Staring in the face of a $1.23 billion budget deficit and in continuing efforts to cut state spending, Reps. Mike Reese (Fayette/Westmoreland) and Tim Krieger (R-Westmoreland) hosted a House Republican Policy Committee hearing on welfare fraud and abuse at the Norvelt Volunteer Fire Department Roosevelt Hall in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday. The committee is chaired by Rep. Stan Saylor (R-York).

The state House today approved a legislative package (House Bills 2394, 2399, 2401) on party-line votes that will do little to create jobs while putting the state further into debt, House Republican Leader Sam Smith (R-Jefferson County) said.