News & Brews June 4, 2021
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Lawmakers introduce educational opportunity bill
A while back, I shared the House and Senate’s plans to introduce the Excellence in Education fo All Act (EEA), which would expand educational opportunity for children across Pennsylvania. Today, the EEA was officially introduced as Senate Bill 1; this designation shows the legislation is the Senate’s top priority this legislative session. Under the EEA, the thousands of students on waiting lists for tax credit scholarships to attend the best schools for them would be forced to wait no longer, as arbitrary caps on these scholarships—caps endorsed by Gov. Wolf—would be lifted. And instead of being targeted for funding cuts by Wolf, public charter school students would see their schools fully acknowledged as equal public education options.
Grove: House will not authorize further audit of 2020 election
Following news that two state senators are calling for an audit of Pennsylvania’s 2020 election, House State Government Committee Chair Seth Grove (York County) stated, “The PA House of Representatives will not be authorizing any further audits on any previous election. We are focused on fixing our broken election law to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.” While Grove is firm on no further 2020 audit, his Senate counterpart, Sen. Dave Argall (Berks and Schuylkill counties), noted a Senate resolution for an audit remains a possibility.
Op-Ed: Teachers’ unions don’t speak for all teachers
Our friend David Osborne, CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment, has a new op-ed at Broad + Liberty warning against treating teachers and teachers’ unions as synonymous. For example, while many teachers have for months supported a return to in-person learning, teachers’ unions have often fought to keep schools closed (despite their claims to the contrary). Read David’s piece here.
Study: Ready-to-go cocktails could generate >$180M in tax revenue
The Center Square reports that a new analysis from the Distilled Spirits Council concludes that allowing the sale of ready-to-drink cocktails outside of our state-run liquor system could generate $184 million in tax revenue. Here’s an even better conclusion: Let’s ditch our state-run liquor system altogether and get government entirely out of the booze business.
Bill aims to let Game Commission determine Sunday hunting
A bill introduced in the Senate would allow the Pennsylvania Game Commission, rather than the Legislature, to determine the number of Sundays on which hunting would be permitted. The measure was introduced by Senate Game & Fisheries Committee Chair Dan Laughlin (Erie County) and is also sponsored by Sen. Devlin Robinson (Allegheny and Washington counties), Game & Fisheries Minority Chair Jim Brewster (Allegheny and Westmoreland counties), and Sen. Mario Scavello (Monroe and Northampton counties)