HARRISBURG – Legislation authored by state Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) that would amend the Vehicle Code to improve safety for bicyclists has been signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett.

HARRISBURG – State Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) has been named chairman of the seven-member Pennsylvania delegation to the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Miller, who was first appointed to the commission last year by Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-Armstrong/Indiana), will also serve as a vice-chairman of the commission.

One piece of legislation that is being highly touted by many as the means to eliminate property taxes as the primary source of funding for public education is House Bill 1776. The problem is, HB 1776 does not exist. I have been in meetings held by the representative who has reserved the number “1776” for legislation he plans to introduce, meetings where he has asked other members of the General Assembly to tell him what should be included in the language of this bill. I will not attack the good intentions of the representative, but I will not sign on as a co-sponsor of a “concept” that may or may not contain proposed reforms that I can support.

HARRISBURG – The House Consumer Affairs Committee on Tuesday examined House Bill 1855, legislation authored by state Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) that would establish standards for the construction of private water wells in Pennsylvania.

WHAT: Legislation authored by state Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) that would establish construction standards for Pennsylvania water well drillers will be considered during a public hearing held by the House Consumer Affairs Committee. Approximately 20,000 new water wells are drilled in the Commonwealth each year, and more than three million Pennsylvanians rely on private wells for drinking water; however, Pennsylvania is one of the few states to not have in place private well drilling regulations.

HARRISBURG – The House Labor and Industry Committee, chaired by state Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus), this week passed Senate Bill 1310, legislation which will allow the Department of Labor and Industry to refinance loans from the United States Department of Labor (USDOL), which are needed to meet benefit obligations of the state unemployment compensation system. The insolvency of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund in recent years has forced borrowing of monies from the USDOL to pay benefits.

HARRISBURG - York County House Republican Reps. Seth Grove (R-Dover), Ron Miller (R-Jacobus), Stan Saylor (R-Red Lion) and Will Tallman (R-Hanover) today voted in favor of legislation which would give counties the option of imposing a natural gas well impact fee and would require rents and royalties from oil and gas leases on land to be placed in a special fund to be used for environmental purposes. House Bill 1950 passed the House and will now be taken up by the state Senate.

HARRISBURG – During the Tuesday, Nov. 15, vote on House Bill 1950, the House defeated an amendment authored by state Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) that would allow individual counties to impose an impact fee on Marcellus and Utica shale natural gas wells, provided they have performed property reassessment in the last 10 years or are under contract to perform reassessment in the next two years.

The latest news from the State Capitol

The latest news from the State Capitol

As chairman of the state House Labor and Industry Committee, I believe it is my main responsibility to protect the interests of this state's taxpayers. One issue that has been continually complained about to me by local government organizations and school boards is the Prevailing Wage Act. The act was passed in 1961 and requires all public bodies to pay the “prevailing minimum wage” on public construction projects costing more than $25,000. The secretary of labor and industry is supposed to ascertain the general prevailing minimum wage rates in the area where the work is done. The law is not specific as to how the rates are to be determined, although the expectation is that comprehensive wage surveys are to be done by the secretary to determine such wages and ensure that they should reflect the local “market” wage. Under the Rendell administration, the secretary relied almost entirely on collective bargaining rates.

HARRISBURG - The House Labor and Industry Committee, chaired by Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus), today passed a package of prevailing wage legislation to the full House for its consideration. All six bills passed primarily along party lines.

HARRISBURG – House Labor and Industry Chairman Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus) is introducing legislation which requires Pennsylvania’s secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry to use occupational wage data as a means of establish prevailing wage rates. A hearing on House Bill 1367 was held today at the state Capitol.

State Rep. Ron Miller (R-Jacobus), chairman of the House Labor and Industry Committee, has authored legislation which reforms the “voluntary quit” and “willful misconduct” eligibility provisions in the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law. House Bill 1754 was examined today during a joint hearing held by the House and Senate Labor and Industry committees.