The Pennsylvania House chamber. (Capital-Star photo by Peter Hall)
In their second year controlling the Pennsylvania House of Representatives after more than a decade as the minority party, Democratic lawmakers had some success.
That included tackling maternal morbidity among women of color, finally banning texting while driving and shifting the state’s energy economy toward renewable sources.
The Black Maternal Health Caucus built on a $2.3 million investment in the 2023-2024 state budget by advancing policies to address alarming disparities in maternal morbidity among women of color.
In a package of legislative proposals dubbed the “Pennsylvania Momnibus,” members of the caucus sought to expand insurance coverage to support expectant and new mothers. Two bills made it to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk and became law to require Medicaid coverage for doula services and expand care and screening for postpartum depression.
Nearly 12 years after a grieving mother approached her state representative with a plea to ban texting while driving, Shapiro signed Paul Miller Jr.’s law, which makes it a primary offense for motorists to use handheld electronic devices while driving.
The law, which is the 29th such measure in the nation, also requires state police and municipal police in towns of 5,000 people or more to gather data on the race, ethnicity, gender and age of a driver and other details during a traffic stop.
Labor unions and environmentalists seemingly have opposing interests in the energy economy. But a group of state House lawmakers set out to prove that doesn’t have to be the case.
The Pennsylvania House Blue-Green Caucus launched its agenda in April with an 11-bill package that had the support of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council. Ultimately, the only bill to become law was a grant program for public schools to install solar energy arrays using federal money, but the effort marked an improvement in labor support for environmental legislation.
House Democrats hung on to their one-seat majority through four special elections in 2024. Although the stakes remained the same, this year’s crop of mid-session elections were less nail-biters with all four falling into safe Democratic or Republican districts.
A state representative’s struggle with mental illness blew up into a Democratic Party scandal this spring as Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office issued and then retracted a warrant for Rep. Kevin Boyle’s arrest.
Boyle’s issues reemerged publicly in February when video circulated on social media showing him drunkenly threatening to have a suburban Philadelphia tavern closed after he was asked to leave. Two months later, Philadelphia police announced Boyle was wanted for violating a restraining order obtained by his ex-wife but later admitted the restraining order had not been in effect and that an arrest warrant was issued in error.
In the meantime, Philadelphia Democrats quickly recruited a primary challenger to prevent Boyle from seeking reelection. The situation raised questions about House voting rules that allow lawmakers to designate their votes when absent and prompted House Republicans to call for another investigation of Krasner.