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State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, attends the Senate Education Committee Hearing held at the Pennsylvania Capitol on May 24, 2022 in Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Amanda Berg, for the Capital-Star).

Pa. Senate committee advances emergency response proposals

BY: - March 8, 2023

The GOP-controlled panel also announced that Alan Shaw will appear before lawmakers during a hearing scheduled for Monday, March 20, 2023.

Pa. Senate approves legislation prohibiting third parties from funding elections

BY: - April 13, 2022

The upper chamber voted 37-12 on Wednesday to approve a bill sponsored by Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, that requires state and local governments to use public funding derived from taxes and fees to pay for election operations.

State, local officials at odds over banning private election grants

BY: - April 6, 2022

State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, who is sponsoring Senate Bill 982, which would ban such private grants, said the potential impact of private election grants is “a critical challenge we must confront.”

Pa. lawmakers unveil bipartisan plan to prevent abuse within guardianship system

BY: - March 22, 2022

Sens. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, and Art Haywood, D-Philadelphia, have announced plans to prioritize efforts to find alternative options and add policies to improve the process when guardianships are the only viable option.

Unfair or fair game? The economic gains of private election grants | Analysis

BY: - December 24, 2021

A number of states have already moved to ban these types of grants from being used to fund election administration.

Pa. Senate approves bill reforming probation system, sends to House for consideration

BY: - December 16, 2021

The proposal, authored by Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, would establish mandatory review conferences, guidelines for sending a nonviolent offender on probation to jail.

Following Cosby’s release, two Pa. senators want to mandate written non-prosecution agreements

BY: - July 6, 2021

In the aftermath of Bill Cosby’s release from prison, the top members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee are drafting legislation that would require all future non-prosecution agreements to be in writing in order to be enforceable. It’s a proposal Sens. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, the panel’s chairperson, and Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks, its ranking Democratic member, […]

Will public institutions be held liable for decades-old abuse claims? Pa. Senate bill wants to make sure they can

BY: - March 17, 2021

An amendment that a key state Senate committee approved Tuesday seeks to put to rest a separate debate: whether public institutions, such as local government and schools, can be held liable for abuse that took place decades ago. 

Former Pa. Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, who ‘cared about justice above partisanship,’ dies at age 81

BY: - February 10, 2021

“It is counterintuitive,” he said in 2018. “You'd think tough on crime is the way to go and you'd have lower crime rates, but it didn't happen."

COMMENTARY

Five things the Legislature can do to make Pennsylvanians’ lives measurably better in 2021 | John L. Micek

BY: - December 30, 2020

This new time calls for a reset on everything. The dawning of a new year offers just such and opportunity. The 253 members of the General Assembly should not squander it. 

COMMENTARY

New report gives Pa. a D-Minus for its civil forfeiture laws | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - December 17, 2020

For-profit policing is alive and well in the Keystone State, new report finds.

Pa. Senate tees up constitutional amendment opening civil window for sex abuse survivors

BY: - December 16, 2020

A senior Republican in the state Senate says she's prioritizing approval of  legislation that would amend the state constitution to open a two-year retroactive window in which survivors of sexual abuse could bring civil suits against offenders in old cases.