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The Weekly Roundup
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The latest news from the State Capitol
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No-Tax-Increase Budget Moves Ahead in House
This week, the House approved a $31.52 billion budget proposal that does not increase taxes or borrowing but does invest in education, public safety, human services and infrastructure.
House Bill 218 reflects a collective need to reinvent the way Pennsylvania budgets and governs, by moving ahead to streamline programs and services; eliminate duplicative state functions; reduce bureaucracy; and create an endowment fund that will generate money to pay future costs.
The budget will be balanced using several options, including expanded gaming and liquor privatization proposals, which have previously passed the House.
Additional details about the proposal are available here.
To read my statement on this week’s budget action, click here.
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House OKs Bill to Get Tougher on Criminals
To ensure criminals are appropriately sentenced, the House passed House Bill 741 to address constitutional issues with Pennsylvania’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws cited by the state Supreme Court in 2015.
House Bill 741 would allow for mandatory minimum sentences for drug traffickers, trafficking drugs to minors and for selling drugs in drug-free school zones. Other crimes affected include offenses committed with firearms, on public transportation, against the elderly or infants, or while impersonating a law enforcement officer.
Mandatory sentences have proven to be a necessary tool to ensure that people committing serious drug and gun crimes are held accountable for their actions.
The bill now goes to the state Senate.
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Working to Protect the Department of Drug and Alcohol
On Wednesday, I joined Rep. Gene DiGirolamo and hundreds of advocates at a rally to save the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs from being moved into a huge state bureaucracy. Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed the consolidation of the departments of Health, Human Services, Aging, and Drug and Alcohol Programs into a single Health and Human Services Department.
In the midst of our state’s most serious public health crisis in decades – the opioid crisis – I believe we need more details before such a drastic measure is taken.
To hear my comments after the rally, watch the video.
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| Office Locations |
| 110 North Third Street, 2nd Floor, Lehighton, PA 18235 | (610) 377-6363 |
| 2681 State Route 903, Unit 3, Albrightsville, PA 18210 | (570) 722-8700 |
| Room 403 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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