Rep. Paul Friel, of the 26th District, says his state House Bill 1506 could go a long way in meeting the concerns of parents rights groups while also preserving the First Amendment rights of students. Read more

"In the event of a strike, it’s crucial that Congress stays out of it and allows the union to do its work. If by August 1, UPS employees are on strike, I’ll continue to stand by them and support their right to a fair employment deal,” Rozzi said. Read more

"By introducing legislation that fights the mental health stigma, increases accessibility to treatment and supports those who sadly are affected by suicide, we can help countless people and truly save lives,” O'Mara said. Read more

HARRISBURG, July 13 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, introduced legislation this week that would create a two-year pilot program administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development to help renovate and redevelop historic and older buildings across the commonwealth. “Pennsylvania is rich in history,” Ciresi said. “Just walk down a neighborhood street, you can find historic homes and older buildings recalling our commonwealth’s storied past. Unfortunately, as too many of them require expensive renovations to bring them up to code, many people have been forced to abandon them and leave our downtowns filled with vacant buildings.” House Bill 1573 would create a two-year pilot program administered by DCED to help renovate and redevelop historic and older buildings across Pennsylvania. The program, the “Historic and Older Building Redevelopment Assistance Grant Program,” would address the greater challenges and higher costs involved in bringing older buildings up to code. Grant funds could be used to bring mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems up to code through the installation of modern equipment such as sprinklers, efficient HVAC systems, elevators, and extra stairs, as well as to make entryways and other building features more accessible for people with disabilities. These improvements would be intended for and evaluated based on their ability to Read more

HARRISBURG, July 8 – In a bipartisan vote, the PA House yesterday passed state Rep. Joe Ciresi’s legislation (H.B 1422) that would modernize Pennsylvania’s charter school law to specifically address cyber charter schools to ensure transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility. “The vast majority of the commonwealth’s elected school boards have told legislators PA’s charter school law is in desperate need of reform,” Ciresi said. “Today we passed a comprehensive reform bill that holds cyber charter schools to the same standards we expect of anyone who receives public funds, including transparency, ethical standards and greater oversight of spending. By ending $455 million in overpayments and making sure that taxpayer dollars are being properly spent on their intended purpose – educating students – this reform bill will help all our students and taxpayers.” In 2015, the General Assembly passed a law to create an education funding formula based on actual student enrollment and cost factors to address an outdated, flawed and inequitable system of funding school districts. However, the bill did not address cyber charter schools, which continue to receive the same funding as brick-and-mortar charter schools despite having materially lower costs, leading Ciresi to sponsor H.B. 1422 to address this issue. Ciresi’s legislation would set a single statewide tuition rate for non-special Read more

HARRISBURG, July 7 – State Rep. Gina H. Curry voted in favor of the 2023-24 Pennsylvania budget bill (H.B. 611), which now heads to Gov. Josh Shapiro for approval. Shapiro is expected to line-item veto a controversial program added late by the Senate to divert public money to private schools, which is why Curry said that she ultimately felt safe to vote for the bill. “The budget commits the second largest infusion of money to our K-12 schools in Pa. budget history, so it’s reassuring to know that a new Democratic House majority, a Republican Senate and a new governor can come together and pass a bipartisan budget in the right direction for Pennsylvania,” she said. “From here, we need to build on our bipartisan framework and deliver government that works for all of Pennsylvania.” Curry said that while there is much more to be done in future budgets, this year’s also makes historic investments in public safety, health care, community and economic development, and much more. $1 billion in K-12 education with the largest increase to basic ed funding in history. $10 million for student teacher stipends. Free breakfast for all students & expanded free lunches. $50 million in whole home repair. $20 million to fund the historically disadvantaged business program. Investments in apprenticeships and vocational/technical education. Funding for indigent defense for first Read more

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE State Rep. Dan Williams D-Chester County www.pahouse.com/Williams Williams’ bipartisan bill to fight blight passes PA House of Representatives HARRISBURG, July 7 – A bipartisan bill that would give municipalities another tool to fight urban blight passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives today. Sponsored by Rep. Dan Williams, D-Chester, H.B. 859 would give a municipality the ability to deny permits to limited liability corporations that are delinquent on their taxes. Currently, municipalities may deny permits to individuals who are delinquent, but not LLCs. Williams said some bad actors are using this loophole to force municipalities to approve permits despite their delinquent status. The bill would also allow municipalities to deny permits to an LLC if one of the principals of the LLC has delinquencies in the municipality. “Every struggling community in Pennsylvania wants to fight blight and see their neighborhoods revitalized,” Williams said. “That revitalization includes ensuring there are safe, quality buildings owned by a reliable tax base.” The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. Read more

HARRISBURG, July 6 – State Rep. Kristine Howard, D-Chester, said she is proud to announce the passage of her legislation (H.B. 841) in the state House of Representatives today. House Bill 841 would restrict DNA collection from juveniles to those convicted, or adjudicated delinquent of, serious sexual and violent offenses such as murder and rape. The bill would also require the automatic expungement of DNA previously collected for juveniles at the time the applicable offense becomes eligible for expungement. Currently, DNA is collected from juveniles for a host of felonies and misdemeanors, many minor. Howard said that DNA expungement is not automatic, leaving the burden on individuals whose requests are rarely granted, unlike the sealing of juvenile records as a matter of course. “The juvenile justice system was intended to prioritize rehabilitation over punishment,” Howard said. “However, the overuse of juvenile DNA collection conflicts with the rehabilitative purposes of the juvenile system. My legislation gets rid of this conflict and instead further promotes rehabilitation, which is what our justice system should be focused on. I thank my colleagues for sharing this goal and pushing this bill to the state Senate.” The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration. Read more

Victims of domestic violence are on their way toward receiving much-needed support in rebuilding their lives after the House today passed legislation authored by state Rep. Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware. Read more

HARRISBURG, July 6 – After his vote to approve the state budget this week, state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, highlighted its progress in education funding and significant expansion of property tax relief as the reasons for his support. Pennsylvania’s 2023-24 budget includes $717 million in funding for public schools statewide, including $100 million in “Level Up” funding dedicated for the most underfunded school districts that Ciresi had pushed to include in the budget. “While this budget doesn’t finish the job in addressing education underfunding, we’ve now come farther than ever before in shrinking the funding gap for our underfunded districts, especially our most-underfunded districts like Pottstown,” Ciresi said. “With the help of supplemental ‘Level Up’ funding to help these districts catch up, I’m proud that we’ve delivered almost $10 million in new, recurring state funding for Pottstown School District in the past three years. This funding is helping our schools and led to Pottstown residents even getting a local tax rebate this year.” Locally, the budget increases funding for Montgomery County school districts, including $6 million in increased funding for school districts in the 146th Legislative District: Pottstown School District: $3,363,052 increase. Spring-Ford Area School District: $1,588,175 increase. Pottsgrove School District: Read more