THE GOVERNOR
GOVERNOR'S OFFICE
[50 Pa.B. 6985]
[Saturday, December 12, 2020]
Notice of Veto; House Bill 21, Printer's No. 4619 November 30, 2020
To the Honorable House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaPursuant to Article IV, Section 15 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, I am returning herewith, without my approval, House Bill 21, Printer's Number 4619.
This legislation creates a new license for home inspectors regulated by the State Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers. When determining whether an occupation needs to be regulated, consideration should be given to how to best protect the public from potential harm, and whether there is a more cost-effective and less restrictive manner that achieves this purpose. After decades of expanding professional licensing, there is a national awareness of the need to modernize job licensing to reduce restrictions while protecting consumers and benefiting workers. Over-licensing makes it harder for skilled workers to get into a profession, reducing their career opportunities and lowering their pay, while increasing costs to consumers.
In 2000, the Pennsylvania Home Inspection Law, Act 114 of 2000, was enacted for the purpose of providing a much-needed regulatory framework for home inspectors in Pennsylvania. Act 114 of 2000 requires, in part, home inspectors to be in good standing with a national home inspector association, conduct themselves under an ethical code of conduct, attend continuing professional education classes, generate home inspector reports consistent with standards, maintain liability insurance, and be subject to criminal penalties for violations of the law.
Since 2018, my administration has been committed to occupational licensing reform that will protect the public while reducing barriers to employment. In those two years, working alongside the General Assembly, I have signed into law significant reforms, including acts 41 and 53 of 2020. Instead of creating a new licensure class imposing new barriers to entry for home inspectors, we should evaluate targeted amendments to Act 114 of 2000 to improve the existing framework and appropriately protect Pennsylvanians.
For the reasons set forth above, I must withhold my signature from House Bill 21, Printer's Number 4619.
Sincerely,
Governor
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 20-1722. Filed for public inspection December 11, 2020, 9:00 a.m.]
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.