Pennsylvania
With child abuse amendment stalled in Pa. House, Speaker Mark Rozzi seeks public input to overcome gridlock
The Pennsylvania Home of Representatives is at an deadlock, with lawmakers unable to ascertain guidelines for the brand new legislative session. The standoff has delayed the passage of a constitutional modification that will permit little one intercourse abuse victims to file lawsuits that in any other case can be prevented by the statute of limitations.
In an effort to unravel the partisan gridlock, Home Speaker Mark Rozzi is embarking on a statewide listening tour to achieve public suggestions on the perfect methods to beat it.
The listening tour kicks off Wednesday in Pittsburgh, with extra stops to be introduced over the subsequent few days. Rozzi, who represents Berks County, has requested a bipartisan group of six legislators to hitch him. They embrace Reps. Morgan Cephas, a Democrat from Philadelphia, and Tim Briggs, a Democrat from Montgomery County. The group has been assembly since Jan. 17 because the Democratic-controlled Home searches for tactics to finish its gridlock.
“As a rank-and-file member of the Home for 10 years, I used to be by no means concerned within the behind-the-scenes politics of the Common Meeting,” Rozzi mentioned Friday. “Now, having been thrust into it during the last two weeks, I can inform you one factor: Harrisburg is damaged.”
Rozzi was elected because the state’s first unbiased Home Speaker on Jan. 3 after being nominated by Rep. Jim Gregory, a Republican from Blair County. The longtime Democrat appeared poised to vary his celebration affiliation and has repeatedly mentioned he is not going to caucus with both celebration.
Nonetheless, Gregory has known as on Rozzi to resign, claiming that he is privately walked again his determination to change his celebration affiliation. Some Republicans even have made requires Rozzi’s resignation.
The primary few weeks of a brand new legislative session sometimes consist of creating guidelines and assigning members to chair legislative committees. Nonetheless, former Gov. Tom Wolf known as for a particular session of the state Home and Senate on Jan. 9 as a way to go the constitutional modification, which might set up a two-year window for abuse victims to sue abusers in any other case protected by the statute of limitations.
The modification must be authorised by each legislative chambers and signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro earlier than it will probably seem as a poll referendum. Lawmakers from each events had pledged to approve it initially of this session.
The Republican-controlled Senate handed it as a part of a bundle of constitutional amendments, together with some that lack bipartisan help. They included measures that will require voters to indicate identification on the polls, mandate post-election audits and provides lawmakers larger energy to disapprove of laws applied by the governor,
The Senate since has recessed till Feb. 27.
“Throughout my quick tenure as speaker, I’ve seen the highs of former Gov. Tom Wolf name the Common Meeting into particular session to go a constitutional modification that would supply reduction to survivors of childhood sexual assault,” Rozzi mentioned. “I’ve additionally seen the lows of lawmakers utilizing survivors of sexual assault as pawns to attempt to drive the passage of one other constitutional modification that will make it tougher for everybody to vote.”
The Home Republican Coverage Committee is set to fulfill Monday to debate the significance of returning to the chamber to go the bundle of amendments. If the amendments are authorised by the Home earlier than Jan. 27, they would seem on the poll throughout Could’s main election.
It’s unclear whether or not the state Home will reconvene earlier than three particular elections scheduled for Feb. 7. The elections, which all happen in Allegheny County, will fill vacancies left by the demise of former Rep. Anthony DeLuca and vacancies created by Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Congresswoman Summer time Lee taking up their new roles.
Pennsylvania
Bill to ensure access to contraception advances in Pennsylvania, aided by dozens of GOP House votes
Planned Parenthood PA Advocates executive director Signe Espinoza called the proposal “an enormous shift toward control over our bodies.”
“We must have control over if and when we decide to start our families, but Pennsylvania has for too long allowed loopholes, exemptions and oversights to stand between us and our autonomy,” Espinoza said in a statement.
Rep. Krueger said in an interview Monday that she also was concerned about Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion access two years ago. Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents,” including cases that found married people have the right to obtain contraceptives, people can engage in private, consensual sex acts and the right to same-sex marriage.
A state law could help people obtain contraceptives if federal law changes, Krueger said.
“We have seen that access to reproductive health care, including contraception, is coming down to a state’s rights issue,” Krueger said.
In other states, contraception has been a politically contentious issue. A review earlier this month by the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion access, found several states have proposed or enacted laws to reduce access to contraception this year.
KFF, a nonprofit that studies health care issues, said in May that 14 states have legal or constitutional protections for the right to contraception, with six states and Washington, D.C., enacting them since the high court’s decision on abortion in June 2022.
Pennsylvania
Pa. woman who drowned after being swept over waterfall in Glacier National Park is ID’d
A 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman drowned after being swept over a waterfall on the east side of Glacier National Park in Montana, park officials said.
National Park Service officials on Tuesday identified the victim as Gillian Tones from North Apollo in western Pennsylvania’s Armstrong County. She was remembered as caring and kind, triblive.com reported.
Tones fell into the water above St. Mary Falls at around 5:20 p.m. Sunday. She was washed over the 35-foot (11-meter) tall waterfall and trapped under water for several minutes, the park said in a statement.
Bystanders pulled Tones from the water and administered CPR until emergency responders arrived. She was declared dead at 7 p.m., park officials said.
The death is under investigation, and an autopsy was planned.
Her name was initially withheld until family members could be notified.
Drowning is one of the leading causes of death in Glacier National Park, according to the National Park Service.
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Pennsylvania
Conestoga Road Closing Weekdays For 2 Months In Radnor: PennDOT
RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA — Conestoga Road in Radnor Township will have a weekday closure due to Aqua Pennsylvania work for about two months, PennDOT said.
According to PennDOT, a weekday closure is scheduled on Conestoga Road between Lowrys Lane and Glenbrook Avenue in Radnor.
The closure will be in place weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday, July 1 to Friday, Aug. 30,
During the closure, drivers will be detoured, using Sproul Road/Route 320, Lancaster Avenue/U.S. 30, and County Line Road.
Local access will be maintained up to the work zone.
Drivers are advised to allow extra time when traveling through or near the work area because backups and delays will occur.
All scheduled activities are weather dependent.
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