FILE PHOTO: State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, (left) speaks in support of Senate Bill 60, also known as the “Buyer Beware Act,” during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 14, 2020. Also pictured, from left: state Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin, Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland, Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery and Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Fayette/Somerset.
Photo courtesy of Phillips-Hill chief of staff Jon Hopcraft
Photo courtesy of Phillips-Hill chief of staff Jon Hopcraft
FILE PHOTO: State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, (left) speaks in support of Senate Bill 60, also known as the “Buyer Beware Act,” during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 14, 2020. Also pictured, from left: state Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin, Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland, Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery and Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Fayette/Somerset.
Photo courtesy of Phillips-Hill chief of staff Jon Hopcraft
State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, (left) speaks in support of Senate Bill 60, also known as the “Buyer Beware Act,” during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. Also pictured, from left: state Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin, Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland, Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery and Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Fayette/Somerset. (Photo courtesy Phillips-Hill chief of staff Jon Hopcraft)
Pennsylvania identifies so many victims of human trafficking and makes enough related arrests every year that it outranks most other states. Now, the state House of Representatives is set to give full consideration to legislation that would enhance penalties for trafficking and for patronizing victims of sexual servitude. Gov. Tom Wolf says he’ll sign SB60. It’s one of seven bills and a resolution that unanimously cleared the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday. The other measures need to get through the House floor vote and then the Senate before landing on the governor’s desk. More here from WTAE Pittsburgh.
State Rep. Mary Isaacson, D-Philadelphia, is trying to build support for her bill that would crack down on unsolicited nude photos sent via text or email, reports Stephen Caruso for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Republican California state Sen. Ling Ling Chang introduced a similar bill last week. Texas became the first state to enact a ban last summer. It was proposed by Republican state Rep. Morgan Meyer in partnership with the dating app Bumble, which is based in Austin.
Expect law and criminal justice issues to get another statehouse champion soon with Lebanon County District Attorney Dave Arnold representing Pennsylvania’s 48th state Senate district, which includes Lebanon and parts of Dauphin and York counties. Unofficial results show Arnold won a special election Tuesday with 18,228 votes to challenger Michael Schroeder’s 9,945. Arnold, who formerly led the Pa. District Attorneys Association and was in his fourth term as LebCo’s top prosecutor when he declared his statehouse run, has described himself as a “consistent conservative” on abortion, finance and other issues. He replaces fellow Republican Mike Folmer. Folmer was among GOP lawmakers who’d sometimes lean left — or, at least, seek bipartisan consensus — on issues including criminal justice and redistricting reform. (Arnold’s said he favors the status quo on the latter). Folmer awaits trial on child pornography possession and other charges, which prompted his resignation in September.
Courtesy of Anheuser-Busch
Members of the Seltzer Hose Company cheer the inaugural delivery of Bud Light Seltzer, a new product that has both borrowed and amplified their community’s name for a national launch campaign. (Courtesy of Anheuser-Busch)
Thanks to Anheuser-Busch InBev, there’s a national spotlight on the Schuylkill County village of Seltzer, pop. 125. As part of a marketing campaign, the world’s largest marketing corporation recently declared Seltzer the “unofficial spokestown” for a new spiked sparkling beverage. According to PennLive’s Charlie Thompson, Seltzer lacks a mayor and isn’t technically a municipality — but it does have a volunteer fire company that’s getting $15G for new equipment from AB InBev. It’s kinda awkward, though, because Yuengling brewing company is “just a couple miles up the road,” Charlie writes. Read his full story here.
A Lancaster County funeral home has all but gone dark following LNP’s weekend report on a Department of State investigation documenting 10 alleged violations of state funeral laws, such as leaving an unembalmed body unrefrigerated for days and failing to return cremated remains to loved ones. Junior González reports clients and staff haven’t been able to reach Andrew T. Scheid, director of the funeral home that bears his name, for some time. Check out Junior’s reporting here.
Meanwhile, in D.C.: the U.S. House is expected to send articles of impeachment — and new evidence — to the Senate today, with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial expected to start “in earnest next week,” amid a swift-moving bipartisan effort to limit Trump’s war powers against Iran, according to CNN and The New York Times.
