By: The Associated Press
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state lawmakers returned to session Monday with a big June agenda and sharp differences over the future of the state’s finances, schools, energy sector and election procedures.
With four weeks to wrap up work for an on-time budget, the Republican-controlled Legislature will have lots of distractions: the month is packed with lawmakers’ fundraisers and impending votes on hot-button social issues.
Republican lawmakers are also under pressure from Donald Trump to pursue a “forensic audit” of the 2020 presidential election. And the Capitol is still under a mask mandate for employees, a reminder of the pandemic that disrupted the ebb and flow of lawmaking for a year and which has driven deeper partisan divides.
