News & Brews September 12, 2022
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Mastriano schedules debate, moderator; Shapiro campaign calls it ‘stunt’
Well, no one can say Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race is boring. On Friday, GOP nominee Doug Mastriano announced he’s reserved a location and moderator for a debate with Democrat Josh Shapiro—October 22 at Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, moderated by conservative political commentator Mercedes Schlapp. In response, Shapiro’s campaign called the move an “unserious stunt,” adding, “If Mastriano ever finds the will to step up and answer questions from legitimate reporters and independent moderators — instead of out-of-state partisan hacks — our campaign looks forward to discussing debate options.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had the story.
Spotlight on Pa. gov’s race
No pun intended (well, maybe a little pun), but Spotlight PA puts the spotlight on the Pa. governor’s race, looking at the candidates, top donors, and key issues. The wording on the issues shows Spotlight’s own ideological slant, so read it with a grain of salt.
At pro-abortion rally, Fetterman seeks to ease health worries
Reuters notes that at a pro-abortion rally in Philadelphia yesterday, Democrat U.S. Senate nominee John Fetterman “sought to allay concerns about his health after suffering a near-fatal stroke earlier this year.” The story notes that several Democrat Party officials “expressed worries about Fetterman’s health and whether Republican attacks were swaying voters,” yet one political scientist stated Fetterman “doesn’t have to be pre-stroke John Fetterman, but people need to see that he’s capable.”
Wolf announces ‘free’ school breakfasts
On Friday, Gov. Wolf announced that taxpayers will pay for breakfasts for public and private school students throughout the 2022-23 academic year. PennLive reports, “The $21.5 million needed for this breakfast program for the state’s 1.7 million students will be funded through money left over in last year’s school food services budget from state and federal funds.” Because Wolf intends to use last year’s funds, his spokesperson noted that legislative approval is not needed. Indeed, “House and Senate GOP leadership officials indicated they were unaware of this forthcoming announcement when contacted on Friday morning.”
Tentative deal reached in nursing home strike
The AP reported on Friday that “[h]undreds of striking nurses prepared to return to work as their union announced a tentative contract agreement Friday with 13 of 14 nursing homes across Pennsylvania.” Meanwhile, negotiations continued on Friday at the one remaining nursing home. The strike resulted from disagreements over “pay, benefits, and staffing levels.”
House committee to hold hearing today on venue shopping rule
This morning at 11am, the House Majority Policy Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing “to examine how the latest action by the activist Pennsylvania Supreme Court to change Pennsylvania’s medical malpractice venue rules will hurt patients and gravely impact their access to health care.” The court recently reversed a two decades-old rule requiring that malpractice suits be filed in the county where the alleged wrongdoing took place. This reversal means trial lawyers can file suits in counties where they think they will win the greatest settlement (i.e. Philly). The hearing will be live-streamed here.