We open this month’s summary by giving a huge round of applause to the PAFIA members that traveled to Harrisburg on Monday, May 1 for the film industry legislative reception. We had over 60 elected officials and staff stop by to learn more about the film production incentive and the economic benefits it provides the Commonwealth. With the leadership of our four film caucus chairs and the support of industry stakeholders, we had over 100 people attended the event – a huge success! Thank you letters will be sent to all the elected officials who attended and we will remain in close contact with them as budget negotiations begin in earnest later this month.

In legislative news for this past month, the State Senate and House Appropriations Committees’ hearings regarding Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposed FY24 budget concluded in mid-April, kicking off this year’s budget negotiations process in earnest. The deadline for the General Assembly to pass the budget is June 30, 2023.

Both chambers have had a busy two weeks as they were in session the last week of April and the first week of May. The House passed legislation expanding anti-discrimination protections (HB 300), address worker misclassification in the construction industry (HB 413) and proposed workers’ right amendment to the state constitution (HB 950). The Senate passed a bill (SB 671) that would limit the City of Philadelphia’s ability to impose a commuter tax on people who work remotely.

During this same time, Governor Shapiro signed his first bill into law as Act 1 of 2023 which requires insurers to cover the cost of early-detection genetic testing to screen for breast cancer. The Senate also approved three of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s cabinet nominees yesterday, with Mike Carroll confirmed as transportation secretary, Rick Siger confirmed as community and economic development secretary and Jason Kavulich as the state’s secretary of aging.

Looking ahead, the Senate will be in session on May 8, 9, and 10 while the House will be in session on May 22, 23, and 24. Both chambers have a busy June schedule planned. As a reminder, on May 16, there will be two special elections to fill state House vacancies happening on primary election day. One is being held in the Philly suburb’s 163rd Legislative district to replace former state Rep. Mike Zabel (D., Delaware), who resigned in March following accusations of sexual harassment. The other is in the 108th Legislative district in the Susquehanna Valley, which was held by former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver (R., Northumberland) until she resigned after winning a state Senate seat.