Latest Pennsylvania state government News
With accounts flush, budget talks come down to schools aid
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With a week to go until the state's budget deadline, Gov. Tom Wolf and leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature are working through their remaining differences as they try to produce an agreement on a roughly $42 billion budget plan that they say will marshal...
Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania
Lancaster Online/LNP. June 15, 2022. Editorial: As cost of farmland soars, next generation of farmers finding ways to get a foothold Farmland in Lancaster County is valuable — increasingly valuable — in more ways than one. It’s essential to the...
Bills on poll watchers, earlier presidential primary advance
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Proposals to hold Pennsylvania's presidential primaries in March rather than April and to permit poll watchers to operate outside the counties where they live were advanced Wednesday by a divided House State Government Committee. Both bills had already passed...

Jan. 6 takeaways: Trump's state playbook; 'hateful' threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection is turning to former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on state and local officials to overturn his 2020 election loss. In its fourth hearing this month, the panel examined...
GOP lawmakers block assault-style gun ban for those under 21
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State House Republicans blocked a proposal to prevent those ages 18 to 21 from possessing assault-style rifles on Tuesday by completely changing the bill into a constitutional amendment to allow anyone to carry concealed guns. It was the second week in a row...
House approves bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Test strips to help drug users identify fentanyl and other potentially deadly chemicals would no longer be classified as illegal paraphernalia under a bill passed unanimously by the Pennsylvania House on Monday. The legislation to amend the state's Controlled...

Unlikely duo: Pennsylvania Democrats aim for united front
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — One candidate is unabashedly blunt, willing to embrace progressive positions, doing little to build rapport with party leaders and dominating rooms with a 6-foot-8-inch frame. The other crafts a more moderate image, a deliberate public speaker who became a congressional...
Prosecutors accuse Philly workers of COVID-19 jobless fraud
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eight Philadelphia government employees lied that they were unemployed in order to recieve pandemic jobless benefits, prosecutors said in announcing criminal charges Thursday. The attorney general's office said the city workers collectively were paid more than...
Bill that would limit inmates' records access passes House
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A bill that would allow incarcerated people to request public records only about themselves or their own cases is making its way through the Pennsylvania Legislature. Supporters of the bill say it would help stem a tide of frivolous requests that can tie up...
Pennsylvania Senate pushes plans to cut corporate taxes
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's Senate approved two competing plans Wednesday to slash the state's corporate net income tax rate, although Democrats warned the bills are premature because there is no agreement with Gov. Tom Wolf. The bills passed on a nearly party-line basis,...
