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When a post appeared on the Erie County Republican Party s Facebook page in early June calling for a so-called forensic audit of the 2020 presidential election, I asked Erie County Republican Party Chairman Verel Salmon what such an audit might achieve. Weeks later, I posed a similar question to state Rep. Curt Sonney on why the GOP, with his co-sponsorship, had proposed so many drastic changes to Pennsylvania s election laws two years after the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved some of the most monumental changes to those same rules in eight decades. Both Salmon and Sonney gave similar answers: There was an alarming amount of distrust and unease from their respective constituencies presumably many of the same people over the results of the 2020 election. Something needed to be done, they contended, to restore faith in our electoral system. ....
The state budget invests $282 million into nursing homes and long-term care facilities More money for education, health departments, nursing homes, child welfare services and to continue an emergency rental and utility assistance program are bright spots in Pennsylvania s new state budget, Erie-area officials say. So are provisions that give municipalities more flexibility when applying for grants for transportation projects. But lawmakers also kept flat investments in mental health which has been a growing problem throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and they squirreled away much of the state s allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan. Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, D-3rd Dist., Millcreek Township, the chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee, said there were a lot of missed opportunities, like making an investment in broadband expansion, but that the budget could have been worse. ....
by Christen Smith, The Center Square | June 03, 2021 07:00 PM Print this article Gov. Tom Wolf stood firm Monday in his resolve to reform Pennsylvania’s decades-old charter school law. But he will face a tough – nearly impossible, some say – battle in the General Assembly, where preserving school choice remains popular within the GOP-controlled Legislature. “Let’s create a level playing field here,” Wolf said during a news conference Monday in Lancaster. “We are all in the business of taking taxpayer dollars to make students lives’ better.” Wolf’s proposed changes, encapsulated in House Bill 272, would standardize cyber charter tuition to $9,500 per student and recalculate a charter school’s special education funding using an updated formula the Legislature approved in 2015. In total, districts could save $395 million, the administration said. ....
Gov. Tom Wolf stood firm Monday in his resolve to reform Pennsylvania s decades-old charter school law. But he will face a tough â nearly impossible, some say â battle in the General Assembly, where preserving school choice remains popular within the GOP-controlled Legislature. Let s create a level playing field here, Wolf said during a news conference Monday in Lancaster. We are all in the business of taking taxpayer dollars to make students lives better. Wolf s proposed changes, encapsulated in House Bill 272, would standardize cyber charter tuition to $9,500 per student and recalculate a charter school s special education funding using an updated formula the Legislature approved in 2015. In total, districts could save $395 million, the administration said. ....
Students who lost ground in school during the COVID-19 pandemic may soon be allowed to repeat the current academic year even if they ve met the requirements to advance a grade level or graduate. Senate Bill 664, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, also would allow special education students who are set to age out of school by turning 21 before the start of the 2021-22 academic year to access an additional year of educational services. On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Education Committee voted 24-1 to advance the bill to a full vote in the House. The Senate approved the bill 48-0 on May 12. ....