News & Brews February 10, 2023
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Fetterman remains hospitalized
Sen. John Fetterman remained hospitalized Thursday evening, with tests thus far ruling out another stroke, according to his office. The AP reports that Fetterman is “being monitored … for signs of a seizure,” but per his spokesperson, so far there were no signs. Fetterman was taken to the hospital on Wednesday after feeling lightheaded at an event. It’s unclear how long he’ll remain hospitalized.
Court won’t order release of election records
Nearly a year and a half after a Senate committee voted to subpoena certain election records, the Commonwealth Court said yesterday that it will not order the Shapiro administration to release the records. The AP reports, “The court said that the Senate committee voted to issue the subpoena under its own internal rules and can enforce it under the state’s contempt laws. But that process, it said, does not involve seeking a court order to enforce it.”
Republican lawmaker who sides with Dems loses Capitol office
Rep. Tom Mehaffie (Dauphin County)—the lone Republican lawmaker who refused to vote for a GOP House Speaker and who then refused to join his fellow Republicans in forcing the House back into session—has lost his Capitol office. PennLive reports, “House Republican leadership notified Mehaffie on Friday he had several days to vacate the office space he occupied in the Capitol East Wing for the last six years. By the Wednesday afternoon deadline, his name already had been removed from the nameplate by the door. Mehaffie has not been assigned another office anywhere in the building.” For his part, Mehaffie says he’s “kind of perplexed.” Hmm.
Ready to track Shapiro’s campaign promises
Spotlight PA reports that thus far, Gov. Josh Shapiro has “avoided conflict and focused on what he can do unilaterally.” But to fulfill his biggest campaign promises, he’ll “have to work with a divided legislature on notoriously fraught issues like regulating Pennsylvania’s energy industry and updating the state’s election laws.” In the months ahead, Spotlight plans to track Shapiro’s campaign promises that meet the following criteria:
- Shapiro emphasized them during his run for governor;
- Passing them would require collaboration with the legislature;
- Or they could bring different factions of his supporters into conflict.
Some want to use court ruling to cut charter funding
Government-union-funded special interests who oppose school choice gathered in the Capitol yesterday to call for cuts to charter school funding and an additional $4 billion for traditional public schools. The event came in response to the Commonwealth Court’s ruling earlier this week that Pennsylvania’s system of funding education is unconstitutional. The ruling noted that reform options are “virtually limitless” and require only that they ensure every child has access to a quality education. Republican Rep. Jesse Topper, who was not part of the event, noted afterward that the court’s ruling offers an opportunity for ‘transformational change’. “You can’t just throw out numbers like $4 billion and expect that money is just going to all of a sudden fit into all these cracks that have been opened by this decision,” he said. “There’s going to be real policy conversations.”