News & Brews September 23, 2024
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Pa. high court takes another mail-in ballot case
Just when you (maybe) thought pre-election court cases on mail-in ballots were coming to an end, think again. The AP reports that on Friday, the Pa. Supreme Court “said it will consider whether counties must accept provisional ballots cast on election day at polling places by voters whose mail-in ballots lacked secrecy envelopes or were rejected for other flaws.” The case stems from Butler County, where a court said the provisional ballots would not be accepted. A Commonwealth Court panel reversed the lower court, and now the state’s highest court will hear the case.
Ukrainian president visits, thanks Pa. ammo plant
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant “to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces,” the AP reports. As we had previously shared, the Scranton plant manufacturers 155 mm artillery shells and has recently increased production to meet demand.
WSJ: Three Mile Island, Microsoft, and AI
Following the recent news of the plans to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in an agreement to sell power to Microsoft, which would then use the power for its AI data centers, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes that “Biden energy policies are forcing companies to find their own power, as grid operators predict blackouts.” The editorial continues, “A growing problem is that coal and natural gas plants are closing prematurely amid an onslaught of regulation and heavily subsidized renewables. Wind and solar power can turn a profit running only some of the time. Baseload power plants can’t—especially as they’re burdened by costly new Environmental Protection Agency rules.”
Lawmakers ‘alert’ Shapiro to PennDOT warning on automatic voter registration
On Friday, dozens of House Republicans sent a letter to Gov. Shapiro “alerting him to a recent Supreme Court decision which questioned the legality of PennDOT’s ‘automatic voter registration’ program for vehicle registration.” The ruling said, “Any administrative decision by PennDOT or the Pennsylvania Department of State to transfer an elector’s voter registration without that person’s affirmative consent in conjunction with a PennDOT application to change a vehicle registration, as opposed to a driver’s license, is therefore of questionable validity, particularly where, as here, no party has identified a valid administrative regulation authorizing such action.” Further, in a concurring opinion, Justice Wecht wrote, “To the extent PennDOT has taken it upon itself to transform a vehicle registration renewal into a change in voter registration, it appears to have done so in the absence of any legislative directive.” (See a recent news report on the ruling here.)
Report: Long-term assessments highlight state budget worries
A new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts reviews long-term budget assessments, which “project state revenue and spending at least three years into the future and then evaluate fiscal sustainability based on those forecasts.” Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania pops up many times in the report and is listed among states where (unfortunately) “long-term deficits are the norm.” The report further notes that per Pa.’s Independent Fiscal Office, “rising Medicaid costs for long-term care for seniors and people with intellectual disabilities was one of the ‘the main factors that drive rapid deficit expansion’ over the next two years.”