U.S. Rep.

Melissa Hart, R-4th, has worked to secure the passage of The Child Safety Act by the House of Representatives. The legislation, co-sponsored by Hart, strengthens the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program to enhance the ability of authorities to verify the residences and employment of sexual offenders.The bill also requires sex offenders to verify their residence and employment with authorities every month and mandates in-person verification with authorities every six months.The Child Safety Act imposes new requirements on states to notify each other when sex offenders move from one state to another and expands the list of offenses covered by the registration and notification requirements to include foreign crimes and military offenses.———State Rep.

Frank

LaGrotta, D-10th, successfully added an amendment to the 2006-07 state budget on Tuesday that would provide up to $15 million for tourism promotion assistance."The governor's budget proposed a decrease in the (tourism) allocation — a bad idea since tourism is the biggest job-creating industry in the state," said LaGrotta said, chairman of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee."We know that every dollar spent in promoting Pennsylvania as an ideal destination for business and leisure brings in tremendous revenue returns."The state budget for 2005-06 provided $11 million for the state's 49 tourism promotion agencies. The proposed Tourism Promotion Assistance allocation for 2006-07 falls $550,000 short of the current fiscal year's funding.LaGrotta said the Tourism Promotion Assistance line item, a matching-fund grant program, was created in 1961 under the Tourism Promotion Law. Since the inception of the matching fund grant program, the Tourism Promotion Assistance line item has not been funded at the levels necessary to comply with the law.———State Sen.

Bob Robbins, R-50th, introduced legislation Monday that would provide relief to motor coach companies whose tax exemption for fuel purchases was ended by the federal government.Beginning last year, the federal government no longer allows motor coach companies to purchase diesel fuel tax-free. Robbins noted, as a result of the change at the federal level, motor coach companies are now subject to Pennsylvania fuel taxes as well.Motor coach companies — which are small family owned businesses such as Anderson Coach & Travel of Greenville — are now paying a significant increase in taxes due to the changes at the federal level."On top of the 95 percent increase in diesel fuel costs over the past 18 months, this new tax increase is having an extremely adverse effect on motor coach companies," Robbins said. "In essence, these companies are being penalized in Pennsylvania due to changes in federal law."This bill would eliminate the oil franchise and excise tax for motor coach companies registered in Pennsylvania and bring them back to where they were prior to changes made by the federal government."The legislation has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee for consideration.———U.S. Rep.

Phil English, R-3rd, was recently recognized with the National Association of Community Health Centers "2006 Superhero Award" for his leadership in expanding health care access to millions of uninsured and medically underserved Americans.

———State Sen.