PHOTO PROVIDED Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jason Fink addresses the start of the 2025 legislative breakfast Thursday.

Local lawmakers shared insights on this year’s state budget, legislation, and other issues impacting their constituents at the annual Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast.

The $50 billion spending plan approved just this month drew criticism from state Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, who called it “unacceptable” for being passed 135 days late.

Meanwhile, the state simply cannot sustain the continued increased spending, he said.

He noted that in the past 45 years the budget has grown by a whopping $43.7 billion.

Burdensome taxes and regulations are hurting the state, according to Hamm.

“We have to grow our economy,” he said.

Hamm said he sees signs of business growth locally with Bass Pro Shop coming to The District at Lycoming Valley at the former mall site in Muncy Township.

“We expect an explosion of business there,” he said. “We are working to ensure it doesn’t end there.”

Another sign of positive local growth is the Williamsport Lumber Yards, a baseball and softball complex in Williamsport, that will attract youth teams to the city from all over.

“It will be massive for our local economy,” he said.

State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, said among his concerns is the continued loss of population throughout his vast senatorial district.

Business growth, he said, can help stem economic loss and spur the economy.

As for the state budget, Yaw noted it’s not a spending plan that was handled much differently than in other years.

“I voted for all parts of it,” he said.

He pointed out that the budget includes a 5% increase in spending for Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Yaw said he was happy to see a repeal of the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as part of a budget deal.

“Getting rid of RGGI was a pretty big deal,” he said. “I didn’t think it was good for Pennsylvania.”

(RGGI) would have capped the amount of carbon that companies in Pennsylvania are allowed to emit.

However, Republicans have criticized the program, claiming it stymies the energy industry and raises consumer bills.

Yaw went on to talk about the importance of energy and energy independence in the state, especially given the vast natural gas industry in Pennsylvania.

He raised concerns about PJM Interconnection, the mid-Atlantic grid operator. Recently, he signed off on a letter to PJM urging it to reject recommendations that he and other members of the Senate Republican Caucus claim would overhaul the competitive market structure.

He said he fears double-digit electrical rate increases for consumers in coming years.

On another front, Yaw said he hopes to see a bill pass to plug the many abandoned gas wells in the state, many of which leak methane.

State Rep. Jamie Flick, R-Williamsport said he is doing his best to work with Democrats.

“I guess I am known as Mr. Bipartisan in Harrisburg,” he said. “You got to reach across the aisle.”

He is the prime sponsor of House Bill 1499, which would reform Pennsylvania’s child custody laws and ensure children can maintain meaningful relationships with both loving, fit parents.

The bill has received bipartisan support.