In continuous publication since 1913, the PMA Legislative Bulletin (The Bulletin) is the association’s official newsletter on business, governmental, and political affairs. Issued regularly, The Bulletin is a concise, easily readable, and expertly informed digest of events and trends in public policy. While focused primarily on state government, The Bulletin also provides news on urgent federal issues as well as the activities of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation.
No hydrogen hubs if PA enacts punitive natural gas setback legislation
November 21, 2023
Governor Josh Shapiro is trumpeting Pennsylvania’s success in securing two regional clean hydrogen hubs, one site each in Philadelphia and West Virginia, which he says will create 41,000 high-paying jobs. However, the governor’s victory statement should have also repudiated legislation in the House, HB 170, that would virtually wipe out the natural gas industry in ...
Wolf’s RGGI voided by Commonwealth Court as “invalid tax”
November 01, 2023
Pennsylvania’s energy industry and consumers won a massive victory in Commonwealth Court with Wednesday’s ruling that the go-it-alone Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) regulatory scheme ordered by former Gov. Tom Wolf constitutes a tax, a direct violation of the state Constitution that grants taxing authority solely to the General Assembly. The majority ruling, written by ...
The working group Gov. Josh Shapiro assembled to sort out the mess that is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and Pennsylvania’s possible participation in it, was strikingly non-committal in its final report. There was one crucial point that legislative leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana), have made ever since the prior administration: ...
LNG Opportunity Knocks in Southeastern PA
September 08, 2023
Delaware County, the Greater-Philadelphia area, and all of Pennsylvania stand to benefit from the development of a liquified natural gas (LNG) export hub, but surrendering to the radical Greens’ anti-production agenda will let another transformational economic investment slip away. Opportunity is knocking, but competitor states will be glad to take our place if we don’t ...
Over a month late, the fractured budget process in Harrisburg lurched forward last week with the Senate sending Gov. Josh Shapiro funding for K-12 public schools and other core government services. The governor quickly signed it, but line-item-vetoed a $100 million scholarship program for students trapped in Pennsylvania’s lowest-performing public schools. However, this is ...
In a shocking reversal, Governor Josh Shapiro says he will line-item veto the scholarship program designed to rescue children who are trapped in Pennsylvania’s lowest-performing schools. Shapiro made the veto promise to House Democrats to win passage of the FY 2023-24 General Fund Budget, which had previously passed the Republican-held state Senate. The governor claimed ...
A return to the no-good old days when plaintiffs’ lawyers were given wide latitude in where they could file medical malpractice lawsuits has been in effect for only six months, and already health care providers and civil justice reformers have seen enough. The return of venue, or forum, “shopping” has quickly resulted in a spike ...
Recent state-by-state outmigration figures from the IRS put Pennsylvania alongside its blue state cousins watching helplessly as their residents pursue better lives in other states. The annual migration map published by Atlas Van Lines provides further proof, with 58 percent of the moves in Pennsylvania being outbound with just 42 percent of trucks coming in. ...
Governor Josh Shapiro has a prime opportunity early in his tenure to fulfill a campaign promise to invest in Pennsylvania and keep the working talent here instead of fleeing for better opportunities in other states. The governor should throw his support behind legislation in the Senate that would elevate Pennsylvania out of the dismal basement ...
Anarchism, socialism, drug use, and all the other massive historical failures embraced by the radical left in the 1960s are now corrupting every facet of American life. The Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (PLC), the annual gathering of the state’s leading conservative policymakers and community activists, held this past weekend in Camp Hill, is a must attend ...