News & Brews September 23, 2021
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Who’s running for PA governor, U.S. Senate?
The Inquirer has a story, complete with a timeline-like chart, on who’s definitely running for governor and who’s likely running. In an indication of just how far Left the Democrat party has drifted, the Inky describes liberal Democrat Attorney General (and likely gubernatorial candidate) Josh Shapiro as “relatively moderate compared with the progressive left.” Not to be outdone (and in case you’re paywalled from the Inky piece), WHYY pretty much has a similar article, minus the chart and plus a bit more text. (The Inquirer also has a chart-themed story on the race for U.S. Senate in PA.)
Op-Ed: $3.5T spending bill will spike energy costs for all Americans
David Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, joined Charlie Burd of the Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia and Matthew Hammond of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association to pen an op-ed warning that “the natural gas tax buried in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill will increase the cost of energy – from stovetop to fuel pump – and act as a tax levied on all Americans.” Read their piece here.
Senators ‘grill’ turnpike officials over $104M in uncollected tolls
It was a bipartisan grilling yesterday as senators on the Transportation Committee took PA Turnpike officials to task over more than $104 million in uncollected tolls last year. The AP reports that Committee Chair Wayne Langerholc (Bedford, Cambria, and Clearfield counties) reprimanded officials for not bringing up the matter sooner, and he asked, “Why was this not shared with us until a Right-to-Know (Law) request of the media?” And Sen. Marty Flynn (Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Monroe counties) said the amount was “just unacceptable.”
Fun chart on K-12 education spending since 1998
Our friend Colleen Hroncich of the Cato Institute created a fun chart tracking how per-pupil spending in K-12 public schools since 1998 compares with the costs of other goods and services, such as medical costs and housing, over the same time period. Check it out here.
Senate hearings today on DOH mandates, election bill
The Senate Education Committee will hold a public hearing this morning at 11 am on the “impacts of [the] PA Department of Health orders on Pennsylvania’s children and schools.” The hearing can be watched here. Then, at 1 pm, the Senate State Government Committee will hold a public hearing to gather testimony on SB 878, the bipartisanelection bill that would implement some reforms including pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots and changing the application deadline for those ballots. That hearing can be watched here.