The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today approved, by a vote of 2-1, the forgiveness of an estimated $27.7 million in license fees in 2021 for retail licensees most impacted by the pandemic, including holders of restaurant, retail dispenser, club, catering club, and hotel licenses.

“Following the Governor’s request last week to waive license fees and provide some relief to struggling businesses, the PLCB did its due diligence in evaluating our authority to waive fees authorized by various state laws, as well as the fiscal impact of doing so,” said Board Chairman Tim Holden. “We believe it’s the right thing to do in support of our restaurants, bars, and gathering places, so we’re glad next year to ease the financial burden to some extent for these local businesses.”

License and permit fees being waived for these retail licensees next year include the following, which vary from $30 to $700 per fee: filing fee, license fee, renewal fee, validation fee, renewal/validation surcharge, amusement permit fee, Sunday sales permit fee, and extended hours food license fee. Safekeeping extension fees, which start at $5,000 or $10,000 per year depending on the county where a license is located and allow a license to preserve an inactive license beyond two years, will also be waived in 2021. While these license fees will be waived through 2021, licensees will still be required to timely file validation and renewal applications to keep licensees current and to avoid late-filing fees.

“I absolutely support efforts to provide relief to our bars and restaurants, but I don’t believe the PLCB has the authority to waive statutorily established fees,” said Board Member Mike Negra, explaining his dissenting vote. “This fee waiver is the equivalent of the PLCB legislating, rather than administering current law, and legislating is the role of the Pennsylvania Senate, House and Governor.”

Based on permit and fee collections in FY 2019-20, licensees may save an estimated $27.7 million in license and permit fees associated with renewals and validations, while the PLCB’s operating income will decrease about $23.8 million, split over two fiscal years. The difference between the licensee savings and the operating income decrease for the PLCB is about $4 million in fees paid by licensees but returned by the PLCB to local municipalities hosting those licensees.

In the interest of fairness and in light of the fact that less than 1,000 licensees have not renewed/validated their licenses in 2020 as compared to about 16,000 that have done so and paid the associated fees, the PLCB will require all licensees to file all documents and pay all fees necessary to bring their license up to date for 2020 by Dec. 31, 2020. Additionally, licensees not actively using their licenses must put their licenses in safekeeping by Dec. 1, 2020 (there are no fees associated with putting a license in safekeeping), but licenses already in safekeeping don’t need to extend their safekeeping periods.

License fees that will continue to be collected in 2021 include, for example, those associated with wine expanded permit applications and renewals, direct wine shipper licenses, change of ownership and/or location of a license, application fees for new licenses, fees associated with a licensee’s change of officers/managers and extension of licensed premises. Manufacturers, beer distributors and transporters for hire – businesses less impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, will be required to pay license fees in 2021.

Licensees are encouraged to review the PLCB’s revised Advisory Notice 27 for details on the fee waivers.

As a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis and its impact on licensees, the PLCB, beginning last March, established certain waivers and fee deferrals that continue today.  Not only are safekeeping requirements waived for licensees no longer able to use their liquor license, but late-filing fees were waived and licensing fees continue to be deferred. Further, the PLCB continues to expedite applications for temporary extensions of license premises to include outside service areas.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits – totaling nearly $17.9 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) is warning of a possible scam concerning Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits and reminding Pennsylvanians to be skeptical of unsolicited or random calls or text messages about public-assistance programs – especially when the calls or text messages solicit personal information, such as Social Security numbers.

“We are all living through difficult times, and unfortunately, there are people who will try to take advantage of others who may need help meeting essential needs. Be mindful, stay aware, and if you think something looks off, it probably is,” DHS Secretary Teresa Miller said.

DHS is investigating a report of individuals receiving calls with pre-recorded messages advising them to expedite their P-EBT benefits issuance by providing their Social Security number and case record number. In the message, the speaker claims to be from a County Assistance Office (CAO).

DHS and other government agencies do not ask for information about P-EBT, SNAP or any other public-assistance programs via unsolicited or random calls or texts, and Pennsylvanians should not reply to such a call or text or share any personal information if they are contacted in this way. If you or anyone you work with receive unsolicited or random calls or text messages telling you that you qualify for assistance and then asking for personal information, it is most likely a scam. Do not respond. Delete the message so you do not get caught in an identity theft scam.

Pennsylvanians who have questions about whether a call, text, letter, or other communication is legitimate should contact DHS’ Office of Income Maintenance. Clients in Philadelphia should call the Philadelphia Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226. Clients in all other counties can call the Statewide Customer Service Center at 1-877-395-8930.

The federal government authorized P-EBT in the spring to allow states to assist families with school-age children who qualified for free-and-reduced price meals through the National School Lunch Program – and who lost their easy access to breakfast and lunch at school as a result of the school closures related to COVID-19 earlier this year.

DHS began distributing P-EBT benefits to Pennsylvania families in late May. To date, more than $360 million has been distributed to about 680,000 households to help families feed nearly 1 million children.  Families received about $370 per child.

DHS administered this program in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and schools across the commonwealth. The program was recently reauthorized by the federal government for the 2020-2021 school year. Pennsylvania and other states are currently awaiting guidance from the United States Department of Agriculture to begin the program for the current school year.

Additional information about Pennsylvania’s P-EBT can be found here.

If Pennsylvanians need help purchasing or affording food for themselves and their families, help may also be available through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP helps nearly 1.9 million Pennsylvanians by providing assistance each month for groceries, helping households purchase enough food to avoid going hungry. SNAP is our country’s most important and most impactful anti-hunger program. For every meal provided by a Feeding Pennsylvania food bank, SNAP provides nine. While SNAP is intended to be a supplemental program, during a pandemic and historic unemployment, resources are strained, particularly for our lowest income Pennsylvanians.

Applications for the SNAP and other public assistance programs can be submitted online at www.compass.state.pa.us. All Pennsylvanians experiencing financial hardships due to the pandemic, a lost job, or a change in income are strongly encouraged to apply and see if they qualify for assistance with food, health care, and other essential needs.

For more information about food assistance resources for people around Pennsylvania impacted by COVID-19 and the accompanying economic insecurity, visit the Department of Agriculture’s food security guide.

Trump Administration Acts to Ensure Coverage of Life-Saving COVID-19 Vaccines & Therapeutics

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking steps to ensure all Americans, including the nation’s seniors, have access to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine at no cost when it becomes available. Today, the agency released a comprehensive plan with proactive measures to remove regulatory barriers and ensure consistent coverage and payment for the administration of an eventual vaccine for millions of Americans. CMS released a set of toolkits for providers, states and insurers to help the health care system prepare to swiftly administer the vaccine once it is available.  These resources are designed to increase the number of providers that can administer the vaccine, ensure adequate reimbursement for administering the vaccine in Medicare, while making it clear to private insurers and Medicaid programs their responsibility to cover the vaccine at no charge to beneficiaries. In addition, CMS is taking action to increase reimbursement for any new COVID-19 treatments that are approved or authorized by the FDA.

Full press release

The Veterans Health Administration Employee Education System (EES) is a program office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.  They provide timely, reliable and essential educational offerings to VA employees and community providers in a variety of easily accessible and cutting-edge formats, much of which offer continuing education credits.

A host of materials have been developed that describe the free training that the VA provides to the public, including:

• A catalog of our current TRAIN educational offerings, which is updated monthly.
  • These programs can be accessed anytime through VHA TRAIN
• A subscriber page where learners can sign up by health care topic to get email announcements when courses on a specific topic are added
• VHA TRAIN data sheet, which is a single page PDF of key TRAIN information and can be distributed digitally or printed for local use

The agency has created a COVID-19 training website where any learner can take free COVID-19 specific training. Materials on the site are all available through publicly accessible devices, such as personal cell phones and tablets so they can be taken anytime, anywhere. Here is a data sheet that describes its capabilities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health updated the COVID-19 and Treatment Drugs FAQ. Substantive changes were made to the July 24, 2020 version and are shown in a red font. Q&As on convalescent plasma and Regeneron have been added, and answers regarding Remdesivir have been updated based on the revised EUA. Click here to review the updated FAQs.

Bethlehem-based OraSure has received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its rapid COVID-19 test, allowing it to bring the test to market. The company had earlier said it hoped to release in the fourth quarter of this year.