Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
Posted on 12/28/2021 9:34:18 PM PST by lightman
While numerous bills are proposed throughout the year, some bills move quickly to the floor for a vote while others never get out of committee. As the calendar turns to 2022, here are some new laws Pennsylvania legislators will be trying to pass in the coming year—a small sample of the many new laws recently proposed.
Mandatory Handwriting
Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Angel Cruz seeks to amend the Public School Code to require handwriting instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“My legislation will ensure that students can legibly print by third grade and write in cursive by the end of fifth grade,” Cruz said in a memo introducing House Bill 2185.
“In the digital age of instant communication, certain skills such as handwriting are becoming less necessary than before. Despite the instruction of cursive handwriting slowly disappearing from classrooms, there is increasing evidence of its benefits that go beyond simply writing. Not only does cursive writing require fine motor skills associated with cognitive development but engaging in handwriting activities can activate many neural pathways that aren’t formed when tracing or typing letters alone.” He adds that handwriting is linked to improved word recognition, hand-eye coordination, and information retention.
The Bill was recently moved into the House Education Committee.
Pets on Lap While Driving
Cruz is also reintroducing legislation that would ban having a pet on your lap while driving.
“Having a pet loose in a car or even sitting in the front seat can not only be a distraction to the driver but can cause significant harm or even death to the animal if involved in a relatively minor crash,” Cruz said in this memo. “Driving while holding a pet, regardless of its size, is undoubtedly a safety hazard—to the animal, the driver, and all individuals on the road.”
House Bill 2184 would prohibit an animal on a driver’s lap or in the driver’s immediate area.
In neighboring New Jersey, dogs are required to be in an animal carrier when the vehicle is in motion.
Mandatory Severance Pay and Health Insurance for Mass Layoffs
Rep. Morgan Cephas, a Democrat, is sponsoring HB 2179, a measure requiring companies that lay off more than 50 people at a time to provide severance pay and health insurance coverage.
“We need to put an end to the days where corporate executives collect large bonuses, while workers and their families suffer,” Cephas said in her bill memo. “
The legislation would require companies to pay one week’s pay for each year of service during a mass layoff or plant closing. It has 12 Democratic co-sponsors and is in the House Labor and Industry Committee.
Tougher Requirements to Get on School Board
To get on the primary ballot, candidates must collect a certain number of signatures, depending on what seat they seek. For a school board, candidates currently only need 10 signatures. Republican Rep. Marci Mustello would like to change that to 100 signatures.
“It should be more challenging to get on the ballot for any individual who has the ability to levy taxes,” Mustello said in her bill’s memo.
House Bill 2187 is in the State Government Committee.
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
I don’t think mandatory handwriting is a bad bill.
We were just last week discussing this when the recently High School GRADUATED 18 YEAR OLD GRANDSON was making cookies and had to ask Grandma what the recipe said !!!
It was written in Cursive...
I’m glad that I’m a Step-Grandpa because if He was My offspring there would have been a Spanking and a 6 week crash course in Gramdpa’s Handwriting and Reading 101-107. And FAILURE is NOT an option in My Class.
I can get behind 2185, on the face of it. Kids now are too into texting, sending emojis, and the like to learn proper written communication skills. Proper grammar is of very high import, but it needs to be translated into a readable format to be offered for public consumption. Now, the devil’s in the details. What other pork, graft, and payola will be loaded into the bill in the dead of night? Political wildlife on both sides just love to back-end load simple, straightforward bills and turn it into a steaming septic trench.
I’m shocked a Democrat is proposing this, since they’re usually big into dumbing-down the kids even more so it doesn’t clog up the school to prison pipeline.
I’m a Step-Grandpa, too, got five, ages six to fifteen. It’s a family effort. Our grandson loves to come stay overnight with us. He’s a handful, but I let his mama and Maw Maw handle the everyday ground rules. (He actually likes coming here because he can eat what he wants, when he wants, can go to bed late if it isn’t a school night, and play on his X-Box and cell phone.) But one thing is universal: HOMEWORK FIRST.
I can definitely see wanting the kid to learn cursive. It’s pathetic that high school graduates can’t read or write in cursive when most of us learned it around the third grade.
But spanking an 18 year old would be very wrong. And kind of warped, IMO.
Prepping them for a frat initiation.
“Thank you, sir. May I have another ?”
Yes, that movie is a classic. And was genuinely funny.
It’s been years; I might have to see it again.
No, no, no
1 and 2 because while they may be good things there are better ways to accomplish these goals than with legislation.
3 They’ll screw it up, see NY
Any worthwhile legislation passed by the Republican majority in the House and Senate will either face the veto pen of Wolf or be overturned by the liberal state Supreme Court.
I still write cursive with my Mont Blanc fountain pen.
IF you have witnessed ANY person under 20 & their handwriting today, then you would be holding demonstrations to force such legislation.
They cannot write anything that is readable.
Ran into a 20 something guy recently who could not read my cursive signature. Was never taught cursive
Kool, those are some nice looking Writing Sticks.
Good point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.