What's the Pa. House Voting on This Week?

The Pennsylvania House returns to session on Monday; here's what's on the agenda this week.

Here's this week's schedule for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Information has been supplied by Rep. Mike Turzai, Republican Majority Leader. In light of the recent sexual abuse scandals involving students, the House passed and sent to the Senate for consideration the Child Exploitation Awareness Education Act, House Bill 19 authored by Rep. Mauree Gingrich (R-Lebanon County).  The legislation would require the Pennsylvania Department of Education to develop an age-appropriate child exploitation awareness curriculum to be included in the health curriculum for children in grades K-8. The curriculum would teach children to recognize sexual abuse and to identify certain behaviors in adults, such as grooming, that can lead to …

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Alyson D'Alessandro

9:34 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013

It looks like HB76 hasn't been re-introduced yet by Rep. Jim Cox. It is listed under his Co-Sponsorship Memoranda, but not as an official House bill. (Last year it was known as HB 1776/SB 1400.) http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDocs/Legis/CSM/DisplayMemos.cfm?SPick=20130&Chamber=H&MemberID=1114   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Simmons Denies Truth About Education Funding Cuts

Mark Spengler criticizes state Rep. Justin Simmons (R-131) in the following letter to the editor.

To the Editor: In 2011 Governor Tom Corbett and the Republicans enacted massive cuts to public education. According to the incumbent representative from the 131st district, it is all just a lie. Justin Simmons has repeatedly claimed that he and his party actually increased education spending while the one-time federal stimulus money simply ran out. A simple review of the facts shows otherwise. Two significant examples of state education dollars being eliminated were the $259 million block grant ($100 million was eventually restored) and the total elimination of the 30 percent charter school reimbursement. Other programs that were axed included duel enrollment, tutoring assistance and the distinguished educator program. It should also be …

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careless fills

4:24 am on Friday, October 12, 2012

of course there's no drug testing   more ›

Fake Facebook Profiles Could Be Criminalized

A proposed Pa. law would make it a crime to impersonate someone online through a social media account like Facebook or Twitter, or through a fake email address or text message.

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Offending someone online isn’t a crime, but proposed legislation in Pennsylvania would penalize people who take it too far. This week, House Judiciary Committee representatives are scheduled to discuss House Bill 2249, which makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate someone online. But the bill has stirred up free speech debates for its potential chilling effect on online communication — or on pranksters. Now, the bill’s sponsor says specific changes will ensure people who are joking with friends, or exercising First Amendment rights, won’t be prosecuted. The sponsor, state Rep. Katharine Watson, R-Bucks, said the bill is targeted toward giving law enforcement a way to penalize online bullying. …

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Charter Schools Bills Stalled in Pa. House

Will GOP House members push ahead on charter school funding changes and academic accountability during the fall session?

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — A major charter school reform package that would include funding changes and additional academic accountability is widely viewed as a top priority for Republicans in Harrisburg during the fall session, which began Monday. But at least one top House GOP leader said little has been accomplished since the proposal reached the doorstep of becoming law in late June. “We’re coming back cold,” said House Education Committee Chairman Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, on Monday. “I heard nothing much from leadership or the governor’s office about where we’re at for charters.” Clymer said he has read numerous media reports about the charter school bill being near the top of the Legislature’s fall agenda, but he has …

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Pa. Lawmakers Look at Medicaid Expansion

Debate on whether to expand Medicaid in Pa. is partisan so far

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Lawmakers are just beginning the debate on whether to expand Medicaid in Pennsylvania, and so far, the discussion sits on partisan lines. This week, Majority Whip Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York, said he plans to introduce a bill that would block the controversial expansion of Medicaid under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. “Expanding Medicaid is the wrong course of action and is a disaster in the making. Adding more people to Medicaid is not something we should aspire to nor celebrate,” said Saylor in a memo circulated to House legislators. “It is not the way to address the uninsured population.” In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a portion of ACA unconstitutional that …

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Reforms Target Pa. Weatherization Program Waste

Pa. House Bill proposes reforms to clean up Weatherization Assistance Program

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — New reinforcements may be on their way to insulate Pennsylvania’s weatherization program from wasteful spending. A recent study on this program’s lack of checks and balances prompted state representatives to require new income eligibility verification for the Weatherization Assistance Programs and Low Income Heating Assistance Program. House Bill 1991 aims to deflect funds from ineligible residents, so they can reach the thousands of eligible Pennsylvanians on the waiting list. Another aspect of the measure would eliminate conflicts of interest on projects between agencies and contractors. Past problems A February special report from the Office of the Auditor General cited eligibility issues…

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Pa. House Gives Police More Wiretap Authority

Pennsylvania's updated Wiretap Act is controversial among lawmakers on both the left and right

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent  HARRISBURG — A bill that would update the state’s wiretap law has some wondering if Pennsylvania is helping its law enforcement agencies track criminals or lowering expectations of privacy. The state House recently passed House Bill 2400 with a 145-to-52 vote. The bill amends Act 18, commonly known as the Wiretap Act, by broadening the legal circumstances under which civilians can record oral communication without consent, and how recordings can be used as evidence in the criminal court system, among around a dozen new provisions and updates.  Despite some provisions designed to help law enforcement agencies do their jobs, Democratic and Republican legislators voiced concern about how additional changes…

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Bruce Davis

5:29 am on Friday, June 22, 2012

Started with 911 and Patriot Act and continues today! This new type of legislation allows the government to allow anyone wide access to monitor any citizen at random by this current legislation without consequence.   more ›