News & Brews October 22, 2021

Wolf, teachers union unveil new executive order

We all know government unions hold the puppet strings when it comes to Gov. Wolf’s orders—whether on school closures, mask mandates, or more. So it came as little surprise that yesterday Wolf joined with the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers to announce his latest executive order to “transform the nature of work in Pennsylvania.” Among other things, the order disqualifies companies from state loans or tax breaks unless the companies pay the wage dictated by Wolf and offer paid sick leave. Of course, this is just Wolf’s latest temper-tantrum-driven end run around lawmakers in reaction to the Legislature not giving him his way when it comes to increasing the government-mandated wage. It’s worth noting that many companies already pay well over Wolf’s desired minimum wage, but that’s not enough for a governor intent on having his way.

PSERS’ web of secrets?

In the latest drama surrounding our state’s largest pension fund, the Inquirer unwraps how the fund “keeps its communications secret from the public.” It appears even before PSERS’ vote last December to adopt a figure for investment profits that was later shown to be faulty, the fund had launched a “detailed review” of the calculation. In other words, it appears there were questions before the vote, but the vote went forward, although it’s unclear if the board itself knew of the investigation. The Inquirer notes, however, that this week a hearing officer “bar[red] the public from seeing any of the fund’s communications with consultants about the botched calculation….because the public records law exempts the release of items involved in an investigation.”