As Pennsylvania’s two-year legislative session draws to a close, lawmakers in the state House and Senate appear as though they will end their work with a tally of roughly 240 bills sent to the desk of Governor Josh Shapiro during the 2023-24 session.
That number marks the fewest new laws in more than a decade; a consequence of a sharply divided government and a high-stakes election season that likely curbed more ambitious legislative efforts. And while lawmakers can boast of passing a number of meaningful laws, including PFMA priorities like organized retail crime reform and ready-to-drink beverages, they will also be leaving several big-ticket items on the table to await new and returning members when they are sworn in January.
Among them are games of skill, mass transit funding, and adult-use cannabis. Governor Shapiro proposed the tax and regulation of both games of skill and adult-use cannabis as revenue generators for the Commonwealth as part of his initial budget proposal in early 2024. Neither item made it into the budget, and mass transit funding – critically needed for SEPTA to continue in the Philadelphia region without a sea change in its operations – also could not get worked out before time was called on this year’s session. Gov. Shapiro’s budget proposal had requested $283 million in new funding for transit agencies across the state, including SEPTA. The agency has warned of significant rate hikes and service cuts if additional funding is not made available.
The period that concludes the two-year session, known as sine die, requires that all legislation not passed into law – whether significant or marginal, and no matter how far along in the process – expire. Proposals must be reintroduced in the new session and move through the legislative process from the beginning.
Of course while the legislature, and legislation, may be in a temporary state of limbo, discussions and advocacy do not stop on items that could impact PFMA members in the months and years ahead. The association uses this time to work with newly elected and re-elected members to convey our legislative priorities with the goal of hitting the ground running in the new year.
For its part, following November elections, the General Assembly will close out its work with retirement speeches from departing members and the election of new leadership for the upcoming session. ■
