Pennsylvania in Focus

(The Center Square) - After a heated floor debate, the final bill in a series of proposed gun control measures failed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday. The legislation would have served to ban “machine gun conversion devices” also known as “switches” or “glock switches,” which allow standard pistols to fire over a thousand rounds per minute. Debate on the topic brought a w...

(The Center Square) - Advocates taking aim at the wide array of “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, found in common personal care and household products spoke before the House Consumer Protection, Utilities and Technology committee Tuesday. Experts testified about the dangers to human health and child development posed by products from makeup to baby clothes that contain the chemicals. Experts noted tha...

(The Center Square) - Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Lightning Plan promises to combine his commitment to win investments in the artificial intelligence sector with a focus on improving permitting processes that has been successful in many wings of the state bureaucracy. House legislators have turned that vision into a bill that promises to develop a central authority for large projects called the Reliable E...

(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s emergency savings account, contrary to its colloquial name of “Rainy Day Fund,” is for anything but. Instead, state law reserves the $7 billion pot for economic downturns or unexpected revenue shortfalls, and can’t be tapped without a two-thirds vote from the legislature. Neither condition appears to have been met for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed $51.5 billion...

(The Center Square) - A nationwide increase in political violence almost certainly isn’t what Josh Shapiro hoped would set the tone during his first term in office as Pennsylvania’s governor. Yet, as he’s navigated through an attempted presidential assassination, a manhunt for Luigi Mangione that gripped the country, and the firebombing of his own residence in Harrisburg, he’s become a national sp...

(The Center Square) – America’s colleges are not faring well when it comes to their handling of free speech issues on campus – in fact, most deserve a grade of “F,” according to a newly released report. The results of a student survey at 257 schools nationwide reveal a poor free speech climate, less tolerance for controversial speakers, and more acceptance of aggressive tactics to silence campus f...

(The Center Square) - With no budget and no viable long-term transit solutions in sight, the Senate recessed till Oct. 20 on Wednesday. Majority Leader Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, issued a statement, however, saying that the Philadelphia mass transit band-aid approved by PennDOT might allow for movement in the coming days. Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed his budget to the legislature in early February...

(The Center Square) – With a bit of a limp, Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta made his way up the Capitol steps to cheers and applause. The Philadelphia Democrat had just completed a 105-mile walk to demand funding for mass transit. The journey from Philadelphia to Harrisburg took place over four days, spanning the Democratic National Committee Vice Chair’s entire Labor Day weekend and taking him through urba...

(The Center Square) - U.S. Senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick continue to build upon their reputation of bipartisan congeniality, particularly expressed in shared views about the state of antisemitism in the United States. The pair sent letters to the presidents of five of the commonwealth’s most prestigious universities “expressing concern about the rise of antisemitism on college campuse...

(The Center Square) – Ballots returned to county election offices with incorrect or missing dates still count as valid, according to a federal opinion issued Tuesday. A three-panel judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit said Pennsylvania’s mandate that mail-in votes with dating errors must be set aside violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The unanimous decision found that...

(The Center Square) - For Philadelphia leaders, security concerns are top of mind as the city approaches a banner year of sports and cultural events. But even as the world bets big on the city’s ability to host major events like America250 and FIFA World Cup games, frustrated Philadelphians are struggling with the state’s funding choices. The committee heard testimony just days before SEPTA’s majo...

(The Center Square) – She earned the most votes of any statewide Republican candidate in the 2024 election, besting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s record set two years prior. Now, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity hopes that massive popularity will outshine him again in 2026. “And I’m giving you and your family my solemn oath that I will work hard every day to fix the problems that Josh Shapiro has create...

(The Center Square) – Reinstating work requirements for some welfare recipients found support across the aisle on Wednesday. It’s a notable change after the partisan nature of the debate in recent years: Republicans have long wanted waivers from the mandate, which have been used on and off for the last 20 years, to expire amid fears about prolonged government dependency and fraud. Democrats see th...

(The Center Square) – There’s no shortage of frustration when it comes to stalled negotiations over funding for public transit in Pennsylvania. Of the plans proffered – using sales taxes versus dipping into the transit trust fund – neither has bipartisan support. There’s a road not yet taken, however. In the days before both chambers convened to approve their respective solutions, Republican Sen....

(The Center Square) - Officials have urged the press and community not to speculate about the cause of a deadly explosion at a U.S. Steel plant in Clairton, near Pittsburgh, on Monday. Gov. Josh Shapiro joined county officials, union representatives, and U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt to discuss the incident in Allegheny County Tuesday. County Executive Sara Innamorato expressed gratitude to the doz...

(The Center Square) - Pennsylvania is stuck in what seems to be an ever-deepening mental health care crisis, exacerbated by staffing shortages across the industry. To address it, two senators held a meeting of the chamber's Majority Policy Committee in Danville on Tuesday, inviting more than a dozen experts to participate in a roundtable on the subject. Sens. Dave Argall, R-Mahanoy City, and Lynda...

(The Center Square) - House Democrats met in front of Abraham Lincoln High School in Northeast Philadelphia to urge Senate Republicans to return to Harrisburg to pass funding for the state’s mass transit systems, a sticking point in the state's budget negotiations. Without dedicated funding, SEPTA is poised to cut services on the Aug. 24, an act that will impact more than 10,000 students who rely...

(The Center Square) – Pittsburgh’s “AI Strike Force” is aiming high to define and become a global leader in physical AI, the space in which artificial intelligence meets material goods in the form of robotics, defense systems, transportation, and more. In Harrisburg on Monday, the Strike Force's executive director Joanna Doven spoke to the urgency of the moment, echoing state leaders including Gov...

(The Center Square) – The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency announced upgrades to its flood warning and observation system on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Integrated Flood Warning and Observation System is known as IFLOWS 2.0 and will include the installation of 30 new weather stations across the state. Most of these will be placed on school properties where K-12 students will incorporate th...

(The Center Square) - The congressional budget resolution passed early this month struck a blow, many say, to the renewable energy industry by phasing out tax credits for wind and solar energy. Clean energy advocates, however, say that even in the face of energy costs projected to rise as much as 74% over the next 10 years, that there’s reason to be optimistic. While Harry Godfrey of Advanced Ener...

(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s full-time legislature wastes taxpayer money and diminishes public participation, according to a new proposal from state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz. Pennsylvania’s 253 elected officials – 203 in the House and 50 in the Senate – make over $106,000 annually, second only to New York and California. It’s also just one of 10 states that maintain a full-time legislature....

(The Center Square) - As the state still struggles to find agreement with its own budget, some legislators are urging action to protect residents of the commonwealth from the expected fallout of the Congressional budget resolution bill that passed earlier this month. One such measure is a bipartisan bill establishing requirements for hospital financial assistance which passed the House in May. It...

(The Center Square) - Two weeks late, the Pennsylvania House has taken a major step forward in passing a new state budget. House Bill 1330 passed the House with a vote of 105-97, with three Republicans voting alongside Democrats and one member on leave. Republican Appropriations chair Jim Struzzi of Indiana called the bill a necessary step forward given the delays in the legislature, but he urged...

(The Center Square) – Artificial intelligence infrastructure coming to Pennsylvania includes $90 billion from tech giants, energy companies and investment firms betting on the state’s rich power supply. And it’s got the seal of approval from top federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and President Donald Trump. In recent years, Pennsylvania’s reputation as an energy exporter...

(The Center Square) - Responding to concerns that President Donald Trump could use the Insurrection Act to deploy troops domestically, Congressman Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., introduced a bill to limit presidential power on Tuesday. The bill entitled the Insurrection Act of 2025 would update the original 1807 legislation to clarify and narrow the circumstances in which it could be used. Updates would st...