Christin Brown

HARRISBURG, PA – October 8, 2026 – Senators Nick Pisciottano (D-Allegheny), Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton), who serves as the Democratic Chair of the Senate Communications and Technology Committee, and John Kane (D-Chester/Delaware) are advancing legislation to the Governor’s desk to establish Pennsylvania’s first advertising disclosure standards for AI-generated and significantly AI‑modified content used to market consumer goods and services. The General Assembly gave final approval to Senate Bill 806, sending the consumer protection measure to Gov. Josh Shapiro for his consideration. The legislation would require advertisers to clearly disclose when AI-generated or significantly AI-modified images, audio, video or text are used in advertising in a way that could mislead consumers about a product or service. “Consumers should know when what they are seeing or hearing in an advertisement was created or significantly altered by artificial intelligence,” said Senator Nick Miller. “As AI becomes more common in advertising, we need clear standards that protect consumers from all ages from being misled while allowing businesses to responsibly use this technology. Establishing a clear disclosure requirement is an important step toward transparency and accountability in the rapidly evolving world of AI.” “This is a major step for consumer protection in Pennsylvania,” said Senator Pisciottano. […]

Session Spotlight :: October 5, 2026

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA – October 13, 2026 – Senator Tim Kearney released the following statement on SB 1311 and Animal Welfare Policy in Pennsylvania: “I appreciate the concern of many constituents about animal cruelty in Pennsylvania, as well as their support for SB 1311, which would create a registry for perpetrators of certain animal cruelty crimes. As a member of the legislature’s Animal Protection Caucus, I take animal cruelty very seriously, and when SB 1311 came up for a vote last week, I was disappointed to see that the bill was not supported by animal rights organizations such as the ASPCA and drew opposition from civil rights and criminal justice reform advocates such as the ACLU of Pennsylvania. I ultimately made the difficult decision to vote no on SB 1311. Evidence on registries have shown that they do not reduce recidivism of their offenses, can decrease prosecution of more serious animal cruelty charges, and do not prevent registered offenders from accessing pets or farm animals. As a supporter of criminal justice reform, I believe the commonwealth also needs to balance the rights of offenders who have served their sentence and to allow for their rehabilitation into society, which registries can […]

Plum, PA – October 14, 2026 − State Senator Nick Pisciottano (D-45, Allegheny) and State Representatives Aerion Abney (D-19, Allegheny) and Jennifer O’Mara (D-165, Delaware) were joined by Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, and local officials Wednesday at the Sampson Family YMCA in Plum to announce the formation of the Pennsylvania General Assembly's new Kids & Families Caucus.

October 16, 2026 − State Senator Steve Santarsiero released the following statement on PHMSA’s corrective action order to Sunoco/Energy Transfer: “The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) order requiring Sunoco/Energy Transfer to investigate the safety of sleeves across its 20,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines, following a sleeve failure in Michigan similar to the one discovered in Upper Makefield in January 2025, is long overdue. Investigating alone is not enough, and the federal government must do more to protect our citizens. If PHMSA had taken a more aggressive approach to enforcing compliance with Sunoco/Energy Transfer after last year’s leak in Upper Makefield, perhaps our neighbors in Michigan could have been spared this same ordeal. No one should have to wake up to jet fuel in their tap water. PHMSA still has not shared the root cause of the Upper Makefield leak with us, and this latest incident raises serious questions about whether existing sleeve repairs and leak detection measures are sufficient to protect our communities. These two incidents reinforce the urgent need to replace the Twin Oaks pipeline, which runs through the 10th Senate District from Newark, New Jersey, rather than continue to rely on infrastructure that is […]

Harrisburg, PA – October 20, 2026 − The Pennsylvania General Assembly's new Kids & Families Caucus brought lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives together at the State Capitol today to highlight a coordinated effort to make Pennsylvania a more affordable and supportive place to start and raise a family.

Harrisburg, Pa. − October 21, 2026 − This week Senator Lindsey M. Williams’ Senate Bill 476 passed the full Senate. This legislation allows the Fish and Boat Commission to modernize their regulations around registration, safety education certificates, and life jackets. This modernization will apply regulations to new vessels like efoils and jetboards. “More people are enjoying time on our waters every year, thanks to statewide efforts to restore our waterways and reconnect to our riverfronts,” said Senator Williams. “Modernizing our safety standards will help keep everyone safe as they enjoy Pennsylvania’s endless opportunities for water and river recreation.” Senate Bill 476 requires that operators of personal watercraft or boats greater than 25 horsepower take an approved boating safety education course. It does not apply to personal watercraft such as motorized kayaks, canoes, or other vessels where the person is sitting or standing within the hull, or boats with motors of 25 horsepower or less. “Thank you to the members of the General Assembly, specifically Senator Lindsey Williams and Representative Bob Merski, for their championship of this important public safety initiative. This legislation modernizes Pennsylvania’s Personal Watercraft (PWC) definition by removing outdated language that now aligns Pennsylvania with U.S. Coast Guard […]

House and Senate Democrats Discuss Business Left Unfinished by Senate Republicans as 2025-26 Legislative Session Draws to a Close

Harrisburg, PA, October 22, 2026 – Legislation authored by State Senator Christine Tartaglione (D-2, Philadelphia) and Senator Frank Farry (R-6, Bucks) to strengthen Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Act passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week by a vote of 128-75 and now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature. Senate Bill 908 closes a long-standing gap in state law by extending prevailing wage protections to off-site custom fabrication work performed for public construction projects. The legislation recognizes modern construction practices, in which essential components for plumbing, HVAC, electrical systems, welding, iron work and boiler systems are often fabricated in local shops and facilities before being installed on-site. “Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law was created to ensure fairness for workers and contractors on public projects, but the current law leaves too many skilled workers without fair compensation simply because their work happens off-site,” Tartaglione said. “This bill restores the spirit of the law by recognizing that custom fabrication is essential to modern construction and deserves the same prevailing wage standards as on-site work.” Enacted in 1961, Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Act was intended to level the playing field for contractors bidding on public works projects. However, its focus on on-site labor has […]

Session Spotlight :: October 19, 2026