January 2024 | Legislative Update

What the State Legislature Will Be Facing This Year: The Big Picture

In this month’s legislative update, the Housing Alliance’s Aaron Zappia gives us the overall context and political environment in which our state legislature is likely to operate this year, potentially impacting our policy priorities.

The new year is off to a typical slow start in the state legislature, especially with neither the House or Senate scheduled for a full week of session until March. 

2024 is the second year of the current 2023-24 legislative session.  All bills not passed by the end of this calendar year will need to be re-introduced to start the process over again in 2025.

With the new year, the General Assembly begins working towards a state budget that is due June 30th—even though that deadline is often well overridden.  The first landmark on the budget odyssey is the Governor’s budget address which typically happens the first week of February.  In 2023, we were delighted that Governor Shapiro addressed housing needs in his inaugural budget proposal.  While we do not know if or how housing issues will be handled by the Shapiro Administration in 2024, the Shapiro team has been holding regional listening sessions to take policy recommendations from those on the front lines.

Here is what we know about 2024: 

• Education funding is likely to dominate budget negotiations as usual.
• Democratic legislators are expected to continue to propose billions in additional state funding for public education, acting on a mandate from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruling that found inequality in how public education is funded.
• If education funding is to significantly increase, Republican lawmakers will likely expect an investment in a School Choice Voucher pilot program. $100MM was proposed in 2023. This largely contributed to the delayed finalized budget in 2023.
• Pennsylvania now officially has the only divided legislature in the nation with a Democratic controlled House and Republican controlled Senate.
• Pennsylvania remains a key battleground state in this year’s Presidential election, and most of the General Assembly is up for reelection.

What does it all mean?

2024 is likely to be a noisy year, full of partisan political rhetoric and campaign distractions. 

In order to continue the progress we’ve made so far in funding PHARE, Whole Home Repairs, blight policy, and eviction prevention, housing advocates are going to have to cut through the noise and remind lawmakers that we are still experiencing a housing crisis.  As always, this happens through local engagement—people reaching out personally to their State Senate and House members asking for an audience to discuss housing policy.

The Housing Alliance is here to guide and arm advocates with the tools necessary to avoid the chaos and deliver our message to state lawmakers. 

Status of Increasing Funding for PHARE

The Housing Alliance will continue to seek an increase to the PHARE funding cap from $60MM to $100MM over a three-year period. 

In addition to two free standing bills in the House and Senate, PHARE was amended into HB1219—an omnibus Tax Code bill that was passed by the PA House last fall.  The legislation still awaits consideration in the Senate, and should it move forward, we will work to retain the language to increase PHARE.

While the General Assembly is not required to approve a tax code measure each session, it is typically done along with the budget enabling legislation or as session concludes in the fall.  

It is always helpful to talk to legislators about the importance of PHARE in your community.