News & Brews March 1, 2024
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‘Groundhog Day’ for permitting reform in Pa.
Permitting delays were a topic of much angst at yesterday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing with the Department of Environmental Protection. The Center Square reports that just like repetitiveness in the film Groundhog Day, “the Senate’s budget hearings with the Department of Environment Protection center on permitting reform year after year after year.” And while “Gov. Shapiro has made much of his push for permitting reform across state agencies … months-long delays still happen.” What’s more, Pa. even has a reputation internationally for slow permitting.
Pa. poll: Trump leds Biden with 3rd parties in
PennLive reports that a mid-February Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey of 803 registered voters in Pennsylvania “had Trump leading Biden 45% to 36% if independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (8%) and Cornel West (1%), and Green Party candidate Jill Stein (1%) were on the ballot, too.” The poll was part of a larger swing-state survey, which also had Trump leading, but by a lesser (49% to 43%) margin. Of course, it’s still super early, so the typical ‘too early to mean much‘ caveats apply.
Philly Dem PAC avoids backing Kevin Boyle
The Inquirer reports that a political action committee started last year by Philadelphia’s Democratic state House delegation “cut checks to each of its members facing primary challengers this year — except State Rep. Kevin Boyle.” The snub, which follows Boyle’s drunken outburst last month at a Montgomery County bar, where he allegedly threatened to hit female employees, “shows his closest colleagues doubt his ability to serve an eighth term and delivers another blow to his reelection campaign.”
Republicans protest Lancaster’s illegal immigration policy
PennLive reports that Republicans, including U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, are “condemning a measure passed by Lancaster City Council this week that codifies a city policy to not ask people about their immigration status in non-criminal situations.” One councilman argued that the new measure “simply codifies the existing practice of city employees, including police, of not asking about immigration status unless a crime has been committed and ICE agents need to be involved.” But Republicans counter that the rule threatens public safety.