Pennsylvania in Focus

(The Center Square) - Pennsylvania is stuck in what seems to be an ever-deepening mental health care crisis, exacerbated by staffing shortages across the industry. To address it, two senators held a meeting of the chamber's Majority Policy Committee in Danville on Tuesday, inviting more than a dozen experts to participate in a roundtable on the subject. Sens. Dave Argall, R-Mahanoy City, and Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Shamokin Dam, heard testimony from mental health care providers, prison wardens, and even a state Supreme Court Justice advocating for legislative action to support families living with mental illness.

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(The Center Square) - House Democrats met in front of Abraham Lincoln High School in Northeast Philadelphia to urge Senate Republicans to return to Harrisburg to pass funding for the state’s mass transit systems, a sticking point in the state's budget negotiations. Without dedicated funding, SEPTA is poised to cut services on the Aug. 24, an act that will impact more than 10,000 students who rely on transit to get to and from school every day, which begins the following day. Senate Republicans have argued that the system needs to bear more accountability for its financial shortcomings. Though public transit is used in all 67 counties across the state, its funding has become the backdrop for a perceived opposition between rural roads and bridges and urban commutes, and, more broadly, between red and blue swaths of the state.

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(The Center Square) – Pittsburgh’s “AI Strike Force” is aiming high to define and become a global leader in physical AI, the space in which artificial intelligence meets material goods in the form of robotics, defense systems, transportation, and more. In Harrisburg on Monday, the Strike Force's executive director Joanna Doven spoke to the urgency of the moment, echoing state leaders including Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Dave McCormick’s aspirations to make Pennsylvania a leader in a new era of technology. For its part, Pittsburgh has made a strong start of it, not just pivoting its industrial reputation but capitalizing on the manufacturing demands of new technologies to maintain the relevance of its foundation in steel.

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(The Center Square) – The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency announced upgrades to its flood warning and observation system on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Integrated Flood Warning and Observation System is known as IFLOWS 2.0 and will include the installation of 30 new weather stations across the state. Most of these will be placed on school properties where K-12 students will incorporate the data into their weather curricula.

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(The Center Square) - The congressional budget resolution passed early this month struck a blow, many say, to the renewable energy industry by phasing out tax credits for wind and solar energy. Clean energy advocates, however, say that even in the face of energy costs projected to rise as much as 74% over the next 10 years, that there’s reason to be optimistic. While Harry Godfrey of Advanced Energy United admitted that the rollbacks will cost jobs in manufacturing and on specific energy projects, he noted there are still opportunities for renewable energy to get off the ground. Specifically, planned wind and solar projects that have begun construction within a year of the act’s passage are still eligible for credit.

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(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s full-time legislature wastes taxpayer money and diminishes public participation, according to a new proposal from state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz. Pennsylvania’s 253 elected officials – 203 in the House and 50 in the Senate – make over $106,000 annually, second only to New York and California. It’s also just one of 10 states that maintain a full-time legislature. Before 1968, the commonwealth was part-time. 

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(The Center Square) - As the state still struggles to find agreement with its own budget, some legislators are urging action to protect residents of the commonwealth from the expected fallout of the Congressional budget resolution bill that passed earlier this month. One such measure is a bipartisan bill establishing requirements for hospital financial assistance which passed the House in May. It currently awaits consideration in the Senate. The bill would ensure patients have a better understanding of their financial situation and options when engaging with the healthcare system by requiring hospitals to provide standardized financial aid information. 

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(The Center Square) - Two weeks late, the Pennsylvania House has taken a major step forward in passing a new state budget. House Bill 1330 passed the House with a vote of 105-97, with three Republicans voting alongside Democrats and one member on leave. Republican Appropriations chair Jim Struzzi of Indiana called the bill a necessary step forward given the delays in the legislature, but he urged his caucus to vote against the bill.

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(The Center Square) – Artificial intelligence infrastructure coming to Pennsylvania includes $90 billion from tech giants, energy companies and investment firms betting on the state’s rich power supply. And it’s got the seal of approval from top federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and President Donald Trump. In recent years, Pennsylvania’s reputation as an energy exporter and its easy access to power plants have risen its profile within investment circles hoping to capitalize on the “AI revolution.”

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(The Center Square) - Responding to concerns that President Donald Trump could use the Insurrection Act to deploy troops domestically, Congressman Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., introduced a bill to limit presidential power on Tuesday. The bill entitled the Insurrection Act of 2025 would update the original 1807 legislation to clarify and narrow the circumstances in which it could be used. Updates would state explicitly that it’s a measure of last resort. Invoking the act would require prior consultation with Congress and limit its use to a seven-day period.

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