{"id":35066,"date":"2020-07-07T08:19:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T12:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=35066"},"modified":"2020-07-07T08:19:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T12:19:13","slug":"dinniman-repeal-2017-fireworks-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=35066","title":{"rendered":"Dinniman: repeal 2017 fireworks law"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>WEST CHESTER \u2014 State Senator Andy Dinniman<\/span>\u00a0said today\u00a0<\/span>he<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>support<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0legislation to repeal Pennsylvania\u2019s 2017 fireworks law after fireworks accidents have led to injuries, cl<\/span>aimed\u00a0lives, and resulted<\/span>\u00a0in<\/span>\u00a0fires and significant property<\/span>\u00a0damage in just the past few weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201c<\/span>The ongoing and near-constant use of powerful fireworks in<\/span>\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0disrespectful and downright careless manner has become a more than a nuisance \u2013 it\u2019s a danger<\/span>,\u201d Dinniman said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>The intense\u00a0<\/span>noise,\u00a0<\/span>light<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and smoke\u00a0<\/span>have<\/span>\u00a0a negative impact<\/span>\u00a0on senior citizens, young children, veterans, those with special needs, those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and pets and animals.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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P<\/span>ennsylvania\u2019s fireworks law<\/span>\u00a0was loosened two years ago to allow larger and more powerful \u201cClass C\u201d consumer-grade fireworks\u00a0<\/span>including<\/span>\u00a0aerial devices like rockets<\/span>, mortars,<\/span>\u00a0roman candles<\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>powerful firecrackers containing up to 50 milligrams of explosive material<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Previously, Pennsylvania law only allowed sparklers and non-airborne novelties.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dinniman opposed the measure, which was<\/span>\u00a0added in Act 43, a tax code bill passed as part of the state budget<\/span>. It\u00a0<\/span>was designed to fill a budget gap by raising revenue through expanded licensing and fees, including a 12 percent tax on sales of consumer fireworks, in addition to the state\u2019s traditional 6 percent sales tax.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Between the end of\u00a0<\/span>2017 and mid-2019, the<\/span>\u00a0tax raised $8.2 million\u00a0<\/span>in revenue<\/span>. Preliminary estimates show\u00a0<\/span>it is on\u00a0<\/span>track to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>bring in about that much in 2019-20<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe cannot put a price tag on the health, safety<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and peace of mind of our residents, families<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and communities,\u201d Dinniman said. \u201cThroughout this summer and especially\u00a0<\/span>following the July 4<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0weekend, my office has heard from dozens of residents who are fed up<\/span>\u00a0and living on edge. Some are<\/span>\u00a0even living in fear.\u00a0<\/span>Fireworks can be fun when used sa<\/span>fely and respectfully, but that<\/span>\u00a0doesn\u2019t appear to be happening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Over this past weekend, fireworks caused $100,000 damage in a fire that destroyed several garages in Lancaster, according to fire officials. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During the month of June, two people tragically died in fireworks accidents in Pennsylvania, including a 31-year-old man in Scranton and a 50-year-old Lehigh Valley man, according to reports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And in late June, fireworks sparked multiple brush fires in Gettysburg.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that\u00a0<\/span>would give officials in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Bethlehem, Lancaster, and Bensalem Township the option of banning the use of consumer fireworks within their borders.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While Dinniman supported that measure, he noted that it would not help residents and communities who feel that they\u2019re under siege by the careless and dangerous use of fireworks in the rest of the Commonwealth, including Chester County.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dinniman has signed onto legislation sponsored by Senator Judy\u00a0Schwank\u00a0that would repeal the 2017 fireworks law and return Pennsylvania to the ban on high-powered firecrackers and rockets that had been in place since 1939. He also\u00a0<\/span>noted that\u00a0<\/span>prior to 2017,\u00a0<\/span>stand-alone bills to liberalize P<\/span>ennsylvania\u2019s fireworks law had<\/span>\u00a0failed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cTwo years ago,\u00a0<\/span>fireworks legalization was pushed<\/span>\u00a0through the<\/span>\u00a0legislative<\/span>\u00a0backdoor at the tail end of the budget process,\u201d he said. \u201cMany\u00a0<\/span>didn\u2019t even know it<\/span>\u00a0until<\/span>\u00a0stores and stands began popping up and<\/span>\u00a0fireworks started exploding above and around their homes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Currently, Pennsylvania statistics on fireworks-related fires, injuries<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and deaths are simply not calculated and stored in a centralized place.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However,\u00a0<\/span>according to the<\/span>\u00a0US Consumer Product Safety Commission<\/span>, last year:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  • Fireworks were involved with an estimated 10,000 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • An estimated 7,300 fireworks-related injuries (or 73 percent of the total estimated fireworks-related<\/span>\u00a0injuries in 2019) were treated in U.S. hospital emer<\/span>gency departments\u00a0<\/span>between June 21, 2019 and July 21, 2019<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    • Children younger than 15 years of age accounted for 36 percent of the estimated fireworks-related injuries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      WEST CHESTER \u2014 State Senator Andy Dinniman\u00a0said today\u00a0he\u00a0supports\u00a0legislation to repeal Pennsylvania\u2019s 2017 fireworks law after fireworks accidents have led to injuries, claimed\u00a0lives, and resulted\u00a0in\u00a0fires and significant property\u00a0damage in just the past few weeks.\u00a0 \u201cThe ongoing and near-constant use of powerful fireworks in\u00a0a\u00a0disrespectful and downright careless manner has become a more than a nuisance \u2013 it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12241,12240,4852,1143],"class_list":["post-35066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-act-43","tag-dangers","tag-fireworks","tag-sen-andy-dinniman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35067,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35066\/revisions\/35067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}