The ceiling of the main Rotunda inside Pennsylvania’s Capitol building. (Photo by Amanda Berg for the Capital-Star).
This year’s legislative session saw fewer new laws passed than any session in more than a decade, attributable in part to the partisan divide between the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate. But there were some substantial pieces of legislation and changes to the budget that made it to the Governor’s desk.
The most significant legislation was changes to the school funding formula in the budget that include more than a billion dollars in new funding, much of it going to the state’s poorest schools. . But there were other notable pieces of legislation that passed as well.
Pa. Senate passes pharmacy benefit manager reform with near-unanimous vote
Lawmakers voted with bipartisan support to help local pharmacists by reining in pharmaceutical industry middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers. Pharmacists say that those companies, which are hired by insurance companies to handle prescription drug services, have been squeezing them out of money by offering increasingly low reimbursement rates for drugs they dispense.
According to pharmacy trade groups, more than 120 independent and small chain pharmacies across Pennsylvania have closed since 2023, and they attribute that largely to PBMs. While the legislation that passed is far from a silver bullet, it does ban certain industry practices that pharmacists have described as predatory, the state Insurance Department will be largely responsible for enforcement.
Pa. Senate votes to block funding to schools that divest from Israel
The Senate also passed legislation in response to protests on campus over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Though it never passed the House.
The bill would have banned schools receiving state funds from divesting from Israel. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania warned that the bill could infringe on the rights of institutions to protest through political boycotts.
Pa. Senate showdown set over tax records in Allentown’s state-backed neighborhood improvement zone
The Senate also saw a dramatic showdown between Revenue Secretary Pat Browne and the state Senator who won his former seat after defeating him in a 2022 primary, Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh).
Coleman pushed for a legislative audit of the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ), which Browne had pushed for as a state Senator. The joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee subpoenaed records on public spending in the NIZ from Browne, who is now a member of Shapiro’s cabinet. Browne said he was unable to provide the records legally.
While it sounds — and is — deeply wonky, there was a legal fight that went to the state Supreme Court, threats that Browne would be arrested by the senate Sergeant at Arms, and heated cross-examination of Browne by Coleman.
AP calls northeast Philly Senate race for 29-year-old Republican Joe Picozzi.
It was also a year of consequential elections. While the partisan makeup of the state Senate will remain the same, with 28 Republicans and 22 Democrats, there were some shakeups. Democrats, somewhat predictably, flipped a seat in the 15th District, which became more favorable to the party after redistricting.
More surprisingly, Republicans flipped a seat in northeast Philadelphia. Joe Picozzi, a 29-year-old set to become the youngest sitting state Senator when he’s sworn in in January, attributed his victory to a strong ground game. He also earned support from the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, which was eyeing the district after a majority of voters there supported a Republican mayoral candidate in 2023.
Pennsylvania Senate caucuses elect leaders as session ends
There were also shake ups in the elections for party caucus leaders who will serve during the next session — at least on the Democratic side.
Republicans reelected the same slate of caucus leaders to hold their positions next year. And the Democratic caucus’ ranking leaders, Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia) and Minority Whip Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), were also reelected. But further down the line, there were challenges — and divisions.
Sen. Katie Muth (D-Montgomery), one of the most progressive members of the Senate, was defeated in a caucus election and will lose her seat as chair of the Democratic Policy Committee. Following the votes, she had some harsh words for her caucus.
“I’m not a corporate Democrat,” Muth told the Capital-Star. She added, “Dollars raised by members seem to equate to leadership. I did not run a traditional campaign raising bazillions of dollars off of for-profit corporate donors.”
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