Here working in the State Capitol on July Fourth… HARRISBURG — Cigarettes in Pennsylvania are due to get safer, under legislation approved by the Legislature. House Bill 1612, introduced by Rep. Timothy J. Solobay, D-Washington, would require all cigarettes sold in Pennsylvania to be “fire safe.” Low-ignition strength cigarettes are less likely to cause a [...]

HARRISBURG — Deregulation of electric rates in 2010 in many areas of the state could constitute “the biggest tax increase in Pennsylvania history,” state Senate Democrats said yesterday. Since 1996, the rate at which many Pennsylvania energy companies have been able to recoup power plant construction costs from consumers has been capped. But by 2010, [...]

This as appearing in the July 2, 2008 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.This is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA). HARRISBURG — Tax rates would quadruple in Westmoreland County’s Unity under proposed legislation that would require some municipalities to pay for their state police protection, a township supervisor said. [...]

I didn’t make it clear that this story is on the cover, which is exciting, though, again, like another clip, a double byline. See PDF of Today’s Post-Gazette here. Number of Views:225

Breaking news Web item for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, full story in tomorrow’s paper. HARRISBURG – Municipalities with more than 10,000 residents that rely on state police for law enforcement would have to dig deeper into their pockets under legislation proposed today by two Democratic state legislators from Westmoreland County. House Bill 2563, introduced by Rep. [...]

This a double byline with Tom Barnes, as appearing in the July 1, 2008 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.This is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA). HARRISBURG — Even though a handshake agreement was reached early yesterday on a new $28.2 billion state budget that calls for no tax [...]

I contributed to this report by Bill Toland, as appeared in the July 1, 2008 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.This is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA). Part of yesterday’s budget deal included a rough agreement to spend $650 million on environment- and energy-related programs, $500 million of which [...]