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HARRISBURG — Over the past two years, Pennsylvania’s divided Legislature has passed fewer bills and had fewer voting days than in most sessions in recent history.
This energetic is likely to continue once the fresh session begins in January, following an election in which Democrats retained a slim majority in the lower house and the balance of power in the upper house remained unchanged.
Despite operating in a divided government, lawmakers managed to pass several significant bills in 2023 and 2024. Among them: a significant boost in funds for education, fresh tax reliefs targeted at business activityimproving the process of obtaining certain building permits, discount extension on real estate taxes and rent for elderly and disabled people, as well as the Act regulating healthcare intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers.
Lofty goals have been set for 2025 and 2026. Democratic leaders want to strike a deal on sending more money for struggling public transit agencieswhich Republicans who control the state Senate have signaled they are open to working on – provided there is a dedicated revenue source.
GOP leaders also say they want to pass more economic development measures while limiting budget growth. Democrats still hope they can get things moving long-delayed fix that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to sue perpetrators, as well as continue conversations about the legalization of recreational marijuana.
“Working with the only divided Legislature in the country, Governor Shapiro has delivered historic progress and done great things for Pennsylvanians — from real action to cut costs, lower taxes and put more money in people’s pockets, to funding more state troopers and first responders so that law enforcement has the resources they need to protect our communities, to historic investments in public education and economic development,” Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder said in a statement.
“As he has done for the past two years, the Governor will continue to work full steam ahead to unite leaders from both parties to achieve results and accomplish great things to improve the lives of Pennsylvanians.”
In total, the state House, Senate and Gov. Josh Shapiro passed 217 bills during the 2023-2024 session. AP’s Spotlight review of legislative productivity over the past three decades found that it wasn’t the least productive at the time, but it was among them. Only in the sessions of 1999–2000, 2007–08 and 2009–10 fewer laws were passed.
During the 1999–2000 session, the GOP controlled both the legislative and executive branches, but from 2007 to 2010, state government had the same balance of power as it does today: Republicans controlled the state Senate and Democrats controlled the House of Representatives and the governor’s office.
This session also saw the fewest voting days — scheduled days when members introduce legislative changes — since at least 2005. Over the two years, there were just 101 in the House and 103 in the Senate.
This was largely due to the even balance in the House of Representatives and the way the lower house dealt with vacancies. Virtually every time Democrats saw a member leave, leaders adjourned the session. This prevented Republicans from taking advantage of a tie in the chamber or a transient majority.
Still, lawmakers argue that the number of days in session and the number of bills passed should not be the only ways to gauge legislative productivity.
A better measure is “the impact on ordinary Pennsylvanians,” said state House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (R-Montgomery).
He said the combined impact of more than $1 billion in fresh K-12 education funding, as well as fresh or increased child care tax credits, enabling reforms and property tax breaks showed that even a divided General Assembly “got things done.” matter” for Pennsylvania.”
Most of the legislative work was carried out on key dates. In 2023, Shapiro signed half of the annual bills in December within two days after the state House and Senate ended a long-running budget impasse.
In 2024, 50% of bills presented to the governor were signed into law before or just after the June 30 state budget deadline. These included some of the session’s biggest accomplishments, such as regulations on pharmaceutical intermediaries and an omnibus liquor bill that extended elated hours.
Both Bradford and state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Ind.) noted the clustering of achievements near the deadline, saying it was the result of a ticking clock that helped policymakers put aside their differences.
“I think there’s nothing better than deadlines,” Bradford told Spotlight PA. “Unfortunately, it’s part of human nature.”
Leaders in both chambers said they believe a divided legislature can find more areas of common ground.
Pittman already has specific requirements for some of the issues he will try to address starting next year.
On transport, he believes that any deal to finance public transport must also include money for broader infrastructure modernization and a dedicated fresh revenue stream to finance it, such as a tax on arcade games – terminals resembling slot machines. that currently operate in a legal gray zone.
Pittman told Spotlight PA “that’s what I’ve been saying for the last 10 months, and more and more I think I’m the Rodney Dangerfield of Capitol Hill at this point.” (Dangerfield’s comedy segments were renowned for their repetition.)
Pittman also said he was concerned Pennsylvania’s structural deficit. Republicans agreed to some spending increases in 2024, in vast part because the court ordered lawmakers to ensure more equitable education funding. Pittman said he is focusing more on balance this year.
“We will need to look at a much more stringent budget in the coming financial year to ensure that the rate of spending growth is contained,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bradford said the state House has been and will continue to be willing to compromise on the Senate’s economic priorities, as it did by agreeing to a set of fresh, business-friendly tax breaks. In return, he said, he would like to see the Senate get more involved on issues such as raising the minimum wage, passing an amendment to the child sexual abuse bill and updating election laws.
“We have shown that we are fed up with the same boring debates,” he said. “And we have shown that we are more than willing to compromise and meet halfway on issues that traditional democratic orthodoxy would never allow.”
The Senate’s response on how it will handle these and other issues that may arise in the fresh session? Everything is possible.
“I think 2025 is a whole new world,” Pittman said.
“We have a cohesive leadership team that has worked together over the last two years despite very deep differences,” he said. “We will consider how to do everything we can in this spirit in the future.”
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