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This week, the Pennsylvania House and Senate held leadership elections for the upcoming 2025–26 legislative session. The biggest changes are within the House Republican Caucus. RCPA looks forward to working with the leaders in all four caucuses.

The results of the leadership elections are as follows:

Senate Republicans

  • President Pro Tempore Designee Kim Ward (Westmoreland)
  • Majority Leader Joe Pittman (Indiana)
  • Majority Whip Ryan Aument (Lancaster)
  • Majority Appropriations Chairman Scott Martin (Lancaster)
  • Majority Policy Chairman Dan Laughlin (Erie)
  • Majority Caucus Chairman Kristen Phillips-Hill (York)
  • Majority Caucus Secretary Camera Bartolotta (Beaver/Greene/Washington)
  • Majority Caucus Administrator Lisa Baker (Luzerne/Susquehanna/Pike/Wayne/Wyoming)

Senate Democrats

  • Minority Leader Jay Costa (Allegheny)
  • Minority Whip Tina Tartaglione (Philadelphia)
  • Minority Appropriations Chairman Vince Hughes (Philadelphia/Montgomery)
  • Minority Policy Chairman Nick Miller (Lehigh/Northampton)
  • Minority Caucus Chairman Maria Collett (Montgomery)
  • Minority Caucus Secretary Steve Santarsiero (Bucks)
  • Minority Caucus Administrator Judy Schwank (Berks)

House Democrats

  • Speaker Designee Joanna McClinton (Philadelphia)
  • Majority Leader Matt Bradford (Montgomery)
  • Majority Whip Mike Schlossberg (Lehigh)
  • Majority Appropriations Chairman Jordan Harris (Philadelphia)
  • Majority Policy Chairman Ryan Bizarro (Erie)
  • Majority Caucus Chairman Rob Matzie (Beaver)
  • Majority Caucus Secretary Tina Davis (Bucks)
  • Majority Caucus Administrator Leanne Krueger (Delaware)

House Republicans

  • Minority Leader Jesse Topper (Bedford)
  • Minority Whip Tim O’Neal (Washington)
  • Minority Appropriations Chairman Jim Struzzi (Indiana)
  • Minority Policy Chairman David Rowe (Union)
  • Minority Caucus Chairman Martina White (Philly)
  • Minority Caucus Secretary Clint Owlett (Tioga)
  • Minority Caucus Administrator Sheryl Delozier (Cumberland)

If you have any questions, please contact Jack Phillips.

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Pennsylvania saw a large Election Day turnout in certain areas of the Commonwealth, so before sending out the Election Day update, RCPA wanted to wait so we could report to you the most accurate information available.

As of today, November 8, 2024, there are still two seats in question. One is the US Senate race between the Incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D) and his opponent, Dave McCormick (R). The other seat in question is in Cambria County between Incumbent State Rep. Frank Burns (D) and his opponent, Amy Bradley (R).  More information on these two races is available below.

Election Results

President

Trump (R) – 50.5%
Harris (D) – 48.5%

Donald Trump won the race to be the 47th President of the United States. Trump saw increased support this election with Black and Latino men. The rural areas of the Commonwealth offset any Democrat leads in the urban areas, and in many urban areas Trump limited the Democrats’ winning margins.

US Senate

McCormick (R) – 49%
Casey (D) – 48.5%

This race has been called by the Associated Press (AP) in favor of Dave McCormick, but Sen. Casey has not conceded the race yet. According to AP, McCormick is currently winning by about 30,000 votes. AP believes the remaining votes will break in favor of McCormick. We will keep the members posted as events unfold.

The Republicans have flipped the US Senate and currently have a 52-seat majority, with the possibility of gaining two more seats (Pennsylvania and Arizona).

US House

The US House is projected to stay in Republican control by a 222–213 majority. In Pennsylvania, two  US House seats flipped from Democrat to Republican in Northeast PA and the Lehigh Valley (see results below).

District 7 (Lehigh Valley)
Ryan MacKenzie (R) – 50.7%
Incumbent Susan Wild (D) – 49.3%

District 8 (NEPA)
Rob Bresnahan (R) – 51%
Incumbent Matt Cartwright (D) – 49%

District 10 (Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, York Counties)
Incumbent Scott Perry (R) – 50.8%
Janelle Stelson (D) – 49.2%

PA Senate

The Republicans went into Election Day with a 28–22 seat majority and came out of the election with the same majority.

PA House

The House Democrats went into Election Day with a majority of seats, 102–101. As of today, November 8, 2024, one race will decide whether the Democrats maintain control of the House or the Republicans assume majority control.

The race in question is in Cambria County, between Incumbent Democrat Frank Burns and his Republican opponent, Amy Bradley. As of today, Burns holds a 936 vote lead with approximately 97% of the vote in. As of this writing, the AP called the race for Rep. Burns, but challenges will probably be filed by the Bradley campaign.

Next Week

The House will be in session next Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Senate will be in session Wednesday and Thursday. It is believed no major legislation will be voted on and both chambers will hold leadership elections for the 2025/26 legislative session.

If you have any questions, please contact Jack Phillips, Director of Government Affairs.

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RCPA held a golf fundraiser to support the RCPA Political Action Committee (RCPA PAC) on Monday, September 23. This successful event raised much-needed funds for our legislative activities, and we would like to thank all the generous golfers who participated and contributed. Congratulations to our winners!

Winning team is Rob Labatch and John Bubb, from Hope Enterprises, and Cody Dinger and George McMurty, from Strawberry Fields.

  • Longest Drive, Men – Cody Dinger, Strawberry Fields
  • Longest Drive, Women – Jen Tyler, Wojdak Government Relations
  • Closest to the Pin – Bill Hartley, Elwyn
  • Longest Putt – Ryan Sharp

Also, a big thank you to our sponsors:

Tournament Sponsor Expert County Care Management
Lunch Sponsor Inperium, Inc
Prize Sponsor Geras Home Care
Prize Sponsor Vista Autism Services
Beverage Cart Novak Strategic Advisors
Beverage Cart Brier Dlugolecki Strategies
Beverage Hole Sponsor Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Beverage Hole Sponsor Comprehensive Financial Assoc/ PA Pension Planners
Hole Sponsor Salisbury Behavioral Health, LLC a division of RHA
Hole Sponsor Wojdak Government Relations
Hole Sponsor Chris Lucas
Hole Sponsor Embolden WC Trust
Hole Sponsor Firetree, Ltd
Hole Sponsor Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy

 

Your support is always appreciated. We encourage anyone interested to make a personal contribution to the RCPA PAC. For your convenience, you can now make an online contribution. Thank you again for your participation and support, and congratulations to our golf winners!

Your participation in the RCPA-PAC is completely voluntary, and you may contribute as much or as little as you choose. Donations are not tax-deductible and will be used for political purposes. You may choose not to participate without fear of reprisal. You will not be favored or disadvantaged by reason of the amount of your contribution or decision not to contribute.

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The Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association (RCPA), in conjunction with our provider members and partner stakeholders, have written to PA Senator Casey and PA Senator Fetterman to express our full support for ensuring the mandated inflationary increases are preserved for the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) so that critical OVR employment programs will continue for working and job-seeking Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Vocational rehabilitation funding is essential in Pennsylvania to maintain services that support the advancement of employment. We are fortunate that our state legislature has consistently funded Pennsylvania OVR in a manner that has allowed OVR to collect the full federal match and even draw down more when there is a surplus.

If the mandated inflationary increases are rescinded, Pennsylvania’s OVR funding will be cut by millions of dollars, adversely impacting working and job-seeking Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Specifically, approximately $13M would be eliminated from a limited $200M budget, or 6.5%. The resources provided to PA OVR are too valuable and already limited. This potential action forces Pennsylvania to prioritize allocations at the expense of critical employment and related services. Maintaining funding levels is crucial for advancing employment for individuals with disabilities.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Division Director Carol Ferenz or IDD Policy Analyst Cathy Barrick.

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On July 11, 2024, Governor Shapiro signed a bipartisan 2024/25 budget that invests in a range of fields, from health care to public transportation to education. The details of the budget are available in the Governor’s Press Release, which highlights each field and dollar amounts signed. In particular, the budget addresses:

  • Supporting PA’s ID/A community and Direct Support Professionals (DSP);
  • Investing in gun violence prevention;
  • Increased funding for nursing homes and the Aging Our Way plan;
  • Combatting maternal mortality; and
  • Further investments in mental health.

RCPA Policy Staff will be reviewing the budget in great detail over the next few days. We plan to reach out to our members with updates and key information as more becomes available and analyzed. If you have any questions regarding the budget, please reach out to your Policy Director.

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