News & Brews October 26, 2023
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Biden, Trump ‘virtually tied’ in Pa. poll
A new Franklin & Marshall College poll shows that in a hypothetical general election matchup, President Biden holds a slight 44%-42% lead over former President Trump among registered voters in Pa.—within the poll’s margin of error. Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Casey leads David McCormick 46%-39%. Download the poll toplines here (scroll down for the download link), or click here for the PennLive story
Pa. Senate votes to give parents more control over sexually explicit content their kids get in schools
The state Senate voted 29-21 to give parents more control over whether their children receive sexually explicit content in schools. The materials—currently found in Pa. school curriculum or libraries—include graphic depictions of oral and anal sex, among other things. (The Pa. Senate has created a webpage to alert parents to the types of materials now available.) Parents could still opt-in and allow their children to receive this content if desired. Just one Democrat—Sen. Lisa Boscola—joined Republicans in supporting this safeguard for children.
Funding stalemate draws plea from Pa. universities
PennLive reports that “more than halfway into the fall semester, leaders of Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities are upping the pressure on lawmakers, urging them ‘in the strongest possible terms’ to break the logjam holding up funding.” Funding for the universities “is caught in a political dispute within the House Republican Caucus mainly over tuition rates and transparency concerns.” House Democrats have sought to circumvent the constitutional process for delivering the funding. But Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said, “We have repeatedly said the House needs to reconcile their internal disagreement and muster the votes to send the non-preferred appropriations to the Senate in a constitutionally sound manner. Until they do, we are hard-pressed to find a path forward.”
Philly mayoral debate happening this morning
Republican David Oh and Democrat Cherelle Parker will meet at 8:00 am this morning in their one-and-only debate before the Nov. 7 general election. The debate will air on KYW Newsradio. Listen here.
Op-Ed: ‘The Pa. Democrat who sounds like Reagan on taxes’
GOP state Sen. Ryan Aument (Lancaster County) writes in the Post-Gazette that when it comes to certain tax reforms, Democrat House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (Montgomery County) is sounding like former President Ronald Reagan. In a recent floor speech invoking both Reagan and Jack Kemp, “Bradford praised lower corporate taxes and called for a realistic Net Operating Loss provision that allows businesses to carry over losses from one year to offset future profits.” Aument writes that Republicans have already offered legislation on both these issues. He notes, “These are two things we can get done. As Jack Kemp once said: ‘My passion for ideas is not matched with a passion for partisan or electoral politics.’ That’s an idea long overdue but, if the Majority Leader meant what he says, no longer out of reach.”