WATCH: A free virtual panel on the Pa. legislature’s 2022 agenda and what’s at stake

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Pennsylvania’s legislature faced another active, high-stakes year in 2021 as the pandemic raged on, culture clashes intensified partisanship, and GOP lawmakers contested the 2020 election results.

Those tensions remain high as the 2022 session kicks off with electoral maps being redrawn and challenged, Gov. Tom Wolf entering his final year in office, and candidates for multiple high-profile positions — a U.S. Senate seat and the governorship — gunning to distinguish themselves amid a competitive field. With so much happening, and the pandemic still going strong, this hectic year could set the course for Pennsylvania’s next era of politics.

On Thursday, Jan. 27, Spotlight PA and our panel of experts looked back on the 2021 legislative session and discussed what themes are likely to emerge — or persist — in the 2022 session.

Our panelists included:

• Danielle Ohl, Capitol reporter for Spotlight PA

• Kadida Kenner, executive director of the New Pennsylvania Project

• Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research and the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin & Marshall College

• Brett Sholtis, health reporter for WITF

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