The state Senate on Monday approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Mary Jo White, R-21st, that establishes a pretrial procedure to determine if a defendant in a capital penalty trial is a person with mental retardation.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that applying the death penalty to people with mental retardation is unconstitutional, and left it up to states to determine how to implement the decision.

White's bill establishes a pretrial hearing by a judge to make the assessment.

"Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2002, our commonwealth courts have been waiting for direction from the Legislature as it debated how the courts should determine mental retardation, and whether it should be decided before or after trial," White said.

"I think it makes the most sense to have a pretrial hearing, rather than go through the expense of a capital trial and then determine it's not a capital case at all. Our courts need direction on this extremely serious topic, and passage of (the measure) will provide it."

State Sen. Bob Robbins, R-50th, who co-sponsored the bill, praised the Senate action.

"While I believe that there are crimes that merit the death penalty, it is essential that all factors be taken into account before it is imposed,"he said. "Certainly, mental illness is a factor that should and must be taken into account by the court."

The bill now awaits consideration by the House.

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U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-3rd, hailed passage by the House of Representatives of legislation to expand and reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers, Firms and Farmers programs.

English, co-chair of the TAA Coalition, has introduced the measure over the past four years.

"These TAA reforms expand and clarify benefits, cut through mountains of red tape, and channel the right resources toward retraining. This represents the most important restructuring of TAA since the program's inception."

TAA was created in 1962 to help U.S. employers and their workers adjust to foreign competition.

Congress most recently expanded the program in 2002. Without Congressional action, the program will expire at the end of this year.

English's measure, approved Wednesday in the House by a vote of 264 to 157, would overhaul and reauthorize the programs for five years.

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Senior District Judge Joseph O'Donnell has been recertified as a member of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System after completing his 2007 continuing legal education work.

The weeklong instruction program in Harrisburg by the Minor Judiciary Education Board and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts is required for district judges.