News & Brews December 10, 2021
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Philly lawyer may join U.S. Senate race
A Philly attorney may toss his hat into the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. The AP reports, “George Bochetto, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer … whose cases have often landed in the public spotlight, said Thursday that he is seriously considering running for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat.” Bochetto would join a field that’s been getting more interesting by the week, with celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz recently announcing his candidacy and hedge fund CEO David McCormick expected to join the fray, too.
Oz, Fetterman, Arkoosh … the latest
POLITICO reports the if a Senate election between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz were held “tomorrow,” likely voters would pick Fetterman over Oz but only by a 44-42% margin. Meanwhile, the New York Times writes that in the Senate battle between doctors, Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh is trying to pitch herself as an anti-Dr. Oz.
Lawmaker aims to end taxpayer-funded lobbying
On the heels of a new report exposing that taxpayers pay millions of dollars for government to hire lobbyists who then lobby for more government (scroll down for more on this), KDKA reports on proposed legislation introduced by Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (York County) that “precludes any governmental entity from using taxpayer dollars to influence another governmental entity, and it includes the legislature.”
DEP releases final methane rule
The Post-Gazette reports, “Pennsylvania regulators have released a long-awaited final draft of rules to cut releases of smog-forming and climate warming air pollution from the state’s existing oil and natural gas well sites…” The story notes that the rules, which are “a last piece of the methane-reduction strategy that Gov. Tom Wolf announced nearly six years ago … are expected to take effect by the middle of next year.” Read more here.