This week, Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) said he wants the House and Senate to come to an agreement on the Marcellus Shale drilling policy prior to Governor Corbett’s budget address which is slated for early February.

The legislature returns to the Capitol on Jan. 17, which allows just two weeks for an agreement to […]

The House and Senate officially kicked off the 2012 Session on Tuesday, but will not meet in voting session until the week of January 17. Senator Joe Scarnati was unanimously re-elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate. All other officers in the House and Senate remain unchanged until leadership elections are held following general election in […]

The Senate narrowly passed its Congressional Redistricting plan by a vote of 26-24, sending the bill to the House where it ultimately passed by a bipartisan vote of 136-61.

Corbett signed the bill into law yesterday, as Act 130 of 2011. Just in time for congressional candidates to start circulating petitions on January 24.

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The House this week unanimously voted to reject the Senate amendments to House Bill 1950, the House Republican natural gas plan that was gutted in the Senate last week, and replaced with Senate Republican language of Senate Bill 1100.

With no bill actively in play, negotiations among the House, Senate and Governor Corbett will continue. The […]

Budget Secretary Zogby this week gave a mid-year budget briefing, saying the state needs to not only prepare for an expected revenue shortfall of at least $500 million this fiscal year, but also a projected $800 million in mandatory state spending increases for the coming fiscal year.

Zogby went on to say that the Governor must […]

Before the State House adjourned until January 3, it took final action on two bills which would authorize issuance of $6.2 billion dollars in new state bonds to support energy and economic development projects.

Senate Bill 1310 (Sen. Gordner, R-Columbia) provides for the repayment of monies loaned from the federal government to pay unemployment compensation. This […]

Responding to industry concerns regarding draft regulations released in March, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed revised air pollution regulations for industrial boilers and incinerators. The EPA said during a press conference on Friday that it believes the new draft regulations offer industry more flexibility.

This week, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted out an amended version of House Bill 1950, the House Marcellus Shale impact fee bill. The amendment, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) replaces the language that recently passed the House with the language approved by the Senate in Senate Bill 1100.

Press conferences and meetings to unveil Pennsylvania’s Congressional redistricting maps have been delayed once again. The House State Government Committee was scheduled to meet on Dec.5, then again on Dec. 7, and now says it will release the plan for Congressional districts on Dec. 15. The office of State Government Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe said the only information they have at the moment is that “the committee staff was told to withdrawal the bill.” They could provide no information on the reasoning behind the decision.