On Wednesday, two Pennsylvania state senators introduced a bill to open participation in the commonwealth’s primaries to nonpartisan voters.
At the Capitol Media Center in Harrisburg, prime sponsors Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) and Lisa Boscola (D-Bethlehem), said their bill would empower voters heretofore excluded from nomination decisions and would counteract hyper-partisanship. Both lawmakers are among the most moderate members of their chamber.
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Pennsylvania state Senator Jarrett Coleman (R-Allentown) last week sent a memo to colleagues asking them to support an upcoming resolution to audit Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ).
Under the program state lawmakers established in 2009, developers can use state and local tax money to offset the debts they incur on construction and rehabilitation projects in designated parts of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city. Areas within the NIZ include the Lehigh River’s westside waterfront north of Union Street and south of American Parkway as well as the PPL Center hockey arena and many of its surrounding blocks. Allentown is the only city with a neighborhood subject to this program, but the state has created similar zones in Bethlehem and Lancaster.
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Pennsylvania’s official fiscal watchdog this week told state senators that the commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund contains less money than many experts recommend — and that’s before Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro’s long-term fiscal plan burns through it.
The state Treasury currently keeps $5.7 billion in the Rainy Day Fund to help public institutions endure revenue losses resulting from economic downturns. According the the department’s own calculations, current reserves in this account could sustain General Fund expenditures for just under 43 days.
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Legislation authored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, to bring transparency and efficiency to Pennsylvania’s campaign finance reporting system was approved by the state Senate.
Under Senate Bill 140, all candidates for office and political action committees will be required to file with the secretary of the commonwealth by utilizing the Pennsylvania Department of State’s online filing system to provide campaign finance reports.
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