Dear Friends,

In this edition of my newsletter, I’m pleased to share highlights from Harrisburg, including voting for legislation ranging from data centers to funding education.

In addition, we’ve included information regarding our upcoming expungement event and a final reminder for the PA House Fellowship opportunity.

As a reminder, my office will be closed Friday, July 3, in observance of Independence Day. We will reopen with normal business hours on Monday, July 6.

Saturday, this Independence Day, we celebrate 250 years of the American story!

Through triumphs and setbacks, prosperity and hardship, war and peace, Americans have continually risen to meet the challenges of their time. Each generation has worked to move our country closer to the ideals of liberty, equality, and opportunity that we our nation is founded upon.

As we celebrate the birth of our country and the freedoms we hold dear, I highly encourage everyone to take the time to honor our history and the heroes who made it possible.

Rep. Joe Hogan and I were honored to welcome the Neshaminy High School Baseball Team to the Capitol following their historic 2026 PIAA Class 6A State Championship victory.

With a 7-3 win over Butler, the team secured the first state title in program history and finished the season with an outstanding 21-7 record.

Congratulations to the players, coaches, and families on this remarkable achievement. We were proud to recognize their championship season in Harrisburg!

This week, the House also passed quite a lot of meaningful legislation.

Notably, my colleagues and I supported a series of bills that would help municipalities navigate the recent introduction of data centers. These bill are good first steps and I was proud to vote YES on the following legislation:

Communities across the Commonwealth are experiencing a significant increase in data center proposals.

As a result, many municipalities are finding themselves playing catch-up—rushing to develop data center ordinances, navigate conditional use hearings, and protect their communities in this rapidly evolving landscape, often without the information and resources they need to do so effectively.

Yesterday, my colleagues and I in the Pennsylvania House near unanimously voted to give municipalities the option to place a 180-day pause on all data center applications.

House Bill 2496 would create a window of time for local officials to thoroughly research and better consider what is in the best interests of their communities.

House Bill 2496 is now in the state Senate for consideration.

Developers must be GRID certified and demonstrate that they will protect energy affordability, meet transparency rules, engage with local communities, and protect the environment.

At a time when many Pennsylvanians are struggling to afford utility bills and other necessities, the Commonwealth cannot afford to provide giveaways to wealthy corporations. We need strong protections for our communities, workers, and the environment.

HB2650 is now in the state Senate for consideration.

House Bill 2198, which overwhelmingly passed the House on Wednesday, would repeal sales and tax exemptions relating to Computer Data Center Equipment Incentive Programs.

As of January 2026, dozens of data centers are operating in Pennsylvania, with many more in development. Given the industry's rapid growth across the Commonwealth, it is clear that this tax exemption has served its purpose and is no longer necessary.

Since fiscal year 2023-24, the Commonwealth has forgone more than $80 million in revenue because of this tax exemption. If the exemption remains in place, Pennsylvania could forgo an additional $235 million in revenue by 2030.

House Bill 2198 is now before the state Senate for consideration.

Pennsylvania’s Educational Tax Credit programs represent a significant public investment in non-public education in the Commonwealth, totaling $680 million in fiscal year 2025/26.

A decade ago, these tax credits were capped at $150 million, meaning they have more than quadrupled over ten years.

Meanwhile, a report by the Independent Fiscal Office found that “key data necessary to thoroughly evaluate the program are not available.”

On Monday, the House passed legislation, House Bill 2632, that would increase accountability and transparency by closing these reporting gaps, while also ensuring that these scholarships are directed toward the student’s proponents claim to want to support

Key changes include:

• Reallocating credits in 2026/27 to better align with program demand.
• Creating a new program beginning in 2027/28.

The new program:

1. Increases oversight of scholarship granting organizations.
2. Targets resources to students living in the attendance area of a low-achieving public school or attending a nonpublic school in a low-income zip code.
3. Increases transparency on how scholarship dollars are used, including requiring reporting by income level and amount of remaining tuition charged to the student.
4. Expands funding opportunities to include childcare costs.

I'd like to reiterate that this bill does not take a single scholarship away from any student. I fully support the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program and its efforts to help alleviate the costs for parents who wish to send their children to private schools.

This legislation simply expands eligibility for pre-K scholarships to children ages 0 to 2, removes the per-pupil cap for scholarships serving the Commonwealth's most economically disadvantaged students, and strengthens accountability and transparency for how hundreds of millions of dollars are being redirected.

HB2632 is now before the state Senate for consideration.

On Thursday, July 30, my office, in collaboration with Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, will be hosting an Expungement Clinic.

The event will take place at the Falls Township public meeting room between 5:00PM and 7:00PM. If you would like to sign up, please email repprokopiak@pahouse.net or call our office at 215-943-7206.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives Legislative Fellowship Program is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2026 semester. 

Applications are due on July 1, 2026.

The Fellowship Program is based in the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg. Fellows are assigned to work in House committees or House Leadership offices, are compensated for their work (which may also include college credit), and are provided opportunities to draft and present their own legislation, attend meet-and-greets with various public officials and staff, and tour some of the Commonwealth’s historic public spaces.

Qualified applicants will be:

• College undergraduate juniors or seniors, graduate students, or law school students;
• Enrolled in a Pennsylvania college/university, or a Pennsylvania resident enrolled in an out-of-state institution; and
• Pursuing any major with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

For more information, visit this website and apply at: www.pahousefellowship.us.

Sincerely,

Jim Prokopiak

Pennsylvania State Capitol

121-B East Wing

Harrisburg, PA 17120

(717) 787-1292

District Office

8610 New Falls Road
Levittown, PA 19054

(215) 943-7206

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