Vanessa Lowery Brown has resigned from her House seat per a letter sent to Speaker Mike Turzai.

In the letter, Brown, who represented Philadelphia as a Democrat, wrote that the conviction caused her "incalculable harm and reputation damage" while violating her right to equal protection under the law.

"Emboldened by the civil rights giants who have gone before me and with the love and support of my family and friends, I live to fight another day against injustice and racism," Brown wrote.

Before Dan Gilman served as Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff, as a councilmember, he and Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith (District 2) noticed a problem.

Around the city, they saw televisions and computers dumped illegally. Knowing residents had few legal options for disposing electronic devices, they sought legislation that’d allow residents to recycle such items safely.

A year later, the legislation was introduced by Kail-Smith Tuesday, with the support of the mayor’s office.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today released a special report on the role of the “middlemen” between pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers and pharmacists who fill customers’ prescriptions.

Standing in front of the pharmacy counter at an independent retailer in Lancaster County, DePasquale cited his report that shows the state’s Medicaid program paid $2.8 billion in 2017 to PBMs, which is a 100 percent increase since 2013.

Despite Independent Fiscal Office predictions of a $1.7 billion budget deficit, outgoing Budget Secretary Randy Albright struck an optimistic tone at a mid-year budget report Tuesday, citing a burgeoning state economy.

“We’re confident that we will end the year with not just a balanced budget but a surplus,” he said, adding that “we don’t think we face a $1.5 billion deficit for the proposed budget year.”

After a 2018-19 mid-year budget briefing, current Secretary of the Budget, Randy Albright, announced that he will be stepping down as the Budget Secretary at the end of the month. 

Gov. Tom Wolf joined Albright for the announcement and introduced Jen Swails, current Department of Human Services Fiscal Management Director, as the new Budget Secretary. 

Wolf thanked Albright and spoke highly of his time working with him. Check out the video for his full remarks.