News & Brews May 10, 2023

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Pa. Senate committee advances corporate tax reduction bills

Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee voted 8-3 to advance legislation, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Aument (Lancaster County) to accelerate the reduction of our corporate net income tax rate. The committee also voted unanimously to advance a bill, sponsored by Sen. Greg Rothman (Cumberland, Dauphin, and Perry counties) to double the net operating loss carryover limitation for businesses.

Senate committee backs adding penalty to RTK Law

Yesterday, the Senate State Government Committee voted 9-2 for legislation, sponsored by Sen. Cris Dush, that would make it a third-degree felony to destroy a record that’s been requested through a RTK request. Sen. Anthony Williams (Philadelphia) who opposed the bill, cited in part concerns from Gov. Shapiro. PennLive reports, “A spokesman for Mr. Shapiro … declined comment when asked about the governor’s concerns.”

Op-Ed: Campaign execution matters

Our President and CEO Matt Brouillette writes in RealClear Pennsylvania that “candidate quality matters, but campaign execution matters equally, if not more.” Matt compares the most recent U.S. Senate races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, pointing to campaign tactics and messaging that led to Republican Ron Johnson’s win in the former and Republican Mehmet Oz’s loss in the latter.

Charter advocates rally for funding and reform

Yesterday, charter school students, parents, and advocacy groups rallied in Harrisburg for more support for charter schools. PennLive reports that “among the items on [their] wish list are equitable funding for their schools, an independent authorizer that issues charters to open a school rather than school districts, access to intermediate unit-provided services, a fully staffed charter appeals board with a balance of representation from all public education sectors, and fair and equitable treatment for charter schools serving higher percentages of minority students.”

Allegheny County DA candidate is latest George Soros darling

George Soros spent well over $1.5 million to elect progressive Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner in 2017. Two years later, Soros spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lock in a victory for Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. Now, Soros is by far the biggest funder of Allegheny County District Attorney candidate Matt Dugan. The Post-Gazette reports that Soros gave $759,000 to the Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety PAC in March. That PAC, in turn, spent about $734,000 to support Dugan.

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