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.
Democrat James Andrew Malone narrowly won a special election for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in Republican-leaning suburbs and farming communities, scoring an upset for a party roiled by infighting since President Donald Trump’s victory.
James Malone defeated his Republican challenger by 482 votes in a special election for a state Senate seat in Lancaster County. Last week, Elon Musk was sounding the alarm about losing the seat, which Trump carried by 15 points in November.
East Petersburg Mayor James Malone faces long odds in pulling off an upset in a special election for Pennsylvania’s 36th senate district. But Malone’s momentum has Elon Musk and Republicans sounding the alarm.
Pennsylvania State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti is one of six finalists for EMILYs List’s 2025 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award. Cappelletti has advocated for expanding reproductive healthcare after sharing stories about her miscarriages.
State Senator Lindsey Williams is calling on the legislature to place a moratorium on cyber charter schools until 2038. There are 14 cyber charter schools operating in the commonwealth that cost taxpayers and school districts over $1 billion annually.
