State

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is following in the footsteps of other Democratic governors following the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and looking to protect patients who travel to Pennsylvania for the procedure from being prosecuted by their home states. Wolf on Tuesday said in a statement that he would refuse a request…

By BROOKE SCHULTZ HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Amid a growing population of youth experiencing mental health crises, as well as another spate of mass shootings around the country, Pennsylvania lawmakers are prioritizing mental health services in this year’s budget by approving a first-time line item of $100 million for in-school support. Invoking the recent tragedies…

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf asked the state’s high court Monday to weigh in on a legal battle over Pennsylvania’s plan to charge power plants for their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection appealed lower court rulings that temporarily block the Wolf administration from…

By MARK SCOLFORO HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the main Pennsylvania state budget bill Friday, more than a week after it was due — a plan fattened by federal stimulus cash and unusually robust state tax collections. Big winners were public schools, environmental programs and long-term care facilities, but the budget also will…

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM A state court temporarily blocked Pennsylvania from participating in a regional carbon pricing program to combat climate change, ruling Friday in favor of coal-related interests that argue the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf is seeking to impose an unlawful tax. Commonwealth Court granted a preliminary injunction that prohibits the Wolf administration from…

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A dispute about state over its use of fetal tissue from elective abortions in research ended quietly Thursday when lawmakers approved the annual subsidy. The Senate passed it 43-7 together with funding for the other three state-related universities — Penn State, Lincoln and Temple. Pitt is in line to receive $155…

By MARK SCOLFORO HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania House, nearly a week into the state’s new fiscal year, began passing budget legislation Thursday to add billions into surplus accounts, significantly boost education spending and fund new environmental programs. The House passed the main budget bill with little debate on a hours after representatives were…

By MARK SCOLFORO HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lawmakers hoped to start wrapping up the state budget Thursday, but Senate Republican leaders issued an ominous statement about a potential deadlock one week after the annual spending plan was due to be completed. Overnight negotiations produced an early morning email to reporters from Erica Clayton Wright,…

By MARK SCOLFORO HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Most Pennsylvania lawmakers were absent from the state Capitol on Tuesday, five days into the new budget year without a state government spending agreement in place. Leaders were hoping negotiations would wrap up over the coming days and the House announced voting sessions were scheduled through Friday. Thursday…

By MARC LEVY HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor, has made a campaign staple out of the allegation that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s policy of readmitting COVID-19 patients from hospitals to nursing homes caused thousands of deaths — a baseless claim for which no investigator or researcher has provided any…