By TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE | Tribune News Service
PUBLISHED: December 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM EST | UPDATED: December 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM EST

​By Trebor Maitin, Centre Daily Times
After a slow year, Harrisburg had a spurt of productivity in December, with state legislators sending a half dozen bills to the governor’s desk.
The bills, likely to become law after clearing the Legislature with veto-proof, bipartisan majorities, would ban vape products not approved by the federal government, expand the number of places where alcohol can be served and provide a new avenue for municipalities to fill vacancies.
The bills would largely take effect in the first half of the new year, if signed soon.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Josh Shapiro said the office did not have anything to share “at this time” about the status of outstanding legislation. In Pennsylvania, bills the governor does not sign or veto automatically become law 10 days after the office receives them.
Additionally, a number of signed new bills will be in effect in the coming weeks, including changes to Medicaid coverage for GLP-1 weight loss drugs, requirements for employers to cover mammograms and more.
Here’s a rundown of Pennsylvania bills likely to become law soon.
New DUI offenseA bill on the governor’s desk would create the new offense of driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance following diversion.
Those who were booked for a DUI but avoided trial by agreeing to treatment would be able to be charged for driving under the influence within 10 years of completing the diversion program if the bill were to become law.
The law would take effect immediately upon receiving the governor’s signature.
Liquor license reformsA bill that easily passed the House and Senate would strike a rule requiring caterers to give at least seven-day advance notice to authorities if they plan to serve alcohol at funerals.
The rule change would especially affect Jewish and Hindu funerals, as the dead in those faiths usually must be buried within a day. Muslims have similar burial rules but largely abstain from alcohol.
This portion of the bill would take effect two months after receiving the governor’s signature, or late February if it is signed soon.
Other reforms included in the bill would allow nonprofits to sell alcohol during fundraising events, allow stadiums to sell alcohol outside their premises during major sporting events, allow the state liquor authority to auction off licenses that failed to receive bids during previous auctions and allow alcohol to be consumed in spaces adjacent to a given seller’s premises, like a common seating area, if the property owner gives permission.
The auction portion of the bill would take effect immediately upon receiving the governor’s signature and the sporting event portion would take effect in one month, roughly the end of January if the bill is signed soon.
The rest of the bill would take effect two months after being signed.
Vacancy-proofing municipalitiesA bill on the governor’s desk would allow the court of common pleas to fill vacancies in sparsely-populated townships when the townships’ vacancy board is unable to act or itself has a majority of seats vacant.
The bill, if it becomes law, would affect all townships in Centre County starting two months after it is signed.
Unemployment benefits reformA bill awaiting the governor’s signature would require unemployment benefit claimants to make a good-faith effort to get a job, clarifies how overpayments are treated and add protections for people who left a job due to domestic violence.
All the provisions start two months after the bill’s signature.
The bill would also double the earnings requirement needed for unemployment claimants who lost benefits for disqualifying reasons to requalify starting one year after the bill is signed.
Ban of unapproved vape productsThe most controversial bill awaiting the governor’s signature (having received 56 no votes from House Republicans) would ban vape products not approved by the federal government. It fines up to $500 for each illegal product sold by a retailer on first offense. Subsequent violations can result in fines up to $1,500 and nicotine license revocations.
The bill would take effect four months after receiving the governor’s signature, or April if it is signed soon.

WTWO Terre Haute
Christopher Boyll

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV)— Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law a permanent cocktail-to-go law on December 12.
The law allows restaurants to sell mixed drinks and cocktails for delivery and curbside pickup. According to the Illinois Restaurant Association stated that cocktails-to-go helped keep establishments afloat during the pandemic and continue to help restaurants stay competitive.
“We thank Gov. Pritzker and applaud the General Assembly for passing Senate Bill 618, which guarantees that alcohol delivery and cocktails-to-go can continue through 2028 and beyond, preserving a vital source of revenue for restaurants across the state,” said Sam Toia, CEO and President of the Illinois Restaurant Association.
The bill includes safeguards such as strict container requirements and age verification to attempt to ensure responsible service and compliance. The legislation also allows those with a craft brewer license to offer rewards and loyalty programs like mug clubs for their customers.
“Illinois becomes the 30th state, plus Washington, D.C., to make cocktails-to-go permanent. This commonsense policy is a win for restaurants, employees, and customers across Illinois. The modern restaurant consumer is looking to order their meals to-go more often, and allowing operators to include alcoholic beverages as part of those orders provides them with new ways to set themselves apart and to meet customer interest,” said Mike Whatley, Vice President of State Affairs and Grassroots Advocacy, National Restaurant Association.
The bill was voted through unanimously in the State Senate and won 104 to six during the veto session in the House of Representatives.

The Washington Post
By Marissa J. Lang and Dana Munro

Virginia animal protection officials say the furry bandit is suspected in break-ins at a nearby martial arts studio and Department of Motor Vehicles office.

So, it seems the raccoon might have a problem.
​
Not just the drinking — though its recent bender through a Virginia state-run liquor store did capture international headlines and the imagination of sketch comedy writers at Saturday Night Live. It may also have a bit of a break-in habit.

The raccoon, who has remained unnamed because it is, well, a wild animal, is suspected of sneaking into multiple businesses in the same Ashland shopping center before its Nov. 29 spree that landed it in the liquor store bathroom, passed out and wasted, according to county officials.

In a recent episode of local podcast “Hear in Hanover,” Animal Protection Officer Samantha Martin told county spokeswoman Kristin Smith Dunlop that the now-famous mammal is probably the same raccoon that had previously sneaked into a martial arts studio and a Department of Motor Vehicles office in the same building as the liquor store.

The striped-tail creature, which has been affectionately dubbed Hanover County’s “trashed panda,” left a trail of evidence, Martin said, including broken liquor bottles and ransacked snacks.

“Each time we get him out, we don’t relocate him because that’s a death sentence for raccoons,” Martin said. “But somehow he knows how to get back into that building. He’s a smart little critter.”

Neither the DMV nor the martial arts studio responded to requests for comment.

The raccoon may have previously been on animal control’s radar, but it wasn’t until the masked mammal went on an after-hours spree in the liquor store last month that the rest of the world came to know its story.

Sometime between when the store closed on a Friday evening and reopened Saturday morning, authorities said, the raccoon wiggled in through the ceiling of the Ashland store, triggering a motion sensor. The animal then began digging through the merchandise in storage and destroying 14 bottles of liquor: rum, scotch, whiskey, vodka, moonshine and even spiked eggnog.

Security video taken around 3:30 a.m. Saturday shows the raccoon scampering throughout the closed store and “generally having a ball,” said Virginia ABC spokeswoman Carol Mawyer.

When the store manager returned to open up shop in the morning, the storeroom aisles were slick with drink and the creature was splayed out in the employee bathroom next to the toilet.

“He locked himself in the bathroom, so he knew what he was doing,” Martin said on the podcast Thursday. “People can see the human side of it. I mean, everybody’s been there, everybody’s had a few extra and passed out by the toilet and hoped someone can come and help you the next morning.”

After a social media post from the animal welfare agency exploded, the raccoon became part international celebrity, part mascot for the county’s Animal Protection department, which has capitalized on the attention to fundraise: Merch bearing the raccoon’s likeness — passed out, face down with a drained liquor bottle knocked over beside it — has helped raise more than $200,000 for Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter as of Saturday, said Jeffrey Parker, the department’s chief.

It’s the most money the department has seen from outside donations in at least two decades, said Parker, who has been at the agency for 19 years.

“It’s been phenomenal,” he said. “We can’t be thankful enough for what has happened.”

The agency has not decided what to do with its groundswell of new funds, though Martin said in the podcast interview that Animal Protection needs more resources to keep up with a ballooning county population and increased calls for animal welfare support.

The department is considering improvements to its water pressure system, increasing vet services or renovating its animal wash room, Parker said.

Other local organizations have also tried to get in on the raccoon action by launching themed events, slogans and ad campaigns. The Downtown Ashland Association is hosting an ongoing raccoon-based scavenger hunt to lure visitors into local businesses.

Meanwhile, Virginia Distillery Company posted a message on social media seemingly aimed at the animal: “Virginia Distillery Company: Irresistibly smooth. Even if you eat mostly trash, please drink responsibly.”
Martin, on the other hand, has used her time on the airwaves to caution humans about the dangers of handling wildlife — inebriated or not. She noted during her podcast appearance that any raccoon that bites and breaks the skin of a human must be considered a potential rabies exposure and would then be euthanized and tested for the disease

Parker, the chief of animal protection, said he hopes the raccoon is off somewhere “doing raccoon things” and, most importantly, “staying out of trouble.”

But only time will tell if the now-infamous critter can resist the temptation to return to its favorite shopping center and slip into yet another business for a midnight snack or a nightcap.Ask The Post AIDive deeper

He’s not that far away, after all.

Martin said after the raccoon slept off his alcohol-soaked spree in a dog-kennel-turned-drunk-tank at the county’s animal shelter, officers released it back into the woods about a mile from the liquor store.

But raccoons are roamers and can travel up to eight miles a day in search of a mate — or, maybe, something else.