News & Brews January 31, 2023

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House committee holds hearing on school choice, charter schools 

Yesterday, the House Republican Policy Committee, chaired by Rep. Josh Kail (Beaver and Washington counties) held a hearing on school choice and charter school funding. Deputy Policy Committee Chair David Rowe (Snyder, Juniata, Mifflin, and Union counties) noted afterward, “Today’s hearing highlighted the importance of investing in education in a way that allows every child to have access to an excellent education regardless of their zip code.“

Roundtable today with state Treasurer, Auditor General 

Pa. House Republican Appropriations Chair Seth Grove (York County) will host a roundtable discussion this morning at 9:00 a.m. with state Treasurer Stacy Garrity and state Auditor General Tim DeFoor. The event announcement noted that Grove is “continuing to do the work of the people as House members wait to be called back to session by the speaker.” The event will be live-streamed here.

Lawmaker pay raise kicks in, despite no House sessions

Welp, the automatic pay raise that went into effect in December bumped House lawmakers’ pay to $103,000. But ABC27 notes they’ve “yet to have a productive session in Harrisburg.” Indeed, the House has been out of session as Speaker Mark Rozzi refuses to organize his chamber or hold any votes. Yet, lawmakers are getting paid, a reality that Republican Rep. Josh Kail called “ridiculous.” When Republicans tried to force the House back to work, the one Republican holdout was Rep. Tom Mehaffie (Dauphin County).

Fetterman gets committee assignments 

PennLive reports that U.S. Senator John Fetterman’s committee assignments include the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; and the Environment and Public Works Committee. He will also sit on the Joint Economic Committee and the Special Committee on Aging, chaired by Sen. Bob Casey. Fetterman’s first co-sponsorships include a bill to ban assault weapons, a bill to give federal employees a raise, a bill to make D.C. the 51st state, and a bill to “increase funding for Medicaid home and community-based services for seniors and disabled Americans.”

Philly mayoral candidate’s hypocrisy on display

Remember when politicians imposed COVID mandates but then broke their own rules? Well, here’s a similar case of hypocrisy. Last week, Democrat Philadelphia mayoral candidate Helen Gym blasted the historic Union League for honoring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Complete with anti-hate rhetoric and everything. Well, yesterday, Gym was caught attending a cocktail party at … wait for it … the Union League. After being caught, she issued an apology for attending, but not everyone is buying it.

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