Much like legislation naming post offices to members of Congress, bills to name bridges and roads are a staple of slow legislative days in Harrisburg.
The honorees range from military members and first responders who have died in the line of service to deceased lawmakers and local historical figures.
But such legislation has made up a growing share of Harrisburg’s legislative output in the past year.
A Capital-Star analysis has found that in 2021, renaming laws make up one in five of the 83 bills passed by both chambers of the Republican-controlled General Assembly that Gov. Tom Wolf has signed into law. That’s the highest percentage of naming legislation of any year in the past decade.
In fact, the 253-member General Assembly, who serve full time, already has sent to Wolf’s desk almost double the number of naming bills this year as it did in the entire last two-year session.
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