Following is a listing of executive and legislative action from the week of Dec. 16. Both houses of the General Assembly were in recess at press time. The Pennsylvania Senate and state House of Representatives were each scheduled to return to session Jan. 7, 2020.

Criminal Justice

Gov. Tom Wolf on Dec. 18 signed into law two criminal justice bills, passed on bipartisan votes, one aimed at emphasizing treatment options over incarceration and another stressing rehabilitation of inmates and preparation to reenter society.

The measures are part of the administration's Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI 2). Wolf praised the two bills as a bipartisan effort to make the state's justice system fairer while keeping communities safe.

Senate Bill 500, sponsored by Pennsylvania Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, creates a County Adult Probation and Parole Advisory Committee that would make grants to counties to fund, among other things, intermediate punishment programs.