State Sens.

Jane Orie, R-40th, and John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, reintroduced legislation that would establish federally mandated national standards to strengthen sex offender registration and notification.The measure would make Pennsylvania one of the first states to implement the national Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, also known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.States have until the end of June to implement the program."The Adam Walsh Act is crucial to protecting our children from predators because it seeks to create a national sex offender registry that will be available on the Internet and have uniform enforcement," Orie said."The act also provides stricter prison sentences for offenders who fail to register and keep their information current.The act also:n Requires all jurisdictions to enact criminal penalties for sex offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements.Requires sex offenders to appear in person to verify their registrations and to do so more frequently.Makes registration as a sex offender a mandatory condition of probation and supervised release.The changes, Orie said, would also make the system more uniform, more inclusive, more informative and more available to the public.State Rep.

Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, teamed up with two other state legislators to support an amendment to the state's constitution that would ban the formation of unions by any other process except private ballot.The legislation is in response to the federal Employee Free Choice Act now being considered in Congress. The act would allow employees to organize a union by getting a majority of employees to sign cards expressing their desire for a union.The proposed constitutional amendment, drafted by the Manufacturer and Business Association, also is supported by state Sen. John Eichelberger, R-30th, and state Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th.The three state legislators are looking for cosponsors and hope to introduce the amendment soon.