Governor Josh Shapiro of Abington signed 20 bipartisan bills into law on Tuesday, July 1, including: HB 211, HB 261, HB 304, HB 378, HB 553, HB 615, HB640, HB 992, HB 1103, SB 78, SB 89, SB 109, SB 129, SB 232, SB 255, SB 302, SB 411, SB 466, SB 518, and SB 719.
Last week, he signed 14 additional bills into law: HB 209, HB 240, HB 355, HB 491, HB 1333, HB 1334, HB 1335, HB 1336, HB 1337, HB 1338, HB 1339, HB 1340, HB 1420, and SB 202.
“Today I signed into law the first pieces of budget legislation for the next year — ensuring we continue to fund our workers’ compensation system, support our retirees, and process professional licenses and certificates quickly,” Shapiro said in a statement last week. “This is the first step toward a final budget, and we will continue to have productive conversations and work with the House and Senate in order to get this done.”
The appropriations bills signed last week fund the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Licensing and the professional licensing boards it administers, the Workers Compensation system, the Office of Small Business Advocate, the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System (PSERS), the State Employees Retirement System (SERS), the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA), the Public Utility Commission (PUC), the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), and the Office of Consumer Advocate.
Summaries of each new law from last week can be found here.
In related news, the Shapiro administration released estimates of dropped Medicaid and SNAP benefits if the reconciliation bill, which is currently in Congress, is passed. According to PBS, the legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. A final House vote is possible on Wednesday.
Statewide, nearly 144,000 Pennsylvanians who receive SNAP could lose their access to critical food assistance, while 310,000 Pennsylvanians could lose Medicaid coverage, according to the administration.
In Representative Madeleine Dean’s 4th district, which includes most of Montgomery County, the administration estimates that 2,115 will lose SNAP benefits and 10,569 will lose Medicaid coverage.
Photo: pasenate.com