Love it or hate it, 2017 was a year of big changes in Pennsylvania. Here are some of the things the state’s General Assembly got right and wrong last year.

The good:

- Experimental treatments.

It’s been a long time coming, but as of mid-December Pennsylvanians with terminal illnesses now have the right to try experimental treatments not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

That’s a very good thing, since the FDA’s process can take more than a decade to work itself out. Terminally-ill patients may not have that much time left. But that doesn’t mean they should be shut out of treatments that might be beneficial.

The state’s new law requires patients to get a doctor’s recommendation and give their consent before they begin an experimental treatment. That strikes an excellent balance between mitigating risk and ensuring patients have access to medication that could change their lives.

- Fireworks are legal.

Just like its stranglehold on alcohol sales, Pennsylvania’s prohibition on certain types of fireworks (read: anything which actually resembles a real firework) has long been one of the best examples of government regulation gone horribly awry.

It was also an excellent example of how, when you enact enough ridiculous rules and regulations, people simply stop listening. Despite the ban, who hasn’t enjoyed a fireworks display at home or a friend’s house?

Now Pennsylvanians can visit a fireworks vendor and (legally) buy any consumer-grade fireworks they want — as long as they’re 18 years old and follow sensible rules, like getting property owners’ permission to set them off, and using them properly and while sober.

The bad:

- Pension “changes.”

Yes, when state officials approved a new pension law this year, they changed the way retirement savings plans will work for most future employees for the state and local school districts.

Now, instead of a defined benefit plan that provides a guaranteed pension, employees will be asked to choose between a variety of options, most of which include a 401(k)-style component.

That’s a good and necessary change — a true reform, even. But here’s the problem: it doesn’t actually address the root of crisis.

That would be the $77 billion in public pension debt that the state will rack up over the next 30 years. The reforms will save the state $1.4 billion over that same time frame.

We’re glad legislators and Gov. Tom Wolf did something to move the state’s conversation about its pension crisis forward in 2017, but these changes are minor.

The longer our elected leaders wait to address this problem, the more expensive and complex the solution will get.

The ugly:

- Body cameras for police.

If state officials hadn’t made it abundantly clear that these cameras will do little-to-nothing to strengthen transparency and accountability within municipal departments and the Pennsylvania State Police, we’d consider this development a among the good from last year.

Sadly, body cameras in Pennsylvania have absolutely nothing to do with any of that. If they did, the state Senate would not have implemented a process that requires anyone who wants a copy to justify why the recording should be considered a public record (rather than requiring the department to justify why it shouldn’t be), and gives people only 20 days after an incident to submit a request for the video.

It’s hard to understand how our elected officials could have gotten this one so terribly wrong.

- Gambling expansion.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Pennsylvania’s 2017 budget cycle was another debacle — the third in the last three years, for those of you keeping score at home.

But this year state lawmakers outdid themselves, enacting a misguided and lazy gambling expansion that, along with $1.5 billion in borrowing, is expected to balance the state’s books for the current fiscal year.

Pennsylvania already ranks second in the country for revenue from commercial casinos, so it’s unclear why lawmakers felt there was another $200 million to squeeze out of residents through these so-called “satellite casinos.”

What is clear, however, is that rose-colored glasses and political chaos every budget season are taking their toll.

This state-of-affairs cannot continue.