Panel OKs House GOP bill to ban employer vaccine mandates
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A ban on employers mandating vaccines for their workers is inching ahead in the state House Tuesday. The House Labor and Industry Committee on Tuesday voted on party lines, with support from all Republicans and united opposition by Democrats. The committee’s Republican chairman says lawmakers are responding to increasing reports that employers are requiring vaccines, forcing some workers to choose between the vaccine or losing a job. The bill would let workers or prospective workers avoid workplace mandated vaccinations by putting into writing their objections. They include that a doctor has concerns it might harm their health or that they have religious or “strong moral or ethical” convictions against a vaccine.

Republican election bill pushed ahead over Dems’ objections
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A multifaceted proposal to revamp Pennsylvania election law is moving ahead in the state House in the form of a bill that backers say will make needed improvements and standardize procedures. Democrats on the State Government Committee were dead set against it Tuesday. They insist that many of its purported upgrades are unworkable or would, in practice, make voting more difficult. The vote to advance it to the House floor was on party lines. The bill’s prime sponsor sees it as a way to ensure security around elections and rebuild trust, along with modernizing procedures. His proposal would change deadlines, adopt new rules for early voting, alter mail-in ballot procedures and mandate IDs for in-person voters.

Mixed drinks to-go legislation in peril in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is suggesting that he’ll veto a bill that would allow thousands of retailers with licenses to sell beer and wine to begin selling cans of mixed hard alcohol drinks to-go. Wolf’s office said Tuesday he supports the original intent of the bill: to allow hotels, restaurants and bars to continue making mixed hard alcohol drinks and selling them in to-go containers. Legislation signed by Wolf last year legalized those drinks as a way for hotels, bars and restaurants hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions to make extra money. But Republican lawmakers inserted provisions expanding the sale of mixed drinks in cans that Wolf opposes.

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17) was joined by Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1) in introducing the bipartisan Support for Community Bridges Act.  Lamb and Fitzpatrick are both members of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.  The legislation would set aside 2.5 percent of federal highway aid to better target funding to repair off-system structurally deficient bridges.  Any bridge or road not on the National Highway System is designated as off system.  Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

According to a 2019 study by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 16.6 percent of Pennsylvania’s bridges – a total of 3,770 out of 22,737 bridges – were classified as structurally deficient.  Ninety percent of those classified as structurally deficient are off-system bridges.  The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave Pennsylvania’s bridges a D+ grade in its most recent Infrastructure Report Card.

“Pennsylvania has the second highest number of structurally deficient bridges in the country, which is completely unacceptable,” said Lamb.  “Western PA is home to hundreds of bridges that are critical to our transportation system, and far too many of them are in desperate need of repair.  Congress must take action to fix these bridges and put federal dollars behind this effort.”

“We are at a crossroads with regard to infrastructure,” said Fitzpatrick.  “This Congress has the unique opportunity to come together to forge bipartisan consensus on this critical issue.  With the American public overwhelmingly supporting physical infrastructure investments, our bipartisan ‘Support for Community Bridges Act’ would provide more targeted funding for Pennsylvania’s bridges to improve both our transportation network and safety.”

Pennsylvania is projected to receive a significant increase in federal transportation funding under the Support for Community Bridges Act.  The bill also guarantees states do not receive less transportation funding under the new formula.

Based on last year’s funding levels, off-system bridges would receive roughly $1.2 billion under this proposal, up from roughly $776 million, which comes from a combination of highway trust fund and general treasury funds that are allocated to the highway aid program through congressional appropriations.  As federal investment in infrastructure increases, so would the amount for off-system bridges.  The legislation is supported by the National Association of Counties (NACO) and the National League of Cities.

Visit Lamb’s website to learn more about the Support for Community Bridges Act.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A Philadelphia man wanted in the deadly stabbing of his girlfriend at an Atlantic City casino last week has turned himself in. Fifty-nine-year-old Frankie Lane faces murder and weapons charges stemming from the death of Sharon Whaley. The 57-year-old Philadelphia woman’s body was found Friday night inside a room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. They say Whaley had suffered multiple stab wounds, but a cause of death has not been determined. Lane was being sought before he turned himself in without incident at the prosecutor’s office on Monday night. It’s not known if he’s retained an attorney. A motive for the attack remains under investigation.