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The Weekly Roundup
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The latest news from the State Capitol
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Wolf’s Voting Machine Funding Decision in Question
After vetoing a key election reform bill that would have also provided $90 million in funding to help counties replace their voting machines, the governor announced this week he would simply go around the Legislature and supply the funding unilaterally.
Leaders in both the House and Senate question the governor’s authority to take such action without legislative authorization.
The need for the funding was brought about by the governor’s decision to decertify every type of voting machine currently in use in the Commonwealth. It is estimated to cost $150 million to replace machines in all 67 counties, a significant burden on taxpayers across the state.
By vetoing the legislation, the governor is also robbing voters of other needed election improvements, including extending the deadline for submission of absentee ballots to ensure all votes count and creating a commission to manage the process for election machine decertification in the future.
Finally, the bill would have brought Pennsylvania in line with more than 40 other states by eliminating the “straight party” voting option, the measure most strongly opposed by the governor. The change could have opened the door to more minor party candidates and encouraged voters to cast their ballots for a person rather than a party.
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Thanks for Coming!
We had a good turnout for the recent open house at our new district office in Weissport, which is located at 204B Bridge St. My staff and I had a great time visiting with everyone who stopped by!
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In the District
It was my pleasure to present a House citation to the Ukrainian American Heritage Foundation in Lehighton that recognized its 30th annual Ukrainian Dance Workshop and Camp.
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Protecting You from Spoofers
Calls from telemarketers have long been an issue, but the situation becomes dangerous when scammers “spoof” calls. That’s when a call shows a different name or phone number than is actually associated with the caller. All too often it can result in recipients being tricked into sharing their personal information and scammed out of their hard-earned money.
Spoofing needs to be swiftly and aggressively addressed. Despite being illegal, these unwanted robocalls that appear to originate from local, often legitimate, numbers in order to deceive consumers are on the rise.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously supported a resolution urging Congress to grant additional authority to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stop unwanted robocalls and spoofing, as well as to educate the public on how to report illegal calls. Spam calls are the most frequent complaint received by the FCC, and it’s time to do something about it.
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New Law Improves Medication Convenience
Legislation recently signed into law allows consumers to synchronize the refilling of their prescriptions.
This will improve convenience for patients who take more than one medication and reduce the need for multiple trips to the pharmacy – namely senior citizens, busy families and those with limited transportation options.
Under Act 46 of 2019, consumers will be able to receive their prescription medications from a pharmacy on the same day each month. It prohibits an insurance company from denying coverage for a partial fill of a script in order to facilitate medication synchronization. Pennsylvania becomes the 36th state to have enacted or introduced similar legislation.
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| Office Locations |
| 204B Bridge St., Weissport, PA 18235 | (610) 377-6363 |
| 2681 State Route 903, Unit 3, Albrightsville, PA 18210 | (570) 722-8700 |
| Room 420 Irvis Office Building, PO Box 202122, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2122 | (717) 260-6139 |
| Email: dheffley@pahousegop.com |
| TTY: 855-282-0614 |
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