School districts — whether public or private — across the commonwealth may be required to draft a policy prohibiting student cellphones with limited exceptions following a unanimous vote in the state Senate Education Committee Tuesday.
State Sen. James Malone stunned with a special election win in Lancaster County. Now, his reelection could give Pennsylvania Democrats the chance to flip the chamber and control the General Assembly.
Five Bucks County districts deemed underfunded are receiving the extra money again this year, and other Bucks districts are receiving a flat additional $50,000.
School districts would be permitted to deduct more from their per-student payments to online schools.
Mastriano wants to ban coronavirus vaccine requirements for students and faculty in public and private colleges, and place guardrails around immunization mandates for other diseases.
Barring a last-minute deal, the mass transit agency, which serves 800,000 riders daily in the greater Philadelphia region, will institute a 20% reduction in all services on Aug. 24, and fare increases on Sept. 1.
Around 1 million Pennsylvanians rely on mass transit daily in urban, suburban, and rural regions. In the Philadelphia region, where SEPTA serves around 800,000 riders each day, significant service cuts are possible if lawmakers in Harrisburg can’t agree on a funding package by Thursday.
The bill—which includes funding for highways, too—increases aid for transit agency operations by $292 million, or about 25% more, with the lion’s share of the money going to the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
House Bill 1200 met its untimely demise less than a week after the Pennsylvania House passed its first adult-use cannabis bill. Senate Republicans oppose selling recreational cannabis in state-owned stores and shot the bill down in a committee vote.
A video posted by State Sen. Dawn Keefer has renewed calls to end political violence. Her social media post called for a second Whiskey Rebellion and used a flamethrower on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget less than a month after the governor’s residence was firebombed.
