This is the last week in which Pennsylvania’s 2023–24 General Assembly is likely to be in Harrisburg. And the pattern we have seen for the last two years is once again evident. The Democratic-controlled House passes legislation, with bipartisan support, that addresses serious problems in our commonwealth. And the Republican-controlled Senate once again sits on its hands and does nothing.
This week, the House passed HB 2565, sponsored by Representative Steve Samuelson, a bill that provides tax credits for clean hydrogen energy production, which would spur economic development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also providing tax credits for semi-conductor and biomedical manufacturing. Seventeen Republicans voted for it.
It passed HB 2625, sponsored by Representative Ed Neilson, to fund public transit systems in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and thirty other smaller cities. Ten Republicans voted for it.
It passed HB 2557, sponsored by Representative Lisa Borowski, a consumer protection bill that prohibits businesses from automatically renewing subscriptions to a service or subscription without consumers giving unambiguous affirmative action for the renewal. It also requires businesses to give clear notice of an upcoming renewal and a way to end automatic renewals that is similar to the way in which a subscription began and limits automatic renewal to twelve months. Fifty-one Republicans voted for the bill.
A companion bill, HB 116, sponsored by Representative Joe Ciresi, provides additional protections for consumers, including a requirement that businesses provide a clear and conspicuous explanation of the price charged after a free trial ends and the deadline for cancelling a subscription. This bill passed unanimously.
And the House Government Committee passed HB979, sponsored by Representative Jared Samuelson, to create open primaries, allowing independent voters to choose to vote in either Democratic or Republican primary elections. We support this bill with the hopes that it would bring some sanity to the Republican Party in our state. Perhaps that’s why the Republican members of the committee all voted against it, while Democratic members voted in favor. And the Republicans did this even though a similar bill passed the Senate five years ago with bipartisan support.
This has been the General Assembly’s pattern for the two years of the General Assembly. We have now lost count, but there are well over four hundred bills to serve the people of Pennsylvania that have passed the House, usually with some bipartisan support, but have been blocked by the Senate Republican leadership.
Among the legislation that passed the House but is waiting for the Senate to act are bills to
· reform our corporate income tax to close the Delaware and Cayman Islands loopholes, which allow wealthy multinational corporations to avoid taxation in our state.
· raise the state’s minimum wage to $15. (HB 1500, sponsored by Representatives Dawkins and Kim. Senate champion: Senator Tartaglione)
· enact a working families’ tax cut, which includes a PA earned income tax credit and expanded tax forgiveness program to reduce taxes on low-income Pennsylvanians. (HB 1272, sponsored by Representative Sappey)
· begin cyber charter school reform to stop wasteful spending that reduces funds for our public schools. (HB 1422, sponsored by Rep. Ciresi)
· provide additional funding for the Whole-Home Repairs Program. This provides help for low- and moderate-income Pennsylvanians to repair their homes. (HB 1300, sponsored by Representative Harris. Senate champion: Senator Saval)
· reform corporate taxes by closing the Delaware and Cayman Islands loopholes, which allow large multinational corporations to avoid paying taxes in Pennsylvania. (HB 1219, sponsored by Reps. Samuelson and Fiedler. Senate champions: Senators Tartaglione and Haywood)
· provide an abortion shield law, which protects abortion providers and those coming from outside of the state to seek abortions in Pennsylvania. (HB 1786, sponsored by Representative Daley. Senate champions: Senators Schwank and Cappelletti)
· create justice for survivors of sexual abuse by opening a window for them to sue their abusers. (HB 2, sponsored by Representative Rozzi. Senate champion: Senator Muth)
· strengthen gun safety with background checks (HB 714, sponsored by Representative Warren) and a red flag law (HB 2018, sponsored by Representative O’Mara) to keep guns away from people who shouldn’t have them.
· protect public sector workers from dangerous work conditions with an extension of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. (HB 299, sponsored by Representative Harkins. Senate champion: Senator Kane)
· protect striking workers by allowing those affected by a labor–management dispute to collect unemployment benefits after a one-week waiting period. (HB 1481, sponsored by Representative Steele. Senate champion: Senator Costa)
· create retirement security for teachers and public servants. (HB 1416, sponsored by Representatives Malagari and Deasy. Senate champion: Senator Muth)
· enact the Fairness Act, which extends Pennsylvania’s anti-discrimination law to LGBTQ+ people. (HB 300, sponsored by Representatives Kenyatta and Frankel. Senate champion: Senator Santarsiero)
We believe that all these bills would pass the Senate with bipartisan support if the Republican leadership of the Senate were to allow them to hold hearings and a vote. This was what consistently happened in the Pennsylvania House before Democrats secured their one-vote majority after the 2022 election.
We are a nonpartisan organization. We don’t encourage Pennsylvanians to vote one way or another. But it is simply a matter of fact that Republican control of the Senate is blocking progress on much legislation that we and, as polls show, the people of Pennsylvania support.
We saw last week, as we have for the last twenty-two months, that who runs Harrisburg makes a difference.
