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Pa. Senate committee advances emergency response proposals
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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."
Five things the Legislature can do to make Pennsylvanians’ lives measurably better in 2021 | John L. Micek
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.
New report gives Pa. a D-Minus for its civil forfeiture laws | Thursday Morning Coffee
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
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.