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Free SEPTA fares for low-income riders could end next year. Advocates are pushing to save it.
SEPTA’s 21.5% increase in transit fares and service cuts fell hardest on disadvantaged Philadelphians this year, showing an urgent need to make the city’s Zero Fare program permanent, City Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke argues. He touted his proposal to dedicate 0.5%...
PA’s Shelter First Act Introduced
HARRISBURG – Citing the need for permanent solutions to PA’s ongoing housing crisis, Lancaster County Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El and Philadelphia County Sen. Nikil Saval are introducing The Shelter First Act – legislation to prevent the criminalization of homelessness...
Around Town
Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a bill that would bar municipalities from penalizing people for sleeping outdoors unless adequate indoor shelter is available. State Sen. Nikil Saval and Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, both Democrats, said the proposed Shelter First Act...
Sen. Saval, Rep. Smith-Wade-El Join Advocates in Announcing Introduction of Bill to Prevent the Criminalization of Homelessness
HARRISBURG, PA − November 18, 2025 − Citing the need for permanent solutions to the Commonwealth’s ongoing housing crisis, today State Senator Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia) and State Representative Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D–Lancaster) joined housing advocates to announce the introduction of the Shelter First Act, legislation to prevent the criminalization of homelessness in Pennsylvania.
Harrisburg GOP, union leaders celebrate the end of Pa. greenhouse gas program
Harrisburg Republicans and energy-sector workers are taking a post-budget victory lap, celebrating Pennsylvania’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Participation in the multi-state program, which was initiated by former Gov. Tom Wolf, would have...
SEPTA riders invited to transit town hall Thursday
SEPTA riders have experienced a multitude of crises this year, from service cuts to severe Regional Rail disruptions. On Thursday evening, two of Philadelphia’s more progressive politicians – City Council member Nicolas O’Rourke and state Sen. Nikil Saval – and the...
Bill would decriminalize homelessness in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Democratic lawmakers in both chambers of the Pennsylvania State Capitol are pushing for legislation that would decriminalize homelessness. “We are experiencing, right now, one of the most severe crises of housing and homelessness that this...
Pa. advocates push to counter the ‘criminalization of homelessness’ following SCOTUS ruling
Lawmakers and housing advocates in Pennsylvania are calling on the commonwealth to take a more compassionate response to homelessness on the heels of a monumental ruling that allows local government to ban outdoor sleeping even if there are no shelter beds available....
Lancaster Rep. Smith-Wade-El asks legislators to bring awareness to youth homelessness
HARRISBURG – The School District of Lancaster has identified 800 students who are experiencing homelessness so far this school year. Last November, the district said 692 students were homeless, a number that climbed to 970 by the end of the 2024-25 school year....
‘Not a criminal justice issue’ say those against bans on public sleeping
(The Center Square) - Just as homelessness rates across the country reached record highs, the impact of a June 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for a town in Oregon to criminalize sleeping in public. Introducing bills in both chambers, progressive...
Pennsylvania lawmakers to introduce bill that aims to prevent criminalization of homelessness
Pennsylvania lawmakers are set to introduce the Shelter First Act, which aims to prevent the criminalization of homelessness by requiring municipalities to provide indoor spaces for those experiencing homelessness before enforcing laws against living outside.
Senator Saval Joins Legislators, Advocates in Announcing the Shelter First Act
Senator Saval Announces Shelter First Act to Protect People Experiencing Homelessness from Criminalization
Pennsylvania lawmakers to introduce bill that aims to prevent criminalization of homelessness
Pennsylvania lawmakers are set to introduce the Shelter First Act, which aims to prevent the criminalization of homelessness by requiring municipalities to provide indoor spaces for those experiencing homelessness before enforcing laws against living outside.
Lawmakers introduce legislation that moves to protect those unhoused in PA
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday introduced companion bills designed to prevent municipalities from criminalizing homelessness unless adequate shelter is available. The Shelter First Act comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass...
Solar on the Skyline: Inside the Philly Warehouse Pushing a Bold New Energy Future
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Pennsylvania lawmakers and clean-energy advocates gathered this past week atop a Northeast Philadelphia warehouse to spotlight a rapidly emerging opportunity in the state’s renewable-energy landscape: large-scale rooftop solar on industrial...
Pa. budget deal packs a slew of policy changes and turns on money flow to counties, schools
HARRISBURG — In a Wednesday whirlwind of massive bills, rapid votes and an all-smiles signing ceremony, the state’s elected leaders adopted a $50.1 billion budget for a fiscal year that was already 135 days old. The flurry of public actions on major issues and big...
Democrats react to Pennsylvania budget deal
The Center Square) - Democrats celebrated alongside Gov. Josh Shapiro at the Capitol today as he signed the state's long overdue budget into law. Shapiro touted the bill as a bipartisan effort, though he acknowledged the struggle to bring Democratic leadership in the...
Democrats may sacrifice climate program to break Pennsylvania’s budget impasse
HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic leaders are considering a budget deal that would pull Pennsylvania out of an interstate program that charges power plant operators for releasing carbon into the atmosphere, according to a source with knowledge of...
Senate Democratic Caucus Policy Committee Holds Hearing Regarding Supporting Home Care Workers & Consumers
PHILADELPHIA, PA − November 10, 2025 −Today, Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing to examine direct care employee wages, and the trends observed in the Commonwealth over the last decade. “Earlier this year, I walked a day in the life of a home care worker...