2016 Year in Review
As 2016 draws to a close, so does the 2015-2016 legislative session. On November 30, the House of Representatives and…
News from Second and State
November 16, 2016 Senate Leadership Elections Both caucuses of the Pennsylvania Senate met today to hold their leadership elections. Here’s…
News from Second and State
November 15, 2016 House Leadership Elections Both caucuses of the House of Representatives met today to hold their leadership elections.…
Worth Another Look: Legislative Leadership Elections
Members of the House and Senate will return to Harrisburg for a few days next week to elect their 2017-2018…
Worth Another Look: Post-Election Edition
Election Day has come and gone. Across the country yesterday, Americans cast their votes for offices from President of the…
Worth Another Look: Pennsylvania General Assembly Races to Watch
Election Day is upon us and the presidential campaign described as “long, unusual and often ugly” by The New York…
News from Second and State: Pre-Election Report
The long-awaited General Election is less than a week away, and next Tuesday, November 8, Pennsylvanians will head to the…
News from Second and State
October 28 Edition Weekly Wrap Business for the 2015-2016 legislative session wrapped up this week, though it won’t officially be…
News from Second and State
October 21, 2016 Weekly Wrap: One week down, one to go. This was the second to last week scheduled for…
News from Second and State
October 14, 2016 Weekly Wrap: All’s been quiet on the capitol front since our last writing; neither chamber was in…
News from Second and State
September 30, 2016 Weekly Wrap: For the first time since the passage of the 2016-2017 general appropriations bill, both the…
Worth Another Look: Joint Session on Opioid Addiction
“But in Pennsylvania, the problem is visible—in the lives lost. The families broken. The communities shaken.” – Gov. Tom Wolf…
News from Second and State
September 23, 2016 Weekly Wrap: Yesterday was the first day of fall, and it seems the summer is truly behind…
News from Second and Sate
September 16, 2016 Summer Recap: As of our last newsletter, the General Assembly had recessed after pushing a 2016-2017 state…
Worth Another Look: Sentencing Reforms
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: Electric Vehicle Fees
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: Human Trafficking
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: Anti-Discrimination Legislation
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: Online Voter Registration
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top 10 issues that…
Worth Another Look: Aging Issues
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: Regulating Drones
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: Regulating Fantasy Sports
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that…
Worth Another Look: The Clean Power Plan
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top 10 issues that…
Worth Another Look: Combatting Opioid Addiction
In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top 10 issues that…
News from Second and State
July 15, 2016 Weekly Wrap: It looks like we have to say goodbye for the summer to the Pennsylvania Legislature,…
Worth Another Look: Amendments to the Public School Code
On July 11, S.B. 1073 (Browne, R-Lehigh) became law without the Governor’s signature. S.B. 1073 is the 2016-2017 General Appropriations…
Worth Another Look: Amendments to the Tax Reform Code
On July 11, S.B. 1073 (Browne, R-Lehigh) became law without the Governor’s signature. S.B. 1073 is the 2016-2017 General Appropriations…
Worth Another Look: Amendments to the Fiscal Code
On July 11, S.B. 1073 (Browne, R-Lehigh) became law without the Governor’s signature. S.B. 1073 is the 2016-2017 General Appropriations…
News from Second and State
July 8, 2016 The news this week is that there is no news. The General Assembly sent a 2016-2017 General…
News from Second and State
July 1, 2016 Budget, budget, budget. While the budget debate was at the forefront of activity this week, there were…
News from Second and State
July 01, 2016 Budget Edition Yesterday marked the last day of the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and the legislature passed a…
Worth Another Look: Amendments to the Human Services Code
Typically when a state General Appropriations (GA) bill for the new Fiscal Year is passed, the legislature considers bills amending…
News from Second and State
June 24, 2016 Weekly Wrap: With the end of the fiscal year looming, it’s been all budget all the time…
News from Second and State
June 17, 2016 Weekly Wrap: The laws of physics tell us that objects in motion tend to stay in motion,…
News from Second and State
June 10, 2016 Weekly Wrap: While there was a lot of activity in Harrisburg this week, the most toast-worthy event…
Worth Another Look: Liquor Reform
June 07, 2016 Much to the frustration of Pennsylvania liquor consumers, wine and spirits are only available for purchase at…
News from Second and State
June 3, 2016 Weekly Wrap: It was a short and very quiet week in Harrisburg, thanks to the Memorial Day…
Worth Another Look: Budget Preview
June is a time to celebrate Father’s Day, countless graduations and the first day of summer. However, anyone involved in…
News from Second and State
May 26, 2016 Weekly Wrap: This was the last week of session before high-budget season starts in June, and all…
News from Second and State
May 20, 2016 Weekly Wrap: Harrisburg was a hive oinally activity this week, with both the House and Senate in…
News from Second and State
May 13 Edition Weekly Wrap: Once again, we only had one chamber in Harrisburg this week. While the House was…
News from Second and State
May 06, 2016 Weekly Wrap: Though only the House of Representatives was in Harrisburg for voting session, and only for…
News from Second and State
April 29, 2016 Weekly Wrap: This week’s big news was the primary election. To see how things shook out in…
Worth Another Look: Primary Election Post-Mortem
Yesterday was Primary Election Day in the Keystone State, and while the presidential races got the most attention by far,…
News from Second and State; Pre-Election Edition
April 21, 2016 With little to report on the legislative front this week, the focus in Pennsylvania is Tuesday’s upcoming…
News from Second and State
April 15, 2016 Weekly Wrap: It was a busy week in Harrisburg this week, and for a change, the singular…
News from Second and State
April 8, 2016 Weekly Wrap: The capitol was a hive of activity this week, with both House of Representatives and…
News from Second and State
April 1, 2016 Weekly Wrap: After all the budget buzz last week, it was a very quiet week in the…
News from Second and State
March 25, 2016 Weekly Wrap: It’s finally over. Yes winter is over, but more importantly, the 2015-2016 budget impasse is…
Worth Another Look
March 23, 2016 Budget Update It would seem that as Pennsylvania budgets go, the fourth time is a charm. Between…
News from Second and State
March 18, 2016 Weekly Wrap: With budget hearings finished and just over a month until the 2016 primary election, the…
News from Second and State
March 11, 2016 Weekly Wrap: The third and final week of budget hearings wrapped up as the anticipation builds for…
News from Second and State
News from Second and State March 04, 2016 Weekly Wrap: The second week of budget hearings have come and gone…
News from Second and State
February 26, 2016 Weekly Wrap: With back-to-back budget hearings from Monday through Thursday, it was a busy week for members…
News from Second and State
February 19, 2016 Weekly Wrap: This week’s biggest news came from the Governor’s Office just this morning. Gov. Tom Wolf…
News from Second and State
February 12, 2016 Weekly Wrap: Both the House of Representatives and the Senate were in session Monday through Wednesday, but…
Worth Another Look: Government that Works
As he did last year, Gov. Tom Wolf is proposing legislative and administrative initiatives for “government that works” which are…
Worth Another Look: Jobs that Pay
Like last year, Gov. Tom Wolf is encouraging the state legislature to provide for “jobs that pay” as part of…
Worth Another Look: Schools that Teach
Standing by last year’s budget themes, Gov. Tom Wolf encouraged the state legislature today to fund “schools that teach.” Warning…
News from Second and State
February 9, 2016 Budget Edition Gov. Tom Wolf delivered his second annual budget address to a joint session of the…
Worth Another Look: GO-TIME
One year ago today, Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order establishing the Governor’s Office of Transformation, Innovation, Management and…
News from Second and State
February 5, 2016 Weekly Wrap: Tuesday was Groundhog Day, and our own Punxatawney Phil didn’t see his shadow, signaling that…
News from Second and State
January 29, 2016 Weekly Wrap: It’s more like News from Second and Snow this week, as a record-breaking snow storm…
News from Second and State
January 22, 2016 Weekly Wrap: With only the Senate in Harrisburg for session, this was a rather quiet week at…
News from Second and State
January 15, 2016 Weekly Wrap: Only the House of Representatives was in Harrisburg for session this week, and it was…
News from Second and State
January 8, 2016 Weekly Wrap: The holidays are over, and the New Year has come. For most, it’s back to…
Worth Another Look: Public Welfare Code Omnibus Amendments
Typically, each fiscal year the General Assembly enacts amendments to the Public Welfare Code as part of a complete budget…