Pennsylvania in Focus

(The Center Square) – Education is the second largest spending area in the state’s budget after human services. For legislators on both sides of the aisle, the question that loomed the largest seemed to be, “Are we getting what we pay for?” It was a question that Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe and other officials who sat before the House Appropriations Committee for an all-day discussion on Monday heard again and again.

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(The Center Square) – A new report found that despite record-high demand, Pennsylvania turned away nearly half of students applying for educational grants in 2023. That’s because red tape means not every dollar of the $600 million budgeted for the programs can be spent until a business or individual donor contributes in-kind, leaving at least $75 million on the table in December. It’s also more evidence why, the Commonwealth Foundation says, the state must do more to expand school choice options, such as creating scholarships that don’t rely on funding from donors in exchange for tax credits.

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(The Center Square) - There are 32 states, red and blue, who offer some version of an Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Pennsylvania isn’t one of them. The House Finance committee met with experts for an informational hearing on why that should change. The hearing largely centered around what are known as ALICE families and individuals, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These families live above the poverty line and often earn too much to receive assistance yet financial stability and everyday necessities remain out of reach.

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(The Center Square) – "We all just need a little break. It’s been a tough hearing,” said Deptartment of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen toward the end of her testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. Legislators grappled with tough issues - and each other - as they pushed for clarity on the proposed 9.7% budget increase for the state’s primary health agency. There were differences of opinion on the most important objectives in a field with need in every direction, frequently leading back to the perceived competition between rural and urban regions for state resources.

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(The Center Square) - Appropriations hearings began with Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency taking the spotlight. The committee is undertaking consideration of a 6.5% requested increase in funding for the upcoming budget, a figure they say would enable them to keep student costs down. Tuition has been frozen at its current rate since 2018. PASSHE Chancellor Dr. Chris Fiorentino says that the current tuition represents an actual reduction in cost due to the 28% inflation of the Consumer Price Index over the same period. He noted that the stable tuition has helped students be better able to plan their finances, yet enrollment numbers continue to drop.

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(The Center Square) – Ongoing political tension means law enforcement agencies across the nation still face hiring challenges. During their budget hearings in the General Assembly on Wednesday, representatives of the Pennsylvania State Police said they are having the same recruitment problems. “It’s speculation on my part, but my best guess is [law enforcement] it’s just not a sought after or valued profession,” said State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris when answering a question about why recruiting is so difficult. Paris suggested there may be some “generational differences,” in that younger people may not see themselves in one job for their entire career.

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(The Center Square) – In Pennsylvania, it’s possible to be convicted of murder and receive a life sentence without parole without ever having harmed another person. This is how the state’s felony murder charge, also known as murder two or second-degree murder, works. And some lawmakers think it should change. House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Tim Briggs, D-King of Prussia, is re-introducing a bill that would allowing the possibility for parole after 25 years of the sentence has been served.

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(The Center Square) - Western Pennsylvanians are celebrating Wednesday after the release of American history teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian labor camp in exchange for an unnamed Russian citizen. Fogel has been the focus of years of effort petitioning the U.S. government to push for his release. Legislators and family members were frustrated to see his name omitted from high-profile prisoner exchanges in 2022 and 2024. He was arrested by Russian authorities after about a half ounce of medical marijuana prescribed in the U.S. was found in his luggage in 2021. In 2024, he was deemed “wrongfully detained” by state officials.

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(The Center Square) – Health care workers willing to work in Pennsylvania’s underserved rural regions could get some help repaying student loans. This after the House Healthcare Committee renewed its drive to incentivize medical workers to live and work in rural areas of the state through student debt repayment. The committee voted unanimously to pass House Bill 157 last week to the chamber floor. The legislation would allow medical facilities to apply for grants to pass on to employees willing to take on a position far from urban centers.

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(The Center Square) – Few legislators want to see games of skill regulated and taxed more than Pennsylvania Sen. Gene Yaw. Yaw, a Republican from Lycoming County, says doing so benefits the small businesses, like veterans clubs and volunteer fire organizations, that supplement their income with the machines. The county is also home to Pennsylvania Skill and Pace-o-Matic, the premier manufacturer of skill games in the state. Advocates have long asked for regulatory legitimacy that recognizes their court-backed distinction within the gaming industry – not a slot machine or a table game or a video gaming terminal or a lottery ticket or an online betting company, but a gambling style in which winning depends not upon chance, but a player’s skill.

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