News & Brews August 16, 2021

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What does new census data tell us about PA politics?

With an unsurprising dose of underlying bias, the Philly Inquirer looks at the recently released census data from the angle of political shifts. What do population changes mean for upcoming redistricting? For state legislative races? For national politics? Read the Inky’s take here (paywall).

Who stands to gain/lose from proposed mileage tax?

Acknowledging that the mileage tax is “only an idea for now,” the Post-Gazette reports that while truckers could save almost 33% under the tax, car drivers might see their costs triple. And in a burst of irony (and with apologies to all you Prius owners) fuel-efficient cars would incur the same fee as “gas-guzzlers.”

Op-Ed: Instead of minimum wage mandates, how about striving for maximum wages?

Commonwealth Foundation Vice President Steve Bloom has an op-ed in PennLive explaining the harmful and sometimes counterintuitive fallouts of government-mandated minimum wage hikes and pointing instead to how good policies can maximize opportunity and prosperity for Pennsylvanians.

Rise of charter schools?

I missed this one last week. Our friend Lenny McAllister, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools recently spoke with CBS21 about why charter schools seem to have become the “go-to learning system” among many parents across Pennsylvania. Watch the video here!

Philly tweaks mask mandate…because, science

Shortly after announcing a sweeping new mask mandate, which included double-masking in some instances, Philly has updated its mandate “to help accommodate parents of younger children, who had voiced concern about their kids being barred from businesses that require proof of vaccination instead of requiring masks.” The change undoubtedly came because of science and data. Oh wait, nevermind.

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