Although Pittsburgh City Council’s controversial legislation has stalled for the time being, Rep Ed Gainey (D-Allegheny) hasn’t given up hope on banning assault weapons in the city. To better understand to impact of gun violence on communities and discuss his legislation seeking to reduce gun violence through banning the possession, transfer, and use or manufacture of assault weapons, Gainey hosted a hearing on the subject Thursday.

“We cannot remain complacent at a time when our communities are demanding we take the needed steps to answer the call of urgency by banning the use of assault weapons, which have no place on our streets, because people are dying,” Gainey said. “We can’t wait, and I will not back down or stop fighting my fellow lawmakers to act.”

Amid all the floor debates, press conferences and committee hearings, the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s newest co-sponsorship memos can get lost in the shuffle. That’s why The PLS Reporter rounds up some of the most noteworthy co-sponsorship memos each week, so you can stay informed of what’s going on in the Capitol.

 

In this week’s feature are memos for proposals that would establish act on recommendations to reform the state pension system, provide more opportunities for municipal broadband deployment and require background checks for political candidates.

Our good pal Marco Cerino nabs Rep. Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) for a chat about her first term as Minority Caucus Chair and hears a bit about the ins and outs of making sure the caucus is humming along smoothly. He also gets a behind the scenes look at last summer's budget negotiations and gets an update on prison gerrymandering and recreational marijuana. Like what you hear? Follow the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play.

Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution Thursday creating a special committee to begin hearings on child separation practices and policies with Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services (CPS). The vote happened after the bill was initially put on hold, but a revised version was introduced and voted on through a rules suspension.
 
The original resolution was introduced last week by co-sponsoring Councilmembers Cindy Bass (D-District 8) and David Oh (R-At Large). Much of the interest in CPS and their policy stems from a social worker investigating Oh for child abuse following his eight-year-old son’s collarbone injury last summer as Oh was teaching them martial arts.

The state’s Independent Fiscal Office has released new estimates on how Pennsylvania workers would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage, which suggests that close to 2 million workers could see increases in their pay if the state’s base wage is raised to $12 an hour.

 

However, the IFO says the policy wouldn’t come without some consequences — namely, a potential loss of approximately 34,100 jobs.