4 days ago · The Pennsylvania Capital-Star is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site dedicated to honest and aggressive coverage of state government, politics and policy.

3 days ago · Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered his third budget address on Tuesday, calling for an increase in funding to public education, mass transit, minimum wage, and the legalization of adult use cannabis. Following Shapiro’s 90 plus minute address, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle weighed in on his proposed spending plan. So did advocacy groups representing […]

5 days ago · Pa. moves to let non-citizens to obtain poultry testing licenses as bird flu quarantine expands BY: Peter Hall - February 3, 2025 Pennsylvania lawmakers are moving quickly to pass a bill that would make more technicians available to test poultry for highly contagious bird flu as officials increase vigilance over spread of the virus.

5 days ago · Gov. Josh Shapiro will address a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly this week to outline his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, his third since taking office in 2023. Going into the second half of Shapiro’s term, lawmakers and advocacy groups identify funding for education and ...

4 days ago · The state Senate passed a bill with bipartisan support Monday to reenact an expired law that provided protection for low-income Pennsylvanians who are unable to pay their utility bills.. The law, known as Chapter 14, barred private utility companies from shutting off services to customers who are behind on their bills in the winter, between Dec. 1 and March 31, and laid …

Jan 31, 2025 · Pennsylvania county commissioners have called on state lawmakers to address flaws in the commonwealth’s vote-by-mail law and increase funding for mental health care and 911 services. Local election officials continue to scramble to meet mail ballot deadlines and face legal challenges more than ...

Jan 17, 2025 · Four freshman senators have been tapped to serve in leadership roles on the state Senate’s standing committees for the 2025-2026 session, although most committee chairs in the Republican-controlled chamber will be unchanged from the previous session. Sens. Dawn Keefer (R-York) and Patty Kim (D ...

Dec 23, 2024 · Peter Hall has been a journalist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for more than 20 years, most recently covering criminal justice and legal affairs for The Morning Call in Allentown.

Dec 24, 2024 · This year’s legislative session saw fewer new laws passed than any session in more than a decade, attributable in part to the partisan divide between the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate. But there were some substantial pieces of legislation and changes to the budget that made it to the Governor’s desk. The most significant …

Oct 23, 2024 · “That said, there is still time to work on critical legislation, including providing survivors of child sex abuse an opportunity to seek justice, ensuring protections from discrimination, a long-overdue cost of living increase to retired public servants, adequately funding our mass transit systems and helping counties count votes quickly and accurately with pre …