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In this Update:

• Remember to Vote! Election Day is Tues., Nov. 3
• Senator for a Day Welcomes Highly Energized Student Lawmakers
• Fighting for Affordable Energy
• House Democrats Fail to Protect Fairness in Women’s Sports
• Action Taken to Protect Children in the Age of AI
• Ensuring Sexual Assault Survivors Get Justice

Remember to Vote! Election Day is Tues., Nov. 3

Tuesday, Nov. 3 is Election Day, your chance to weigh in on state and federal elections.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For those voting by mail, county election offices must receive completed ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Find your polling place and other voter information here.

Senator for a Day Welcomes Highly Energized Student Lawmakers

On Oct. 16, I hosted my fourth-annual Senator for a Day seminar, for nearly 80 students representing eight local school districts from across Senate District 25.

Held at Sacred Heart Parish in St. Marys, this hands-on learning experience allows our future leaders to get a glimpse into how their state government really works.

Students were sworn in to serve as “senators” and were presented with opportunities to craft and debate actual legislation across several different committee settings and then before the full “Senate” to close out the day.

Rather than reading about the legislative process, our high school lawmakers actively engaged in helping to shape policies and laws that impact their everyday lives.

This was a memorable and informative day for all who participated, including teachers, administrators, and my highly dedicated team who made this learning opportunity so enjoyable and rewarding for everyone in attendance!

Fighting for Affordable Energy

Rising energy costs have put added pressure on Pennsylvania families and businesses and must be addressed. This legislative session, I made it a priority to prevent new energy taxes and support energy development that strengthens reliability and helps bring costs down.

As part of the 2025-26 budget agreement, I worked with my colleagues to eliminate Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – a multi-state pact that would have added more than a billion dollars in new electricity taxes.

I also supported Senate passage of legislation eliminating the gross receipts tax on electric bills, which would save ratepayers more than $1.7 billion over the first year. Unfortunately, the House of Representatives never approved the tax cut we added to House Bill 1667.

Because lack of energy development drives up costs, the Senate passed legislation to reduce Pennsylvania’s electric generation shortfall and expand energy development. Senate Bill 704 directs the state departments of Community and Economic Development and Environmental Protection to work together to identify suitable sites for natural gas electric generation projects. The House also failed to act on this measure.

I will continue fighting for lower energy prices, supporting policies which will cut your costs.

House Democrats Fail to Protect Fairness in Women’s Sports

The Senate passed not one, but two bills to preserve opportunities for female athletes at public schools and colleges but the House of Representatives refused to vote on either.

Senate Bill 1293 would require public schools and colleges to label sports teams as male, female or coed. The legislation states only biological females can join teams designated for women. The bill would also allow students to take legal action if they are harmed by violations of this rule.

It’s similar to Senate Bill 9, which, like Senate Bill 1293, was passed by the Senate with bipartisan support. Since 2020 in Pennsylvania, men have stolen first place from female athletes 98 times and unjustly took second or third place 76 times. I’ll be working again to pass this commonsense measure in the next legislative session.

Action Taken to Protect Children in the Age of AI

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence requires rapid deployment of sound policies to protect children from its darker side. I supported measures passed by the Senate cracking down on AI child sexual abuse material (CSAM), shielding them from harmful chatbots and banning “nudification” apps.

Fortunately, the House of Representatives also passed one of them: Act 87 of 2026 requires teachers, childcare workers, healthcare providers and other individuals responsible for caring for children to report all instances of CSAM they become aware of, including those produced by a minor. This House bill mirrored the language of Senate Bill 1050. Read more about Act 87 of 2026, including the new requirement of reporting hazing.

Unfortunately, House Democratic leaders did not act on other bipartisan bills passed by the Senate, including the Safeguarding Adolescents from Exploitative Chatbots and Harmful AI Technology (SAFECHAT) Act, which would require age-appropriate safeguards to prevent AI content generation that encourages self-harm, suicide or violence against others, and directs users to appropriate self-harm crisis resources whenever high-risk language is detected. Learn more about SAFECHAT.

Also awaiting House action is a bill we passed to ban “nudification” apps, which allow individuals to take an image of someone and generate a fake nude or sexually explicit photo of that person. Read more about Senate Bill 1368.

The Senate also established a Task Force on Child Protection in the Digital Age to review state laws, assess emerging technologies and identify gaps in protections for children in the digital environment. It will issue a report and recommendation for action to the General Assembly. Learn more about the task force.

Ensuring Sexual Assault Survivors Get Justice

Obtaining justice for sexual assault survivors requires timely processing of rape kit evidence, and I joined colleagues in making it a priority to improve and standardize rape kit testing.

Previously, state law allowed local law enforcement agencies to determine whether a sexual assault evidence kit should undergo DNA testing or other forensic analysis, creating the potential for inconsistent practices across the commonwealth. We passed a new law eliminating such discretion. Read more about Act 106 of 2026.

In addition, a law we passed in 2024 established a rape kit evidence tracking system, allowing survivors to track the status of their rape kits throughout the testing process. After operating as a pilot program in three counties, it will launch statewide in December.

To better care for victims, we included a $12 million increase for rape crisis centers in the current state budget. Prosecuting perpetrators of these heinous crimes should be pursued vigorously, and we’ve made significant changes to ensure just that.