June 30, 2026 · TOURISM, RECREATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT · 2,031 words · 5 speakers · 29 segments
. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to call this meeting of the House Tourism, Recreation, and Economic Development Committee to order. Josh, would you please take the roll? Ryan, can you close the door?
Chairwoman Daly. Present.
Representatives Bellman. Voting by designation.
Representative Boyd. Designation. Representative Brennan. Here. Representative Sipita Freitas. Here. Representative Serrato. Designation. Representative Powell. Designation. Representative Probst. Here. Representative Prokopiak. Designation. Representative Rivera. Here. Representative Russkack. Here. Representative Steele. Designation. Representative Takak. Designation. Representative Young. Designation.
Chairman Warner. Here.
Representatives Arminini. Designation. Representative Banta. Designation. Representative Barger. Designation. Representative Cook. Present. Representative Cooper. Here. Representative Flick. Here. Representative Jones. Designation. Representative Pickett. Designation. Representative Smith. Present. Representative Tordzik. Designation. And Representative Wendling. Here.
Madam Chairwoman, you have a quorum. Thank you, Josh. I'd like to call up House Bill 2082, printers number 2671. on. Josh, would you please explain the bill? House Bill 2082 requires hotels, short-term rental operators, and booking agents to share information on occupancy and rental transactions with counties. Thank you, Josh. The question is, will the committee report the bill? And on that question, I will be offering Amendment A03784. So, Josh, would you provide a summary of the amendment? Amendment A03784, offered by Rep. Daily, this amendment removes the requirement to provide the name of the hotel, short-term rental operator, or booking agent from the documentation being submitted to the counties. Additionally, it requires the counties to post the ordinances and related reporting forms enacted through this legislation to the county's publicly accessible website. Is there any discussion on the amendment? Any comments, Chair? Anyone else? All right. Seeing no comments, are there any negative votes on the amendment? Nope. Uh, hearing none, Amendment A03784 is adopted. Uh, yes. The question remains, will the committee report the bill as amended? And, um, I just want to give you a little background on these bills, just because, um, I don't know if any, y'all know it, it really impacts the smaller counties. because, and I found out about this like a number of years ago, I was invited by Ben Sanchez's wife, who happened to be the Montgomery County Comptroller and the chair of the Pennsylvania County Comptrollers Association for that time. So she invited me to come and talk, and mostly I think to listen to what the counties were saying was a difficulty in being able to audit or reconcile the checks because they had no information about who was sending the money It was just all there in a bulk amount And so we listened and we ended up working with the local government commission because I have found that they've been really good on local government issues, obviously, and came through with these two bills that we'll see. I won't talk for the second bill probably. But I just think it's really important to know that this is something that will actually really help the county treasurers and the county controllers, especially in the more rural areas or the smaller counties. Not my county, my county's Montgomery. It's a, you know, a 2A county. And when I checked with them, they said, oh no, we have all that information. And I'm like, okay, but these other guys don't have all that information. So we've been working on it for a few years and hoping to get it through the House and the Senate because, quite honestly, it helps everyone, all of our constituents in some ways. And I think it's really great when you, because I've now met with the county treasurers and the county controllers, and they're really so dedicated to their work. I mean, they're all elected officials and they take their jobs seriously. So they've been on top of this, and I really appreciate the work that they did and their patience because it does take a long time to get things done. So that's it. Prokowiak, Belman, Serato. Oh, so representatives Prokowiak, who else? Serato. And Belman all joined us, so they will not be voting by designation. So did anybody else have a question or a comment to make on this bill? All right. With no further discussion, Josh, would you take – well, actually, do we have any negative votes? No, no negative votes. So hearing none, the bill will be reported as amended. So thank you very much. And next, I'd like to call up House Bill 2083, printers number 2672. Would you, Josh, would you please explain that bill? House Bill 2083 requires hotels, short-term rental operators, and booking agents to share information on occupancy and rental transaction with counties. And it also creates a uniform reporting form for the remittance of tax and fee-related information. The question is, will the committee agree to, oh, no, we didn't talk about the amendment. This one has an amendment also.
Sorry.
The question is, will the committee report the bill? On that question, Chair Warner will be offering amendment A03954. So one of our staff is going to explain that.
Amendment A03954, offered by Rep. Warner. This amendment removes the requirement to provide the name of the hotel booking agent, short-term rental operator, from documentation being submitted to counties. It also requires the counties to post the ordinances and related reporting forms enacted through this legislation to the county's publicly accessible website. And lastly, the amendment provides language to include second and second-class A counties. Currently, the provisions of the bill would only apply to the third through eighth class counties.
Thank you, Josh. Will the committee agree to the amendment? And on that question, Chair Warner, did you want to speak? Is there any discussion on the amendment?
Nope.
All right. Seeing no more comments are there any negative votes on the amendment No All right The question remains will the committee report the bill as amended Did we get there yet? All right. Okay. Sorry about this. Hearing none, Amendment A03954 is adopted. and now we can go to will the committee report the bill as amended and i don't have any comments does anyone else no all right and any comments chair warner no thank you very much with no further discussion i'm going to call the roll but we are going to first check if there are any negative votes. There are none. And so moving on, I'd like to... Moving on, I'd like to call... No, no, we're not there. Sorry, we can say sorry about this. So the bill has been reported, will be reported as amended. Sorry. It's the repetitive language we have here. So moving on, I'd like to call up House Resolution 552, printers number 3534. Josh, please explain the resolution.
House Resolution 552 recognizes July 17, 2026, a 717 day in Pennsylvania.
Thank you, Josh. Will the committee report the resolution? And on that question, I'd like to offer amendment A03766, and I'm going to ask Josh to provide a summary of amendment A03766.
Amendment A03766, it just adds all the counties that are serviced by the 717 area code.
Thank you, Josh. Will the committee agree to the amendment, and is there anyone who would like to speak on the amendment? No? All right. Is there any discussion on the amendment? No. If seeing no more comments, are there any negative votes on the amendment? There are none. The question remains, will the committee report the resolution as amended? Would anyone like to comment? Representative Davidson, the sponsor of the resolution.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Chair Warner, as well for your consideration about this resolution. I will keep my remarks brief. It is the distinct pleasure of mine to represent Dauphin and Cumberland counties here in the General Assembly, right in the heart of the Susquehanna Valley. Central Pennsylvania has a long, rich history and heritage. We're proud of our traditions here. It's a great place to live, start a business, raise a family like I'm raising mine. And we have a lot of history here, you know, whether it's Revolutionary War history, George Washington setting out from the Carlisle to go west before the Revolution, or the first steel ingot that was poured in Pennsylvania. It was right here in Stilton on the banks of the Susquehanna and through Camp Curtin during the Civil War, the largest mustering in and out point of the Union Army during the Civil War. And we have obviously our state capital here, manufacturing in York, agriculture in Lancaster and all over. So we're just proud of our heritage here. And I do want to lift up this idea. It was brought to me by my neighbor, Hannah. Shout out to Hannah, who works at the Brewers. And every year, the breweries in central Pennsylvania get together and do a collaboration brew for 717 Day. So thank you so much for considering this resolution, and I'll see you at the Senators' Game on July 17th. Thank you.
I did want to ask any comments, Chair Warner.
No.
Oh.
Northeast Pennsylvania used to be 717 until you took it from us. So thank you.
Any time You won be part of the party All right Are there any negative votes on the resolution as amended Hearing none, the resolution will be reported as amended. Lastly, I'd like to call up House Resolution 576. Josh, please explain the resolution.
House Resolution 576 commemorates July 4, 2026, on the important and historic event of the United States semi-quincentennial America 250 in Pennsylvania.
Thank you. The question is, will the committee report the resolution? And on that question, Chair Warner, would you like to speak on the resolution?
Thank you, Chair Daly. And thank you very much for co-priming this very important resolution with me. As our nation approaches its 250th birthday, we have a meaningful opportunity to honor the ideals that have guided America for generations. Freedom, opportunity, perseverance, and belief that our future can be stronger than our past. This anniversary is a time to reflect on the sacrifices of those who built our country, the service of those who have defended it, and the contributions of everyday Americans who continue to strengthen our communities. Pennsylvania has a special connection to this story, but America's 250th birthday belongs to every citizen. It is a moment to come together with gratitude, pride, and hope for the next generation. I'm extremely proud, thankful, and honored to be an American. I am also proud and honored to serve with each and every one of you in the capacity here in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. I want to wish you all a very safe and happy Independence Day and respectively urge support for this resolution honoring our nation's 250th birthday. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Chair Warner. As a co-prime, I'm really
proud to be working with you on this resolution. I think it's really important that we all know how important July 4th is, but I think it's really good to be reminded and to have a really great day so everybody enjoy your picnics and your community gatherings and your fireworks and just have a wonderful july 4th because we really do have something to be proud of and something to work for and uh i think that i don't know i'm excited i really am so thank you uh would anyone else like to speak on the resolution nope all right so are there any negative votes sorry so with no further discussion we'll call the roll for our house resolution there are no negative votes and hearing none house resolution 576 will be reported as committed and then we can just move on to chairman warner do you have any final words
yes yes i think that i would like to wish team usa the best of luck tomorrow's soccer match i think being in that tourism and rec committee that that is very appropriate here and also say congratulations to our boys from the 412 the pirates for beating up on the phillies last night Thank you, Madam Chair.
Okay. I don't have words for that. So with that, meeting is over. Thank you.