Thank you 45th District for your immense support
-HARRISBURG UPDATE-
By Rep. Anita Kulik
Election season is finally over! I am sure that this is much to the delight of all, with some more delighted than others. It turned into an interesting and in some ways surprising election across Pennsylvania.
All 203 seats of the House of Representatives were up for election. There will be changes coming in January as several seats were flipped from one party to the other. With vote counts not yet finalized when this article goes to publication, the end results remain unknown.
However, it is certain there will be more of a balance in the State House which will hopefully lead to more bipartisanship if anything is to be accomplished. This is clearly a good thing.
We will have a new governor and it will be interesting to watch the interactions between the new administration and the newly formed House and Senate. We can only hope that the work between the three will be more cordial and result in compromise on the many issues that are important to the well-being of our Commonwealth.
The House and Senate will meet one last time in November. It is not yet certain if any new legislation will be brought to the floors, but it is certain that leadership elections will take place. This is done every post-election to have leaders in place for January. The only position that will be elected in January will be the Speaker of the House.
Three special elections will need to be held next year for House seats. Two representatives are leaving their seats for other elected offices. The remaining seat is that of the late Rep. Tony DeLuca, who passed away after ballots had been approved and printed. The Speaker of the House has the duty to select dates for the special elections.
I do want to offer a reminder to you, and to all municipal leaders, about Act 57 of 2022. This legislation requires all municipalities and school districts that levy real estate taxes to adopt a resolution or ordinance that directs their tax collector to implement the provisions of the law.
The effective date of Act 57 was Oct. 10, and the new resolution or ordinance must be
adopted by Jan. 9, 2023. Act 57 attempts to address a problem where new homeowners did not receive a tax notice. Act 57 allows taxpayers who fail to receive a tax notice during their first year of occupancy to apply for a waiver from penalties and additional costs from the tax collector. The State Department of Community and Economic Development is required to make a standard waiver form available.
On a final note, I want to thank the residents of the 45th District for their overwhelming support. My staff and I are looking forward to serving the residents of our district in the upcoming term. As we enter the busy and wonderful holiday season, please remember that we are here to help with state-related issues as well as utility, unemployment compensation, and other issues which may arise.