A look back at work by area legislators as 2023-24 Legislative Session reaches halfway point: Borowicz, Flick, Rowe

Dec. 26—HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania General Assembly's 2023-24 Legislative Session is approaching its halfway point. So far, more than 2,700 bills and 480 resolutions were proposed in both the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate.

It's been a slow grind after a bill or resolution has been introduced. The country's only full-time divided Legislature — a frequent refrain of Gov. Josh Shapiro — advanced 63 bills into law in 2023, about half coming in a frenzied close to the session's first half.

What follows is a look back at the outcome of legislation proposed by area lawmakers.

Rep. Stephanie Borowicz

Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton/Union, is in her third term in office representing the 76th District which now encompasses parts of Union County.

She's assigned to the committees on Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Environmental Resources & Energy and Health. She serves as Republican chair of the Subcommittee on Energy.

Borowicz sponsored 24 bills or resolutions so far this session, with 12 introduced as a prime sponsor. Seven are reintroduced from the last session. None have received committee consideration.

Though Democrats hold the majority and control the House agenda this session, five of those very same bills saw no action last session, either, when they were introduced during a Republican majority.

Among them is House Bill 320, a fetal heartbeat bill that would ban abortions upon detection of cardiac activity in a fetus, or at about 6 weeks. Another is House Bill 319 which would prohibit instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools among related measures. And, she's proposed House Bill 227 to mandate armed guards at schools and require districts strictly designate and utilize specific points of entry.

House Bill 245 seeks to allow multipurpose agricultural vehicles to travel up to 10 miles on highways between farms and fields for agricultural work. This proposal cleared the House last session but stalled in the Senate.

A member of the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus, Borowicz has been steadfast and vocal in her opposition to legislation she sees as infringing on the Constitution or Christian ideals.

She voted against funding for the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school in the wake of anti-Semitic acts on campus.

She opposed gun safety measures that carried through the House as well as a pending proposal to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution and revert the unanimous vote needed for a pardon or commutation of a sentence of death or life in prison back to the 3-of-5 standard that was in place before the mid-1990s.

Rep. Jamie Flick

Rep. Jamie Flick, R-Lycoming/Union, is midway through his first term representing the 83rd Legislative District which includes a portion of Union County.

The Republican serves on the committees on Children & Youth, Game & Fisheries, Government Oversight, Human Services and Tourism & Economic & Recreational Development. He's also on the Subcommittee on Mental Health.

Flick sponsored 124 bills and resolutions this session, with four introduced as a prime sponsor.

Three of Flick's bills have yet to receive committee consideration.

House Bill 1637 looks to open substitute teaching opportunities to those who have an associate's degree, easing the commonwealth's requirement that subs have at least a bachelor's degree. Flick's House Bill 1643 seeks to remove Lycoming County from select counties bound to annual vehicle emissions testing as part of the Northeast Ozone Transport Region.

And, House Bill 1684 aims to create equality in time shared between parents and children under child custody agreements.

One of Flick's proposals ended up becoming law, though not through his own bill. He introduced House Bill 479 to eliminate a Medicaid rule long despised by ambulance providers that prevented reimbursement for the first 20 miles of patient transport.

Flick's measure cruised through the House but because it amended Fiscal Code and amid a still-unsettled legislative battle to enact a school voucher system, Senate Republicans amended the measure to tack on the Pennsylvania Award for Students Success Scholarship Program (PASS), known formerly as the Lifeline Scholarship program.

PASS didn't cross the finish line this year and neither did Flick's bill, however, the General Assembly ultimately approved another bill with the same initiative as Flick's satisfying at least one call for change from the emergency medical community.

Rep. David Rowe

Rep. David Rowe, R-Snyder/Union/Juniata/Mifflin, is in his third term serving the 85th Legislative District.

The Republican serves on the committees on Health, Insurance, Judiciary and Labor & Industry, and he belongs to subcommittees on Courts and Workers Compensation and Worker Protection.

This session, Rowe sponsored 348 bills and resolutions but introduced just one as a prime sponsor.

House Bill 92, reintroduced from last session, proposes that a veteran-owned business be considered a small diverse business. The designation provides greater opportunities for small businesses to compete for state government contracts.

An executive order by former Gov. Tom Wolf in 2015 removed veteran-owned small businesses as a qualifying designator for the Small Diverse Business Program. Veterans can still qualify for the program but they must match other designators like being a minority or being disabled.

While Rowe's prior bill cleared the House last session before stalling in the Senate, his latest version hasn't received consideration in the Commerce Committee.

Rowe circulated a legislative memo in January but hasn't put forward the proposed legislation seeking to shift Pennsylvania away from annual budgeting to a rules-based structural balance.

He backed a package of tax relief proposals that haven't moved in the House that sought reductions to the inheritance tax and personal income tax as well as sales tax exemptions for volunteer fire companies and emergency medical services.

Rowe has maintained a consistent presence during floor debates and committee meetings to help strengthen his caucus' position on a particular measure, be it during verbal sparring on the House Rules at the session's disjointed beginning, arguing against a proposal he said could criminalize victims of gun thefts, and demanding state-related universities freeze tuition as Republicans stymied efforts to fund the schools including Penn State and Pitt before a resolution was found.