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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 3, 2024 04:00 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Judy Ward and Sen. Gene Yaw |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Milk Hauling During Travel Restrictions |
| We plan to reintroduce Senate Bill 153 of last session, which amends the Vehicle Code to ensure that milk haulers can travel on highways during a declaration of disaster emergency. The travel restrictions implemented during the winter of 2019 for commercial vehicles in the interest of public safety were certainly helpful in preventing accidents, but they did not acknowledge the very unique nature of milk production and hauling. We have heard concerns from milk haulers in our districts about the travel restrictions. The trucks hauling the milk have a limited window (24 hours maximum) to deliver their product to its destination before it perishes. If dairy farmers are unable to have their commodity picked up and delivered in a timely manner, they will have to discard it, causing further difficulties for our dairy farmers who are already struggling to make ends meet. To make matters even worse, the fines ($300 plus fees) assessed on these commercial vehicles represent another blow to the dairy industry. Milk haulers are some of the most experienced drivers on the road and are accustomed to driving in inclement weather. We should be able to trust professional haulers to evaluate the conditions and transport this perishable product when possible. This bill will include the language amended into Senate Bill 153 when it was before the Senate last session. This amendment clarified that the hauler must display a decal that has been designed and issued by the Pennsylvania Milk Board. The Board may charge a small fee for the decal, but the fee cannot exceed the administrative costs of producing and issuing the decal. The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau was supportive of this measure during the prior session. Prior co-sponsors of Senate Bill 153 were Senators Argall, Aument, Bartolotta, Brooks, Dush, Hutchinson, Langerholc, Martin, Pennycuick, Phillips-Hill, Rothman, Schwank, Stefano, Street and Vogel. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation. If you have questions regarding this legislation, please reach out to Greg Beckenbaugh in my office at 717-787-5490 or gbeckenbaug@pasen.gov. |
Memo Updated: December 3, 2024 04:03 PM