“House Bill 1250 is about more than just policy — it’s about ensuring dignity, stability and protection for people living in manufactured home communities,” Hanbidge said. “Manufactured homes provide a stable and affordable housing option, especially as the market becomes increasingly unaffordable. I’ve heard from many residents who tell me that excessive rent increases are forcing them to choose between paying for their lot and paying for basics like food and medication. Everyone deserves a safe, affordable home without being exploited. My legislation would preserve that right by shielding residents of manufactured home communities from financial abuse.” Read more
HARRISBURG, June 24 – Legislation sponsored by State Rep. Carol Kazeem, D-Delaware, that would make the cosmetology out-of-school training program a permanent career and technical education offering was unanimously approved by the House Education Committee today. Read more
HARRISBURG, June 23 – Legislation that would seal eviction records for the millions of Pennsylvanians who are unable to secure adequate housing due to an eviction passed the House today (105-98), announced the bill’s sponsors, state Reps. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, Jordan A. Harris, Elizabeth Fiedler and Rich Krajewski. “Evictions have contributed to the spiraling housing crisis in Pennsylvania by making it difficult, if not impossible, for deserving working Pennsylvanians to access safe and affordable housing in which to raise their children and help them secure and keep career-advancing jobs,” the bill’s prime sponsor, Smith-Wade-El, D-Lancaster, said. The legislation, H.B. 1095 , aims to protect communities and ensure fair housing access by instituting a statewide policy that would establish procedures to limit access to eviction records in certain cases, such as no-fault evictions. In cases where the tenant has been determined to be at fault by a judge, the records would remain accessible to the public for seven years, bringing them into line with policies related to bankruptcies and foreclosures. "Secure, affordable housing is more than a roof over someone’s head – it’s a critical building block for economic mobility, family stability, and safer neighborhoods," said Harris, who is majority chair of the House Appropriations Committee. "This legislation ensures that Pennsylvanians aren’t forever Read more
HARRISBURG, June 23 – State Rep. Tina Davis today announced the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed her legislation that would require municipalities to notify residents when changes to flood plain classifications occur — a crucial step toward better protecting homeowners and communities from flood risks. “As we’ve seen in Bucks County and across the Commonwealth, flooding can strike with little warning and isn’t confined to traditional high-risk zones,” Davis said. “Our landscapes are constantly evolving, and so is the information provided by FEMA. When a property’s flood risk changes, homeowners deserve to know.” House Bill 1282 mandates that municipalities provide written notice to property owners if their flood plain status changes, based on updates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The notice must include: Confirmation that a change in flood plain classification has occurred. Contact information for the National Flood Insurance Program. The name and contact details for the municipality’s designated flood plain administrator. Davis said the bill empowers residents with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about insurance coverage, home safety measures, and emergency preparedness. “This legislation is about transparency and giving people the Read more
“Private lateral water and sewer lines connect houses or properties to the main lines of the water and sewer system. However, when lateral lines leak, have root intrusions, or allow rainwater to infiltrate, they can have a drastic impact on the water or sewer system as a whole,” Cerrato said. “The maintenance and repair of these lines are costly and, unfortunately, these costs typically fall on homeowners, who may not have the resources to do the job.” Read more
“Veterans have served all of the United States, not just one state. Their ability to enjoy the great outdoors should be enjoyed nationally with as little hindrance as possible,” said Pielli, who is an Army veteran. Read more
“Children need a secure and legal parent-child relationship for so many aspects of their overall well-being, and this bill will provide the stability that fulfills that need,” Sanchez, D-Montgomery, said. “This relationship is essential for medical insurance coverage, decision-making regarding medical care and education, financial support, custody and visitation time, along with protecting the emotional wellness of children from protracted and harmful litigation.” Read more
HARRISBURG, June 20 – Legislation (H.R. 142) sponsored by State Rep. Carol Kazeem, D-Delaware, would direct the General Assembly’s bipartisan and bicameral research agency to conduct a study of Pennsylvania’s juvenile detention centers was approved by the House Children & Youth Committee this week. The legislation is in response to the December 2022 PA Attorney General’s Grand Jury Report, which found that the now-closed Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center failed to provide safe and secure accommodations to juveniles in its care. The report called the DCJDC a “kid jail” where the DCJDC staff exploited their power, cursing, bullying, physically abusing and sexually harassing the children, aged 10-18, in their care. The staff’s unprofessionalism was permitted by a “hands off” director, a video surveillance system characterized by “blind spots” and non-functioning equipment, a lack of oversight from county and judicial officials, and inadequate staff training, the report said. “As a state representative, I take seriously my job as a public servant to use my voice to protect the most vulnerable in our society,” Kazeem said. “The lack of standards and oversight at the DCJDC resulted in the abject failure to protect the physical, psychological and emotional welfare of the kids at the facility for decades or to provide them with the education and tools needed to reform and grow Read more
HARRISBURG, June 18 – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday passed H.B. 1364 , a landmark piece of bipartisan legislation aimed at providing long-term, sustainable funding for mass transit systems across the state – including a significant and needed boost for SEPTA, said state Rep. Mary Jo Daley. The bill would increase the transfer of existing sales tax revenue to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%, providing an expected additional $1.5 billion for transit systems over the next five years, including $292 million for next fiscal year, without a tax hike. It also would invest an additional $500 million into road and bridge projects across Pennsylvania, the most significant investment for roads and bridges in over a decade. Daley, D-Montgomery, said the bill is an important first step for commuters, environmental sustainability and Pennsylvania’s economic competitiveness. The bill will need to be passed in the Senate, where three previous bills to fund mass transit have been ignored by that chamber’s Republican leadership. “This would be a game-changing investment in the future of Pennsylvania,” Daley said. “With H.B. 1364, we are saying loud and clear that we believe in reliable, affordable and modern transit systems – not just around Philadelphia, but in every corner of the commonwealth. Senate Republican leadership must act now to avoid irreparable Read more
HARRISBURG, June 18 – State Reps. Jim Prokopiak and Nancy Guenst have introduced critical legislation aimed at addressing the growing housing affordability crisis in Pennsylvania. The bill is one of several initiatives being offered by the PA House Democratic Caucus to mitigate the rising cost of housing and provide relief to both renters and prospective homebuyers across the state. In Pennsylvania, over 43% of renters are considered rent-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent. The consequences of this financial strain can be devastating, including an increased risk of eviction, reduced access to health care, and negative developmental impacts on children raised in such households. "As legislators, we have a duty to protect the wellbeing of our constituents, and that includes ensuring they have access to affordable housing,” Prokopiak said. “This legislation will provide critical protections by instituting reasonable limits on rent increases, ensuring they don’t outpace inflation or wage growth. It’s time for Pennsylvania to take action and adopt solutions that help make our state a more affordable place to live." “As housing costs continue to climb, many Pennsylvanians are being priced out of their homes, and that is unacceptable,” Guenst said. “This bill is about fairness and stability, offering a practical solution that Read more
House lawmakers from Delaware County are leading efforts to regulate private equity transactions after the closure of Crozer Health last month. Read more
HARRISBURG, June 11 – Private-equity health care mismanagement is quickly expanding a health care desert in Southeast Pennsylvania and stressing medical systems across Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery counties, said state Rep. Mary Jo Daley, D-Montgomery. “House lawmakers have been sounding the alarm over failed private-equity management for years, and yet we still see executives and shareholders run off with pay days and bonuses after they close a hospital and leave patients to the wind ,” said Daley, who co-chairs the bicameral Women’s Health Caucus in the General Assembly . “What’s more, the widening deserts in Delaware and Chester counties strain remaining systems here in Montgomery County and all over the region, affecting even more patients’ well-being.” The closures have led to dangerously long ambulance rides and overcrowded emergency rooms in the remaining regional hospitals. "At Lankenau Medical Center and across Main Line Health, we take pride in providing compassionate, high-quality care for everyone who comes through our doors,” Lankenau Medical Center President Katie Galbraith said. “However, it wasn't right that patients had to experience increased wait times at our hospital in 2022 when Delaware County Memorial Hospital closed, and it's not right that patients in need of a trauma center from the Chester area now have to travel to Lankenau or elsewhere Read more
HARRISBURG, June 11 – Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Joe Ciresi ( H.B. 375 ) that would increase residents’ awareness of proposed subdivision and land development projects in their area passed the House today with overwhelming bipartisan support ( 108-95 ). “Residents need to know what developments are going up in their area, but property developers are often leaving them in the dark by just putting up hard-to-see, impossible-to-read ‘notices’ on nothing more than 8½-inch by 11-inch sheets of paper,” Ciresi said. “My bill would help create greater community awareness of proposed developments at negligible costs to the property developer by requiring developers to post conspicuous signs of a minimum size and lettering that detail the project, so they be easily seen from the road.” The legislation would amend the Municipalities Planning Code so that no later than seven days after the first official submission of a subdivision or land development application, the subdivider or developer would post signs a minimum of nine square feet in surface area that can be read from a viewing distance of 50 feet, have a summary title in a minimum of 4-inch lettering, are conspicuously posted along external road frontage, and include a description of the proposed project and which local governmental entity is reviewing the development application. “If we want the public to be more aware of what’s going on in their Read more
HARRISBURG, June 11 – State Rep. Carol Kazeem applauded Tuesday’s bipartisan passage (121-82) of the legislation she co-sponsored ( H.B.1460 ) that would protect Pennsylvania’s health care system from private equity firms’ disastrous ownership of hospitals and nursing homes in the commonwealth. “The abrupt closure of Crozer Health System’s two remaining hospitals has made Delaware County a health care desert, resulting in hundreds of thousands of our residents without access to local medical care and negatively impacting our economy by leaving thousands of people without jobs,” said Kazeem, D-Delaware. “Since there’s been no law on the books to oversee private equity firms purchase of our hospitals and nursing homes, they’ve been allowed to repeatedly gut them and walk away with the profits. That would stop now with the passage of H.B. 1460.” After a series of service cuts and facility closures – and the extraction of over $457 million through real estate deals – the California-based private equity firm Prospect Medical Holdings abruptly closed Crozer’s two remaining hospitals, Taylor Hospital on April 26 and Crozer Chester Medical Center on May 2. As a result of these two closures, a total of 2,651 employees have been laid off. To prevent unchecked management of Pennsylvania’s medical care system, Kazeem co-sponsored the Rep. Lisa Borowski bill, H.B. 1460, which would Read more
HARRISBURG, June 11 – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week passed bipartisan legislation to provide greater efficiency and clarity for funding school transportation across the state, announced the bill’s prime sponsors state Reps. Paul Friel and John Schlegel. House Bill 1326 would require that school districts report the number of students transported to public, nonpublic and charter schools, including the total costs for each school, to the state Department of Education. The data would be posted publicly online. The bill would also bring state requirements for mileage reporting into the 21 st century by allowing use of GPS software, which is easier and more accurate than manually tracking mileage, said Friel, D-Chester. “Over the past year, in a bipartisan manner, Representative Schlegel and I have spearheaded a work group with school transportation contractors, statewide associations representing school business, state department officials and school district transportation directors from across the commonwealth with the common goal to modernize Pennsylvania’s school transportation laws,” Friel added. “There is a lot of work to be done to bring our school transportation laws up to date, and this bill is an excellent first step toward that goal. Many thanks to the expert stakeholders for helping craft a truly meaningful piece of legislation that would make schools and education better in Read more
Legislation introduced by state Reps. Liz Hanbidge, Melissa Cerrato and Joe Webster to stabilize rent prices and strengthen protections for residents in manufactured home communities passed the House with bipartisan support today. Read more
HARRISBURG, June 10 – The newly formed House Communications & Technology Committee approved two bills that would strengthen consumer protections for automatically renewing subscriptions in Pennsylvania and sent them to the full House for further consideration, Majority Chair State Rep. Joe Ciresi announced today. The bills would protect Pennsylvanians by creating consumer protection requirements for automatically renewing (negative option) subscription plans and by providing notifications before each automatic renewal, requiring transparency about renewal terms and allowing subscribers to cancel subscription services online, also known as click to cancel. “These bills demonstrate the committee’s continued fulfillment of its mission to empowering the public with clear and accurate communications, ensuring consumers can make informed decisions and companies can’t rely on misleading terms and conditions or making it difficult to cancel a subscription,” said Ciresi, D-Montgomery. “By requiring transparency in companies’ communications about their subscriptions, consumers will save money by being aware of the ‘strings attached’ to certain subscriptions and having adequate time to cancel subscriptions they no longer want prior to automatic renewals.” The following bills were approved: House Bill 129 (Rep. Lisa Borowski) would help inform and empower consumers by requiring pre-renewal reminders and clearly Read more
Members of the PA House and nurses from across the state celebrate the chamber passing legislation (H.B. 1460 sponsored by Rep. Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware) that aims to preserve the public’s access to healthcare by protecting the commonwealth’s healthcare services and facilities from unchecked corporate ownership in the healthcare industry. Read more
“If we can’t come together as a legislature to get this protection in place for the people we represent, the message will be clear to Pennsylvanians: ‘Your government does not value your basic needs,’” Borowski said. “This is a measure that provides a commonsense, straightforward solution to an issue with undeniable impact. Crozer Health is gone, with a healthcare desert in its place, because we didn’t have a law like this on the books.” Read more
FALLS TOWNSHIP, June 9 – State Rep. Jim Prokopiak and state Sen. Steve Santarsiero today celebrated the announcement that Falls Township has been selected as one of the first sites for Amazon Web Services' multi-billion-dollar expansion of high-tech data center campuses across Pennsylvania. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Amazon plans to invest at least $20 billion to establish cutting-edge cloud computing and artificial intelligence innovation campuses across the Commonwealth—marking the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania’s history. Falls Township in Bucks County and Salem Township in Luzerne County will be the first two communities to host these state-of-the-art facilities, which will create at least 1,250 high-paying technology jobs, as well as thousands of union construction jobs. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration. The proposed facility will be in the Keystone Trade Center, formerly the site of U.S. Steel. “Amazon’s choice of investing in the former Fairless Works site in Falls Township is an example of what can happen when local and state officials work together to create a business-friendly environment,” Prokopiak said. “I want to thank the governor for being a tireless champion for the people of Bucks County, and Amazon for their investment in the Lower Bucks community. This is the next step in taking a site that Read more
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