Today, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation sponsored by state Rep. Morgan Cephas, D-Phila., that would permit mortgage lenders to offer discount points to borrowers to lower their interest rate and monthly payments. House Bill 1103 would expand opportunities for affordable credit so that home buyers wouldn’t need to turn to higher interest options like personal loans or credit cards. Read more

Chairwoman of the Philadelphia House Delegation state Rep. Morgan Cephas, D-Phila., joined Gov. Josh Shapiro, Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger, and other elected officials at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia this morning to announce a state investment of $30 million to develop the Philadelphia Navy Yard Greenway District.The grant is awarded to Ensemble/Mosaic Navy Yard LLC. through the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites program – a strategic and targeted strategy to unlock economic growth by preparing sites for business expansion and job creation. The project will target life sciences, research, and manufacturing. Cephas touted the major investment as a key to unlocking economic growth and prosperity for the Philadelphia region. Read more

"For far too long, cannabis prohibition was used as a weapon against Black and brown communities. Today, we took a major step toward a meaningful repair and durable justice," state Rep. Rick Krajewski said. "This bill is about building a legal marketplace that puts working Pennsylvanians first, delivering hundreds of millions to the neighborhoods most devastated by criminalization and preventing a harmful corporate takeover of the market." Read more

Today’s shooting of a Philadelphia Police officer near Overbrook High School is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the injured officer and their family, as well as the students, staff, and families of the Overbrook school community. Read more

Today, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation sponsored by state Rep. Morgan Cephas, D-Phila., that would protect Pennsylvania homeowners from signing away their home and generational wealth to unscrupulous realty agents. Read more

Legislation to establish new criminal offense protecting Pennsylvania homeowners Read more

“It’s time! We must raise the wage,” said state Rep. Roni Green, who represents portions of Philadelphia. “We know we have to raise our voices and rain doesn’t stop us. Our six neighboring states have raised the wage and if lawmakers don’t know how they can vote for this, maybe they should visit one of our neighboring states to find out.” Read more

Reps. Rick Krajewski, D-Phila., and Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, officially introduced long-awaited legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania — a bold, thoughtful proposal designed to center public health, repair communities harmed by prohibition, and create a stable, sustainable market. Read more

Pa. state Rep. Darisha Parker participated in a House Majority Policy Committee hearing on flood risk & mitigation, listening to local officials and experts on the issues that they are facing. Parker says that we need action to protect communities from future flooding as “historic events” become far too common due to the influence of climate change. Read more

HARRISBURG, April 24 – Today, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation ( H.B. 643 ) introduced by state Rep. Sean Dougherty that would increase aid for affordable housing in Pennsylvania. The bill would allow a future increase in funding for the PA Housing and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund, enabling more people to have safe, affordable housing. PHARE revenue from the state’s Realty Transfer Tax will reach a statutory cap of $100 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year. Starting in 2028 and going forward, the bill would raise this cap to $110 million to help PHARE keep up with high demand for this source of housing aid. “Affordable housing is a necessity that all Pennsylvanians deserve easy access to,” said Dougherty, D-Phila. “This bill takes a very necessary step to making more affordable housing options a real opportunity for many Pennsylvanians who are in need of it.” The bill now heads to the Pennsylvania Senate for future consideration. Read more