Blue Pennsylvania: The Vision of the Pennsylvania House for a Better Commonwealth
Unless you’ve been held captive by a bunch of radical Democratic Socialists over the past four years, and you have had no access to the outside world, you probably know that Pennsylvania has a split legislature. Currently, there are 103 Democrats and 100 Republicans in the state house, while there are 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats in the state senate.
Over the past year, a number of progressive pieces of legislation have cleared the house floor, only to languish in a senate committee. Below are some of the more prominent bills that should have become law were it not for the intransigence of the Republicans in the state senate.
Environment
House Bill 2496 (Data Center Local Pause): Gives municipalities a temporary 180-day moratorium on new data center land-development applications, in order to update local zoning and ordinances regarding massive energy and water demands. Passed in state house (201–1). Stalled in state senate.
House Bill 660 (Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards): Establishes minimum water and energy efficiency standards for 15 commercial and household appliances/plumbing fixtures, projected to significantly cut climate pollution and utility costs. Passed in state house (101–97). Stalled after being referred to the senate’s Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee.
House Bill 2145 (PFAS "Forever Chemicals" Ban): Prohibits the manufacturing and sale of high-contact personal care, children's, and infant products (such as cosmetics, dental floss, and diapers) containing intentionally added toxic PFAS (forever) chemicals. Passed the house with broad bipartisan support (188–13). The senate has not taken up the measure for a vote.
House Bill 1261 (Class B Firefighting Foam PFAS Ban): Restricts intentionally added PFAS in firefighting foams. Passed the house unanimously (202–0). Remained stalled in the senate.
Education
House Bill 2632 (EITC/OSTC Accountability & Overhaul): Would overhaul the state's Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit programs by adding rigorous oversight and data reporting, while redirecting resources toward low-income students. Passed the House unanimously (105–97). Stalled in the State Senate under the belief that government funded private schools must automatically be superior to any other government-run educational institutions.
Please note that a good deal of educational and transportation legislation goes through the budget process rather than as individual stand-alone bills.
Firearms
House Bill 1593 Removes the background check exemption for long guns (rifles and shotguns), effectively requiring universal background checks for all firearm purchases in the commonwealth. It passed the House (104–99), and was sent to the state senate where it has languished since last September.
Housing
House Bill 1250: Protects residents in manufactured (mobile) homes by capping excessive lot-rent increases to align with the Consumer Price Index (2% to 4%). Passed the house (144-59). Stalled in the senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee.
House Bill 2186 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) Legislation: Passed by the state House to establish clear statewide standards allowing additional small residential units in areas zoned for single-family housing without heavy local review. Passed the house (139-62). Currently sitting in senate committees.
House Bill 1095 Eviction Records Sealing: Seals or limits public access to certain tenant eviction records to ease housing barriers for renters. Passed house (105-98). Awaiting action in the senate.
House Bill 2109 Unrelated Occupancy Limits ("Golden Girls" bill): Llifts local restrictions on how many unrelated individuals can legally live together in a single residential dwelling. Passed House (123-78).
Minimum Wage
Possibly the most problematic of all legislation in the state are those bills dealing with minimum wage. While all the states surrounding Pennsylvania have minimum wage laws surpassing the federal limit of $7.25/hr, our commonwealth still gloms onto the federal threshold. Yet even the current proposals to raise the minimum wage immediately to at least $15.00/hr. have fallen short. Our spilt legislature may have something to do with the anemic nature of current minimum wage legislation, and we could be doing a lot better. Here is what the most recent minimum wage legislation looks like now.
· Raises the statewide minimum wage from $7.25 to $11.00 per hour effective January 1, 2027.
· Increases it to $13.00 per hour in 2028.
· Reaches $15.00 per hour by 2029, followed by annual cost-of-living adjustments starting later.
Passed house (104-95). No action in state senate.
These bills are the reason why we need to change the state senate this November from red to blue. And below are the senate seats that we are targeting.
PA Senate
Candidate (Democrat) | District | Count(y/ies) | Incumbent (Republican) |
SD-6 | Bucks | Frank Farry | |
SD-16 | Bucks/Lehigh | Jarrett Coleman | |
SD-24 | Berks/Montgomery | Tracy Pennycuick |
You can help us out in our efforts by volunteering. This coming Tuesday, September 29, Blue Pennsylvania will be hosting Tuesday postcard writing at the Highpoint Allen Lane Train Station from 1 - 3 pm, where we will be writing postcards for Chris Thomas, candidate for SD-24 in Pottstown. We are only two seats away from having a majority (with Austin Davis as the deciding vote) in the senate. That means we are only two senate seats away from cleaner air and water, good public schools and transportation, sensible gun laws, and affordable health and housing.
Finally, below is an invitation to a postcard writing party hosted by Laura Siena and Mira Rabin at the home of Mira Rabin and Tom Whitman. This is an opportunity to do good while having fun.
Thanks,
Coleman
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