maria-collett

COMMENTARY
Direct service providers rally for more money in the 2022-23 state budget at the Pennsylvania state Capitol on May 24, 2022 in Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Amanda Berg, for the Capital-Star).

Pa. bills providing $100M in aid for mental health programs are a lifeline. Here’s why | Opinion

BY: - May 18, 2023

The money will revolutionize Pa.'s mental health landscape and improve the lives of so many people.

Pa. students who lobbied to make the Hershey’s Kiss the official state candy see progress in Harrisburg

BY: - April 6, 2022

Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, was the only lawmaker on the panel to oppose the bill.

Pa. nurses could soon see debt relief. What to know before the application deadline

BY: - February 16, 2022

More than 6,000 program applicants submitted a request for relief.

Pa. Senate committee advances local firearm ordinance preemption bill

BY: - January 19, 2022

Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, vowed to veto its companion bill, introduced by Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Clearfield, which passed the Senate in November.

Pa. to allocate $6.5M in federal relief to support, retain nursing industry

BY: - September 29, 2021

The COVID-19 Nursing Workforce Initiative aims to recruit and retain Pennsylvania's nursing workforce.

COMMENTARY

The pandemic changed a lot. But not the partisan debate over paid leave | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - June 3, 2021

Just 14 states and Washington D.C. now mandate paid leave. Democratic bills in the Pa. House and Senate seek to change that.

COMMENTARY

Pa.’s botched vaccine rollout is causing ‘tremendous anxiety and mistrust.’ Senate Dems drop centralized registry plan to change it | Monday Morning Coffee

BY: - February 22, 2021

The four lawmakers say their plan will reduce frustration, and eliminate the need to spend hours searching for appointments.

Pennsylvania’s vaccine program is flailing. Nurses in the statehouse are out to fix it

BY: - February 17, 2021

State Sen. Maria Collett was beyond frustrated – and she wasn’t trying to hide it. 

Pa. Senate Dems roll out $4B debt-funded COVID-19 relief package

BY: - December 4, 2020

Democrats urged the 50-member chamber's Republican majority to come to the table early to begin negotiating the contours of the relief plan.

This plan for universal paid family leave in Pa. has bipartisan support. Will it ever become law?

BY: - January 29, 2020

When Jackie Swain’s infant daughter, Emersyn, was diagnosed with a rare heart disease in 2018, the Montgomery County resident took a sobering look at the options before her.  Swain could hire someone to care for Emersyn while she and her husband worked. Or she could quit her job as a cake decorator, which paid an […]

Rules limiting nursing workload brought back to Harrisburg

BY: - March 22, 2019

Denelle Weller is a 14-year veteran nurse. She knows all about what happens when she and her colleagues are overtired and overworked: She once had to stop a fellow nurse from administering medicine to her daughter incorrectly, which could have led to kidney damage. She directly attributes the mistake to the heavy workload. “I’ve personally […]

Local officials would be able to ban guns on public grounds under state Senate proposal

BY: - March 14, 2019

Guns may be banned in Pennsylvania’s courthouses and the Capitol, but they’re fair game in municipal buildings, parks, and playgrounds across the state. A state senator from the Philadelphia suburbs wants to change that. Sen. Maria Collett, D-Bucks, plans to introduce a bill that would let municipalities outlaw guns on public property — something that […]