Pennsylvania Senate announces new committee chairs

The exterior of the Pennsylvania state Capitol. (Photo by Amanda Mustard for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star).

Four freshman senators have been tapped to serve in leadership roles on the state Senate’s standing committees for the 2025-2026 session, although most committee chairs in the Republican-controlled chamber will be unchanged from the previous session.

Sens. Dawn Keefer (R-York) and Patty Kim (D-Dauphin), who both previously served in the state House and won races for the state Senate in 2024, will lead the Local Government Committee. 

Sen. Nick Pisciottano (D-Allegheny), who was elected to fill the seat previously held by Jim Brewster, will be the minority chair of the Finance Committee, while Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) returns as the majority chair of the committee.  

Sen. Joe Picozzi (R-Philadelphia), who defeated incumbent Democrat Jimmy Dillon, was selected, as Philadelphia’s only Republican senator, to serve as the chair of the Urban Affairs & Housing Committee. Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) will serve as the minority chair of the committee, once again.

This session will also feature a newly formed committee which will be led by a pair of lawmakers from the Philadelphia suburbs. 

Sens. Frank Farry (R-Bucks) and Tim Kearney (D-Delaware) will lead the Institutional Sustainability and Innovation Committee (ISIC). The committee was created this year to oversee and evaluate legislation concerning the current and future sustainability of institutional facilities such as hospitals, educational facilities, and nursing homes, according to a news release from the Senate Democrats.

The latest on the rest of the Senate committees

Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-Northumberland) will be the chair of the Education Committee this session, while Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) returns as the minority chair. Sen. Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill), who served as the chair in the previous session, will now be the Majority Policy Committee Chair.

The Law and Justice Committee has two new leaders at the helm this session. Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) will be the majority chair, while Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) will be the minority chair. During the previous session, the committee was led by Sens. Mike Regan and Jim Brewster, who both retired.

Sen. Wayne Langerholc (R-Clearfield), who was the chair of the Transportation Committee in the previous session, will lead the Aging and Youth Committee along with Sen. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery), who returns as the minority chair.

Leading the Transportation Committee this session will be Sen. Judy Ward (R-Blair), while Democratic Sen. Marty Flynn returns as the minority chair of the committee. 

Sen. Chris Gebhard (R-Lebanon) will be the chair of the Banking and Insurance committee, taking over for Sen. John DiSanto (R-Dauphin), who retired after the last session. Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) will again serve as the minority chair of the committee.

Sen. Rosemary Brown (R-Monroe) will serve as the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee chair this session, alongside Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia), who was also the minority chair last session. During the 2023-2024 session, the committee was led by Gebhard. 

Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery) will continue to serve as the chair of the Communications and Technology Committee, but will be joined by Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh) as the minority chair. In the previous session, state Sen. Jimmy Dillon was the minority chair. Dillon lost his bid for reelection. 

Sen. Greg Rothman (R-Cumberland) continues to lead the Game and Fisheries Committee, although there is a new minority chair on the committee, Sen. Lisa Boscola. Last session, Brewster was the minority chair.

Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) remains the chair of the Judiciary Committee this session, but will be joined by Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D-Montgomery) as the minority chair. Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks) was the minority chair in the previous session. 

Santarsiero will instead be the minority chair of the State Government Committee this session with majority chair, state Sen. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson). 

The following committees remain unchanged: 

Image Credits and Reference: https://www.yahoo.com/news/pennsylvania-senate-announces-committee-chairs-050344158.html