Sen. Dave Arnold took the oath of office last January to represent the 48th senatorial district, which covers all of Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties.
The heightened security comes after a violent siege at the U.S. Capitol last week from pro-Trump supporters that resulted in the death of five people and forced lawmakers into hiding.
The state is set to lose a congressional seat. The representation of millions of people is on the line. And after a bruising 2020 marred by politicized court battles and misinformation, Republicans will have to do what seems impossible — get along with Democrats.
“While there are no specific threats to the Capitol or the Capitol Complex, we are taking actions out of the abundance of caution, to be prepared in case any situations arise,” Capitol Police Superintendent Joseph Jacob told reporters Thursday.
Gov. Tom Wolf is pressuring the GOP-controlled legislature to reroute money from the Pa. Insurance Department to small businesses that need COVID-19 support.
Troy Thompson with the Department of General Services, which oversees Capitol Police, said there are additional officers inside and out, and barriers have been erected in recent days.
In late December, the New York Police Department sent a packet of material to the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI. It was full of what’s known as raw intelligence — bits and pieces of information that turned up by scraping various social media sites. It all indicated that there would likely be violence when lawmakers certified the presidential election on Jan. 6.