With the election behind them and Democrats holding their one-seat majority in the Pennsylvania House, what are the priorities for Delaware Valley legislators? The Senate is solidly in GOP hands — what does that mean for the DelVal delegation?
For House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Delaware/Philadelphia), addressing crime and the high cost of living are the priorities.
“I am proud of how the state House delivered for our seniors and working families in the 2023-24 legislative session, including increasing the Property Tax Rent Rebate, tripling the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and driving more money to schools for critical repairs, classroom tools, and mental health resources for students,” McClinton told DVJournal in a statement.
“In 2025, we’ll double down on cutting costs for families, improving public safety, and building an economy that works for everyone.”
Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery) said, “Last session, we made significant strides in enhancing Pennsylvania’s competitiveness by continuing to lower the Corporate Net Income Tax rate, increase Net Operating Loss provisions, and finally taking steps to reform permitting…There is still much work to do to ensure Pennsylvania becomes a hub for businesses of all sizes to grow and thrive.
“A strong economy begins with a well-educated workforce. Education reform and investment remain top priorities for me as we head into the new session. We must focus on ensuring our schools deliver a world-class level of education for all Pennsylvania students so that they are prepared for their futures.
“In addition, we must continue to ensure our career and technical education institutions get the resources they need to meet our future workforce needs,” she said. Pennycuick, a veteran herself, said supporting veterans is “another critical focus.”
She also is working to “address the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by implementing commonsense safeguards while ensuring we do not stifle innovation.”
Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Bucks/Lehigh) said he will continue investigating where state money is spent. Coleman told DVJournal his priority is “transparency and reforming broken state government.”
He hopes to fix the parts of state government that “essentially don’t appear to be working to improve the lives of all Pennsylvanians, specifically targeted at reducing costs in government and reducing burdensome redundant processes and regulations, as well as evaluating a lot of the grants and grant programs that are constantly being touted by the governor.”
“Additionally, we’re looking to introduce a bill that will conduct an audit of where all that COVID money went,” said Coleman.
A program he’s looking into is the Pennsylvania Sites Program, a redevelopment program that went from a $10 million pilot program in 2023 to $500,000 in the state budget in 2024.
“That money could be used for public transportation, senior services, education, etc.,” Coleman said.
Rep. Donna Scheuren (R-Montgomery) also zeroes in on saving taxpayers’ money.
“I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have listened and learned from the voices of the voters,” said Scheuren. “Pennsylvanians want us focused on pocketbook issues that affect their monthly bills, not identity politics or a woke agenda. Maybe they’ll see that their left agenda was rejected, and they’ll work more with us.
“And I’m going to continue my efforts on law and order and commonsense legislation that holds criminals accountable for their actions,” said Scheuren. She plans to reintroduce her anti-squatter bill that failed along party lines in the last session.
“And I want to focus on the billions in fraud plaguing our commonwealth,” Scheuren said. “Such as the 1.5 million able-bodied adults with no dependents who are on our public benefits system.” Those people “need to get back in the workforce.”
Sen. Frank Farry (R-Bucks) said, “One of my goals as state senator is passing legislation that will enhance the safety of our community. Last session, I introduced a package of bills along with [Bucks County] Reps. K.C. Tomlinson, Joe Hogan, Kristin Marcell, and Shelby Labs focused on addressing the rising and evolving crime in our communities. We were able to get two of those bills passed; SB 527, now Act 41 of 2023, which cracks down on porch pirating, and HB 226, now Act 103 of 2024, which puts the brakes on street racing.
In the next session, he hopes to pass bills to combat catalytic converter robberies and one that would impose a new mandatory minimum sentence for previously convicted offenders illegally possessing a firearm.
Another bill would direct local residents’ income taxes to suburban municipalities rather than Philadelphia. And Farry supports a bill to freeze property taxes for eligible seniors.
Rep. Craig Williams (R-Chester/Delaware) targets several crime-fighting bills.
“Based on my experience in this area, my top priority is finally passing my Gun Violence Task Force bill, which extends concurrent jurisdiction to the attorney general to prosecute felons found in possession of guns in Philadelphia. It is both a federal crime and a state crime for a previously convicted felon to be in possession of a gun. I was a gun prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice, and I know there is no greater tool for fighting violent crime than prosecuting prior convicted felons in possession of firearms. We negotiated this bill with then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and it passed the Republican House in 2022 with wide bipartisan support. House Democrats did not move the bill in the last session. I plan to push this effort hard.”
Williams also backs a package of crime bills that includes community crime-stopper programs and promotes sentencing guidelines that mandate consecutive rather than concurrent sentences for some offenses.
Rep. John Lawrence (R-Chester) said, “I continue to work with community stakeholders to redesignate Big Elk Creek State Park as a Preserve, and with ChristianaCare to reopen Jennersville Hospital and return Emergency Room services to our community. I am also deeply involved in efforts to block any sale of Chester Water Authority. For me, these efforts will be front and center in the session ahead.”
