Hundreds of people bused into Harrisburg from across the state Tuesday in hopes of seeing the beginning of the end for life without parole in Pennsylvania.

But by the end of the day, they were marching around the Capitol in defiance, chanting, “Let our people go, or next election you will go.”

The advocates, many from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, had gathered to watch a scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee vote on SB 942 from Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), which makes life sentence recipients eligible for parole after 15 years.

Legislative leaders have, after months of stalled efforts and with fifty days to the election, started pushing big changes to state government.

Speaking to the Philadelphia Daily News’ John Baer, Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) said that during the run-up to sine die, he wants to prioritize congressional redistricting reform and shrinking the size of the state legislature before the November general election, perhaps even adding session days.

This follows up on Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) officially releasing his bill to open primaries last week.

Despite a lot of talk, redistricting reform never advanced out from under the weight of over 600 House amendments.

But despite their failure this year, advocates and lawmakers allies are looking at what they can do without a constitutional amendment to change the system ahead of the next census.

It all started one month ago in the waning days of budget season, with a meeting between advocates and the governor’s staff and some off-the-cuff remarks at a Philadelphia press conference.

But as the calendar turns to August, a controversy over the state’s school funding formula has held on as a campaign cudgel and legislative worry, as accusations of intimidation and collusion resound.

Outside the shady home of Gov. Tom Wolf in York County two weeks ago, members of Fair Districts PA, the redistricting reform advocacy group, unveiled a somewhat clunky, although earnest, chant.

“The people have the right, to alter and reform,” the group repeated at the urging of Executive Director Carol Kuniholm.