By Rep. Kinkead

I hope you, your friends, and your family are having a fantastic summer and staying cool! As students are soon heading back to school, I want to share some exciting news about a new law I crafted that will help make college more affordable for students here in Pennsylvania.

As a graduate of Bloomsburg University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, I have experienced firsthand the immense financial burdens associated with higher education. With tuition and attendance costs continuing to climb at many American colleges, more and more students are deciding to begin their higher education journey at community colleges. Every year in Pennsylvania, an estimated 30,000 students transfer from a community college to a four-year university. Too often, those students are denied a significant number of credit transfers to Pennsylvania universities. This results in thousands of students leaving Pennsylvania for an out-of-state university that will recognize all their credits earned at a community college and admit them with full junior-level standing.

Students who attend our community colleges or state universities should have peace of mind that the time, energy, and resources invested at a school will be recognized if they decide to transfer. To provide that peace of mind, I introduced H.B. 897, legislation requiring schools within the State System of Higher Education to apply credits earned at a Pennsylvania community college toward a parallel bachelor’s degree program. The bill passed the state House and Senate with broad, bipartisan support. On July 17, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed H.B. 897 into law as Act 69 of 2024; it took effect immediately.

In addition to the original contents of my bill, this legislation was amended to provide for easier access to dual enrollment programs for high school students and increase transparency around tuition and the many fees associated with attending a university. The amended bill also establishes a state Board of Higher Education that will create a strategic plan for higher education in Pennsylvania and a process to require institutions of higher education to provide greater notice to their students and communities if they decide to cease operations.

While there is more to be done to make college degrees accessible for everyone who wants one, all the changes in Act 69 of 2024 will make higher education more attainable in the Commonwealth and keep more Pennsylvania students in Pennsylvania. I’m very excited to see the positive impacts of this law on the next generation of leaders and want to thank my legislative colleagues and the advocates who fought alongside me for years to get this accomplished.

In the nation’s only divided state legislature, getting a bill to the governor’s desk is a monumental task. After the hard work of actually drafting the legislation and gathering co-sponsors is done, I can officially introduce a bill in the state House, where it is referred to a House Committee. In the case of H.B 897, it was referred to the House Education Committee. Then, it’s up to the majority chair of that committee to schedule a meeting where committee members discuss the bill and vote on whether or not to send the bill to the full House of Representatives for consideration and a vote.

If the committee approves the bill, it’s then up to the majority leader (currently the Democratic leader) to decide if and when the bill will be voted on by all 203 members of the state House. Sometimes, the original bill is amended to tweak the original language, make significant changes to make the bill work better, or, as with my bill H.B. 897, combine several bills together to get more done in one bill. This can happen both while the bill is being considered by the committee or on the floor of the House.

A bill must be considered on three different days on the floor of the House before it can be voted out of the House. If at least 102 members vote yes on the bill, it passes through the House and then the entire process — beginning in a committee — starts over again in the state Senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans. Once a bill has passed through both legislative chambers, it is then sent to the governor’s desk, where they can sign or veto the bill.

Unsurprisingly, many of the bills passed under the House Democratic Majority (399 to date) never receive a vote in the Republican- controlled Senate. Refusing to move legislation for things like increasing the minimum wage, erasing medical debt, protecting reproductive rights, and improving firearm safety, the Republican-controlled Senate can seem like a metaphorical graveyard where some of the most impactful bills passed by the House go to die.

But just because changing and improving laws sometimes feels impossible doesn’t mean we stop trying. This is the first time a bill I’ve authored has been signed into law by the governor, and I have been working on it for almost the entire time that I have been in office. But I know it will not be the last. I am eager to continue working hard every day to gather the necessary support for my bills to create a landslide insurance program for homeowners, provide free school lunch for all K-12 students, reform our criminal justice system, legalize adult-use cannabis, expand access to dental services, and more.

If you want to learn more about the work I’m doing in Harrisburg, or if you have ideas on a new law you would like to see, I encourage you to contact my office. My staff and I want to know what issues are most important to you and help you however we can. Email me at RepKinkead@pahouse.net, call my office at (412) 321-5523, or stop by to see us at 658 Lincoln Ave. in Bellevue.