The Dentons Pennsylvania Public Affairs team has you covered with a curated run-down of the top news headlines and trending policy issues for the week ending December 15th.
This week, the final voting session of 2023 for Pennsylvania’s General Assembly has the potential to be arguably the most productive week of the entire year given the number of big-ticket items awaiting action. Lawmakers did return to Harrisburg on Monday and hope is that they’ll finish up several loose ends from the still-undone budget before leaving for the year, including school issues. A bill that will allow more of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana growers and processors to also act as retailers — and vice-versa — fully cleared the legislature on Tuesday and will head to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. After five-and-a-half months of impasse and false starts, Pennsylvania finalized a deal Wednesday to tie up most of the loose strings that have been left hanging in the commonwealth’s 2023-24 budget, implementing a deal that also features massive tax credit increases for child care expenses and private school tuition. And finally, Pennsylvania, the only state with a divided legislature, finally finished its state budget late Wednesday night, nearly six months after the fiscal year began.
- Pa. lawmakers could be entering the most productive week of the year – or not. PennLive
- Pennsylvania lawmakers hoping to tie up loose ends for the budget. ABC27 News
- Expansion of Pa. permits to grow, sell medical marijuana headed to governor’s desk. PennLive
- Legislature finalizes, Shapiro signs deal on remaining Pa. budget issues. PennLive
- A SEPTA special prosecutor, blocked funding for Penn Vet, and other winners and losers in the Pa. state budget deal. The Philadelphia Inquirer
