PENNSYLVANIA (WJAC) — Pennsylvania lawmakers once again advanced legislation that would allow the PIAA to potentially overhaul the state’s playoff format for high school athletics.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 41 by a 178 to 23 vote, nearly one year after the legislation advanced out of the House Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations Committee.

The issue of “fairness” in Pennsylvania high school athletics has been a hot topic in recent years as both lawmakers and schools have debated whether or not the PIAA should create separate playoff brackets for public and private districts.

HB 41 was first introduced by Rep. Scott Conklin (D-Centre), who argues that the current competition structure in Pennsylvania high school “jeopardizes athletes’ health and safety.”

Student athletes and their parents recognize that contact sports pose certain physical risks, which schools try to minimize through protective equipment, training, and policies like concussion protocols,” Conklin said. “Unfortunately, our schools can’t protect against a playoff system that needlessly escalates those risks through unfair competitions.

PIAA’s existing playoff system forces athletes from public schools, which are limited to recruiting from within district boundaries, to compete against athletes from private schools, which can recruit from anywhere and amass larger, stronger teams. The result is unfair, lopsided competitions that leave public school students on a dangerously unlevel playing field, subjecting them to added physical risks and even depriving them of scholarship and recruitment opportunities. School sports are supposed to be about building confidence and teaching kids lessons in fair play, but the current system is teaching all the wrong lessons.

My bill would provide a way to end these increasingly dangerous competitions by allowing the PIAA to establish separate playoffs and championships for boundary and non-boundary schools.

House Bill 41 will now advance to the state Senate for a vote.

Lawmakers note that if fully approved, the legislation would not mandate the PIAA to change the current format but would rather give them the option to do so.

WJAC

• Pennsylvania has the second-most winners in USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks, trailing only Florida.
• The state is home to the most No. 1 ranked attractions, including best roller coaster, water slide, theme park hotel, and theme park restaurant.
• Knoebels, Kennywood, and Hersheypark were all recognized as top-10 theme parks in the nation.
• Several Pennsylvania attractions won awards across multiple categories, including roller coasters, water slides, and theme park dining.

Pennsylvania is one of the top places in the country for theme parks and water parks, according to USA TODAY readers, and all the best attractions are just close enough to South Central Pennsylvania for a day trip.

Seventeen of the winners in USA TODAY’s 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards for Theme Parks and Water Parks are in Pennsylvania. There are 18 if you include Great Wolf Lodge, which has a location in the Poconos.

With 24 winners, only Florida tops the Keystone State with top-10 attractions. No other state comes close to the top two.

But how do you measure which is the best? Florida has the most attractions on the list, but Pennsylvania is home to the most No. 1’s (roller coaster, water slide, theme park hotel, theme park restaurant). Florida attractions don’t even top a single category, and both states are missing from two categories.

Here are the Pennsylvania attractions that won USAT’s 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards for Theme Parks and Water Parks. Start planning that day trip — we included each attraction’s travel distance from Chambersburg.

No. 5: Splash Lagoon, located in Erie, is a Polynesia-themed indoor water park that is home to one of the biggest indoor wave pools in the Eastern U.S. It also features nine water slides — in one tube, slides can go as fast as 40 mph — as well as on-site restaurants, bars and shops. Distance from Chambersburg: 277 miles; about 4 hours, 23 minutes

No. 8: Aquatopia Indoor Water Park, located at Camelback Resort, Tannersville (the Poconos), boasts seven pools, 13 slides, an adventure river, a water play structure with gadgets and interactive elements. Thrill-seekers will love Storm Chaser, one of the longest indoor uphill water coasters in North America. The 125,000-square-foot indoor park has a transparent roof, so indoor guests can work on their tan no matter the season. Distance from Chambersburg: 175 miles; about 2 hours, 55 minutes.

Best Lazy River: Runaway River, Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — More than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians won’t be able to vote on May 19 because of the state’s closed primary elections.

The state is an outlier, as 42 other states and D.C. have open primaries, which means voters don’t need to affiliate with a political party ahead of the election to vote. Lawmakers have been pushing for reform since at least 1995, but so far none have successfully changed the law.

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The issue has support from Democrats and Republicans. But now a group of independents has filed a lawsuit asking a Pennsylvania court to force them into the primaries.

John Jones, a former federal judge, cited the “free and fair elections” in Pennsylvania’s Constitution for grounds to open the state’s primary elections.

“Emphasis on the word fair,” he said. Jones and political scientists argue too many elections are decided on primary day, rather than Election Day in November.

“You look statistically in elections from 2020 to 2025, in the state legislature, for example, only about 10% of those elections were actually really contested,” he said.

 Pa. primary election 2026: A complete guide 

Not everyone is open to open primaries. Republican strategist Chris Nicholas said if voters don’t care to be a part of a party, they shouldn’t get a say in the primary.

“Imagine if you’re a member of the Elks Lodge, and you work all year to make the Elks Lodge the best it can be,” he said. “Then on Election Day, you let those folks from the Moose Lodge in, and they come in for one hour, vote in your elections and leave, never to come back again.”

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