Rendell signs 8 bills into law

Gov. Ed Rendell must be suffering from writer's cramp. The governor added his signature to eight bills on Wednesday, according to his office.

I may have lost count along the way, but before today, I believe the governor had signed only 18 bills in the first six months of 2008, one of the least productive years in state legislative history.

Nothing earth-shattering among the new laws. I guess the governor is waiting for the smoke to clear before he signs the smoking ban into law.

Here's a recap of the eight bills provided by the governor's office:

House Bill 1281 is designed to better protect the Appalachian Trail by directing DCED and DCNR to assist municipalities enact zoning ordinances that preserve the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the trail, as well as to conserve and maintain it as a public natural resource.

House Bill 500 and House Bill 501 amend the Medical Practice Act of 1985 and the Osteopathic Medical Practice Act, respectively, to provide for the licensure of perfusionists. Perfusionsts perform highly technical medical services related to patients who are placed on machines that assume the functions of bodily organs, such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver. Two years from the effective date of the bill, a person may not call herself a perfusionist without being duly licensed by the State Board of Medicine or the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine.

The new law also says perfusionists may perform extracorporeal circulation, long-term cardiopulmonary support techniques, ventricular assistance, auto-transfusion, blood and blood component conservation techniques, blood and blood component management techniques, advanced life support and other related functions. They may also administer pharmacological and therapeutic agents and may perform anticoagulation monitoring and analysis, as well as blood gas and chemistry monitoring and analysis.

Senate Bill 810 authorizes and directs the Department of General Services to grant and convey, for fair market value as determined by an independent appraisal, a tract of land with any buildings, structures or improvements situate in the City of Pittston, Luzerne County, to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Pittston. The transfer contains the gaming restriction.

Senate Bill 880 allows for the Fish and Boat Commission to sell license vouchers. A voucher can be transferred to a third person, who then can redeem the voucher for the license or permit that was purchased as a voucher. A voucher cannot be used in lieu of a permit or license.

House Bill 775 amends the First Class County Code. The bill clarifies current law, which requires county commissioners to place grave markers or flag holders, headstones, and American flags on Memorial Day at the graves of deceased service persons. With the change, the graves of deceased veterans who served in the Merchant Marine during World War II would be entitled to the same grave demarcation as other service personnel. Additionally, the bill allows grave makers to be made of aluminum, or a suitable substitute material, as well as bronze, which is the material of choice under current law.

House Bill 776 amends the County Code and makes the same clarification as HB 775.

House Bill 777 amends the Second Class County Code and makes the same clarification as HB 775.