State Sen. Donald R. White (R-41st) is the prime sponsor for Senate bill 1055 and the proposed piece of legislation was referred to the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee in November.
Bob Kellner, owner of Kellner’s fireworks in Harrisville, was brought in to participate in the public hearing to express his thoughts on the bill.
“It was interesting,” Kellner said. “I had never been to a public hearing in the Senate like that before. We had different people from may different points of view. I gave the point of view of the Pennsylvania Pyrotechnics Association, which I am the treasurer of.”
The association’s stance is that they cannot support the proposal without having some sort of guidelines being implemented to control usage.
“The new legislation would make the ariel consumer fireworks legal in Pennsylvania anytime, anywhere,” Kellner said. “Currently, residents need local permission from township supervisors or municipalities before they can shoot them off.”
“Consumer fireworks are allowed federally to be used by the general public, but I don’t think any of us support places like downtown Pittsburgh shooting off 10,000 fireworks on New Year’s Eve,” Kellner continued. “It’s not good for the industry or for safety.”
Others in attendance brought up different points, including display companies saying only professionals should be handling the fireworks, while others think the bill has the potential to generate a lot of money for the state.
Clif Rizer, owner of Rizer’s Fireworks in Marienville, also was at the hearing Wednesday morning, although he did not testify before the committee.
State Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-21st) is not a member of the committee, but he also made a brief appearance at the session.
“It was pretty neat to see two constituents participating,” he said.
More public hearings could be held in the future if the committee deems it necessary. Otherwise, the members will have to decide whether to push the bill out of committee to the Senate floor or to not pursue it any further.
“There was just such a diversity of opinions,” Kellner said. “We really don’t know which way they are going to go. They have their job cut out for them.”