Bipartisan legislation that would require coroners to investigate and report cases of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, or SUDEP, was unanimously approved (49-0) today by the Pennsylvania Senate, state Rep. Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware, announced. Read more

HARRISBURG, Sept. 30 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, introduced legislation last week that would require clear toll-rate signage on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. “Currently, motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike have no information about what their tolls will cost while they’re driving,” Ciresi said. “My legislation would ensure that motorists have clear, readily visible information about the toll they will be charged.” Ciresi noted that tolls are determined by vehicle classification, including axle count and, for certain tolls, vehicle height. House Bill 2794 was referred to the state House Transportation Committee. Read more

HARRISBURG, Sept. 30 – The House Communications & Technology Committee today approved three measures out of committee, including legislation regarding the use of disclosure of AI content, video streaming and driverless vehicles, Majority Chair Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, announced. “The legislation the committee approved today will help protect consumers from misinformation by AI-generated content and from disturbingly loud advertisements on streaming services,” Ciresi said. “We’ve also advanced a resolution to help prepare Pennsylvania for the potential impact of driverless vehicles and personal delivery devices on safety and jobs.” The legislation approved during today’s committee meeting were: House Bill 2534 (Ortitay, Ciresi) – Provides for AI disclosure by requiring providers of generative AI platforms to embed provenance metadata to track content created or modified by AI and offer AI detection tools, and requires large online platforms to detect and disclose AI-generated or modified content based on available provenance data. House Bill 2790 (Fiedler, Shaffer) – Prohibits video streaming services from transmitting commercial advertisements at a volume louder than their accompanying video content. House Resolution 563 (Waxman) – Directs the Joint State Government Commission to study the potential impact of driverless vehicles and personal delivery devices on Read more

HARRISBURG, Sept. 29 – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today passed legislation introduced by state Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, D-Chester, that would require the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to explicitly consider the public interest when making decisions that affect utility customers across the commonwealth. Friel Otten’s legislation, H.B. 2184 , would establish a statutory definition of "public interest" and require the PUC to consider factors such as affordability, reliability, resilience, economic impacts, energy efficiency, sustainability, transparency, public safety and equitable treatment of customers in utility proceedings. The bill would also require the commission to explain how its decisions align with the public interest. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support by a vote of 150-53. Today's action reflects growing concern among lawmakers about rising utility costs and the need for greater transparency and accountability in decisions that directly affect utility customers, businesses and communities across Pennsylvania. "The increasing cost of almost everything in life right now is one of the first things people bring up to me, whether it's at the grocery store, the soccer sideline, or the carpool group chat," Friel Otten said. "According to United Way's ALICE report, 40% of Pennsylvania households are already living on the financial edge. For those families, a sudden spike Read more

Standing alongside a powerful collection of portraits of gun-violence victims, legislators and advocates gathered in the state Capitol Monday to call for policies aimed at putting an end to the violence. Read more

HARRISBURG, Sept. 28 – The Pennsylvania House Communications & Technology Committee held a public hearing today on state Rep. Joe Ciresi’s H.B. 2637 that would bar manufacturing, distributing, selling or leasing a children’s toy with a generative AI chatbot in Pennsylvania for three years. “There is too much that we don’t know yet about the effects of AI companions on children, but the early warning signs are severe,” Ciresi said. “The toys that we’ve already seen on the market have been found to say things that could put children in danger, produce sexually explicit outputs, and violate the privacy of children and their families with irresponsible data collection and storage practices - without even getting into the long-term effects on child development. The risks are too high to treat our children as test subjects for this developing technology.” The committee heard from subject matter experts supporting and challenging the legislation. Supporters of the bill included: Dr. Mitch Prinstein, John Van Seters distinguished professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and co-director of the Winston Center on Technology and Brain Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Dana Suskind, professor of surgery and pediatrics and founder and co-director of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, University of Chicago. Rachel Franz, Young Read more

$250K grant to address behavioral health workforce shortage Read more