Trending
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic legislative leaders said they intend to use their new trifecta to "govern responsibly" while pledging to tackle a variety of priorities that have been languishing in Harrisburg.
"We now have a responsibility to govern responsibly with this new trifecta, and that is exactly what we will do," Shapiro said. "Soon, we will all stand before you and announce our agenda for the first 100 days. But here's what I can guarantee we will get done. We will fund mass transit. We will raise the minimum wage. We will make sure that women have a right to reproductive freedom here in this Commonwealth. We will build more housing. We will allow survivors of abuse the ability to confront their abusers in court."
Shapiro did not outline specific plans for advancing the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, recreational marijuana legalization, clean energy initiatives, gun laws or voter ID requirements. He said to stay tuned for a more comprehensive look at his policy agenda.
Shapiro said he empathized with Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, noting that many "commonsense" bills -- like increasing the minimum wage -- passed by the House in previous sessions failed to advance in the Republican-led Senate "for no good reason."
But now, such bills will instead go a Democratic-controlled Senate, which Shapiro predicted would be led by Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, who currently serves as the minority leader of the chamber.
"President Pro Temp Jay Costa will receive (legislation), and he and his leadership team, that they will form here in the coming days, will work swiftly to advance progress for the people of Pennsylvania to move forward with the mandate that the voters have given us," Shapiro said.
McClinton said she looks forward to continuing to work with Costa, as they have in the past, and expressed confidence that lawmakers will pass the state budget on time next year.
"We were able to get together and be able to get these budgets done, and we will finally have one on time," McClinton said. "Come see us in June of 2027. But I don't want to get ahead of myself."
Costa said he, McClinton and Shapiro are aligned on their legislative priorities as they enter the new session in January.
"The governor and the speaker talked a little bit about some of the priorities we'll be talking about, and we're all on board and we're ready to go work on this," he said. "I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize and mention that over the course of the past two years, this last legislative cycle, some 200 bills that came over from the House have been sitting dormant in committees."
Senate Majority Leader Matthew Bradford, D-Montgomery, pointed to several of those bills as examples of legislation he hopes will move forward under Democratic control.
"You know, sometimes it's easy to say 200 and some bills, but it's everything. Why does private equity own our hospitals, and why is it that it's okay that Pennsylvania pays its workers $7.25 an hour?" Bradford said. "These things are finally going to be addressed in a real way in Harrisburg."