of the Department of Labor
2 and Industry;
3 Secretary of Aging, of the Department of Aging;
4 Secretary of Public Welfare, of the Department of Public
5 Welfare;
6 Secretary of Revenue, of the Department of Revenue;
7 Secretary of Commerce, of the Department of Commerce;
8 Secretary of Community Affairs, of the Department of
9 Community Affairs;
10 Secretary of Environmental Resources, of the Department of
11 Environmental Resources;
12 Secretary of General Services, of the Department of General
13 Services;
14 Secretary of Corrections, of the Department of
15 Corrections[.];
16 Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, of the Department of
17 Veterans' Affairs.
18 Section 4. Section 1413 of the act is repealed.
19 Section 5. The act is amended by adding an article to read:
20 ARTICLE XIV-A
21 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
22 VETERANS' AFFAIRS
23 Section 1401-A. Powers and Duties in General.--The
24 Department of Veterans' Affairs shall have the following powers
25 and duties:
26 (1) To administer the laws providing for the payment of
27 pensions and relief, for the marking of graves of the veterans
28 and for the selection, acquisition and maintenance of a State
29 military cemetery.
30 (2) To investigate and compile data concerning veterans of
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1 the armed forces of the United States, and all State and
2 municipal activities relating to veterans, and to recommend to
3 the Governor legislation for submission to the General Assembly
4 concerning veterans and their activities.
5 (3) To expend funds, and make appropriations to or for it,
6 for the purpose of providing the necessities of life, and to
7 otherwise assist Pennsylvania veterans of any war or armed
8 conflict, or the widows and infant children or dependents of
9 veterans as are sick, disabled or indigent, and who are without
10 means for planning and providing for the rehabilitation and care
11 of veterans. These expenditures shall be made for the stated
12 purposes by the issuance of checks in direct payment to the
13 veteran, widow or proper representative of infant children or
14 dependents in accordance with rules, regulations and standards
15 established by the department. In no event shall payments made
16 by the department exceed the maximum assistance payable under
17 the public assistance laws and no payments shall be made in the
18 form of relief orders.
19 (4) To certify for payment gratuities for the children,
20 between the ages of sixteen (16) and twenty-one (21) years, of
21 totally disabled veterans and of soldiers, marines, female
22 clerks, yeoman (female), or members of the Enlisted Nurse Corps
23 of the United States, who die or have died of Spanish-American
24 War or World War I service-connected disabilities, and of
25 totally disabled veterans and of members of the armed forces of
26 the United States and of women's organizations officially
27 connected therewith, who die or have died of World War II, or
28 the armed conflict in Korea service-connected disabilities as
29 certified from Veterans' Administration records. Children must
30 have lived in the Commonwealth for five (5) years immediately
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1 preceding the date upon which the application was filed.
2 Certification by the department shall be made when the children
3 meet the following requirements:
4 (i) As coming within the class of children described above.
5 (ii) As attending any State or State-aided educational or
6 training institution of a secondary or college grade or other
7 institution of higher education, business school, trade school,
8 hospital providing training for nurses school, or institution
9 providing courses in beauty culture, art, radio or undertaking
10 or embalming or such other educational training within this
11 Commonwealth as approved by the department.
12 (iii) As being unable, without such gratuity, to pursue his
13 or her education or training.
14 (iv) Payments not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) per
15 semester per child shall be made to the institution upon the
16 submission by them of proof that bills have been incurred or
17 contracted for matriculation fees and other necessary fees,
18 tuition, board, room rent, books and supplies for these children
19 in a definite amount for the school year. Proof shall be
20 submitted to the department which shall attach the same to the
21 requisitions prepared for payments out of appropriations made
22 for such purpose.
23 (v) When a child within the class of children eligible to
24 receive a gratuity authorized by this section is completing an
25 educational or training course, and becomes twenty-one (21)
26 years of age before completing the course, the gratuity may be
27 paid until the course is completed: Provided, That gratuities
28 may not be paid for any child for a longer period than four
29 scholastic years.
30 Section 1402-A. Specific Duties of the Secretary of
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1 Veterans' Affairs.--The Secretary of Veterans' Affairs shall
2 have the specific duty:
3 (1) To recommend to the Governor new legislation and
4 amendments to existing statutes concerning veterans and their
5 activities, for consideration by the General Assembly.
6 (2) To cooperate with all departments and agencies of the
7 Commonwealth in the interest of war veterans' welfare, housing
8 and the obtaining of licenses.
9 (3) To aid in filing and prosecuting all claims of the
10 Commonwealth's war veterans and dependents of war veterans under
11 Federal or State statutes.
12 (4) To aid in the employment and reemployment of all war
13 veterans honorably discharged from the armed forces of the
14 United States or their auxiliaries.
15 (5) To aid in securing hospitalization, for any war veteran
16 requiring medical care, that may be provided by a Federal or
17 State mental or medical or surgical facility specifically
18 provided for war veterans or in any other public hospital.
19 (6) To aid in the rehabilitation of injured, wounded or
20 compensable war veterans, or other war veterans, in educational
21 institutions or vocational training institutions to which they
22 may be eligible by statute.
23 (7) To cooperate with and advise the Department of Education
24 with respect to the establishment of vocational training
25 programs particularly suited to war casualties, for either day
26 or evening instruction, or both.
27 (8) To administer relief provided by the Commonwealth for
28 war veterans and dependents of war veterans.
29 (9) To administer the distribution of any compensation to
30 war veterans or dependents of war veterans that has been or may
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1 be granted by the Commonwealth.
2 (10) To investigate the work of other departments of the
3 Commonwealth administering laws affecting war veterans or war
4 veterans' orphans.
5 (11) To investigate, compile and maintain complete and
6 accurate data concerning veterans of the armed forces of the
7 United States and all State and municipal activities relating
8 thereto.
9 (12) To compile from the records as transmitted by the
10 county commissioners of each county, a record of the burial
11 places within this Commonwealth of deceased service persons,
12 their rank, division, length of service, name and location of
13 cemetery, and the location of their graves therein, and the
14 character of headstones or other markers, if any, and such other
15 information deemed desirable.
16 (13) To establish an information center, and to disseminate
17 regularly to chapters, camps and posts of war veterans'
18 organizations throughout this Commonwealth, such information as
19 he shall determine, and to transmit to the public press and
20 other media of public information, information relative to war
21 veterans as may be of public interest.
22 (14) To submit biannually to the Governor, a report of State
23 activities on behalf of veterans.
24 (15) To perform other duties in connection with war veterans
25 that may be referred to him by other departments or agencies of
26 the Commonwealth, and to be a clearinghouse for all veterans'
27 war service-connected problems.
28 Section 1403-A. Soldiers' and Sailors' and Veterans'
29 Homes.--(a) The Department of Veterans' Affairs shall maintain
30 and operate the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Erie and
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1 Hollidaysburg Veterans' Home for military veterans.
2 (b) The department shall appoint a director to administer
3 each home. Each director shall be qualified and licensed in the
4 Commonwealth as a nursing home administrator. Each director
5 shall appoint such officers and employes as may be necessary and
6 fix their salaries in conformity with the standards established
7 by the executive board.
8 (c) The department may accept gifts, grants or payments for
9 the use of each home: Provided, however, That the department
10 shall only receive and accept Federal funds to the extent they
11 are appropriated to the department by the General Assembly.
12 (d) The department shall establish a schedule of fees to be
13 charged residents. The fees shall be based on the level of
14 service or care required and the ability of the resident to pay.
15 (e) The department shall establish the level of service to
16 be provided in accordance with the Federal Department of
17 Veterans' Affairs standards of nursing and domiciliary care.
18 Section 6. All powers and duties imposed by 51 Pa.C.S. § 704
19 upon the Department of Military Affairs are hereby transferred
20 to the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
21 Section 7. (a) All personnel, allocations, appropriations,
22 agreements, leases, claims, demands and causes of action of any
23 nature whether or not subject to litigation on the date of this
24 act, equipment, files, records, classified data files, plans,
25 maps, air photographs and all other materials which are used,
26 employed or expended in connection with the duties, powers or
27 functions of the Department of Military Affairs relating to
28 veterans' affairs, are hereby transferred by this act to the
29 Department of Veterans' Affairs with the same force and effect
30 as if the appropriations had been made to and said items had
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1 been the property of the Department of Veterans' Affairs in the
2 first instance and if said contracts, agreements, leases and
3 obligations had been incurred or entered into by the Department
4 of Veterans' Affairs.
5 (b) All personnel transferred to the Department of Veterans'
6 Affairs from other State departments and agencies pursuant to
7 this act shall retain any civil service or other employment
8 status assigned to said personnel in those departments or
9 agencies prior to the effective date of this act.
10 Section 8. (a) Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the act
11 of April 29, 1988 (P.L.381, No.60), entitled "An act amending
12 Title 51 (Military Affairs) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
13 Statutes, codifying provisions of law relating to the creation,
14 administration and powers and duties of the State Veterans'
15 Commission, to the educational gratuity program for veterans'
16 children and to the real property tax exemption for certain
17 qualified veterans; providing for reestablishment of the State
18 Veterans' Commission and the Pennsylvania Veterans' Memorial
19 Commission; and making repeals," are repealed.
20 (b) 51 Pa.C.S. § 902 and Chs. 17, 19, 85, 87 and 89 are
21 repealed insofar as they are inconsistent with this act.
22 (c) All other acts and parts of acts are repealed insofar as
23 they are inconsistent with this act.
24 Section 9. This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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