STATE
HARRISBURG — Republicans who control Pennsylvania's Senate are warning that they'll reassign the duties of Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman as the chamber's presiding officer if he defies the chamber's rules again.
Republicans issued the two-page letter publicly Tuesday.
It came six days after the chamber devolved into shouting, name-calling and bare-knuckled procedural tactics over a Republican bill to end a decades-old program that temporarily offers $200 a month to people deemed unable to work.
Senate Democrats contended that Republicans used questionable procedure to block Democrats from offering amendments.
Fetterman later ignored a “point of order” by Senate Republican Leader Jake Corman while Democratic Sen. Katie Muth was speaking.
For nearly three minutes Muth spoke while Corman shouted over her at Fetterman to acknowledge him.
Senate Democrats and Fetterman say it's time to move on.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is moving to replace the federally operated Healthcare.gov with its own website to sell Affordable Care Act-compliant policies in a bid to get more people into it and lower their costs.Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation Tuesday that passed the Legislature unanimously last week.Wolf's administration expects to activate the new website next year for enrollment for the 2021 insurance year. It says it expects it can lower premiums by 5 percent to 10 percent for the 400,000 people who buy policies in the marketplace.Wolf's insurance commissioner, Jessica Altman, says the savings can particularly help the roughly 80,000 people who buy policies through Healthcare.gov, but whose incomes are too high to qualify for a federal tax subsidy.By Associated Press
