News & Brews February 25, 2025
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Budget hearings focus on education
Yesterday, the Pa. House Appropriations Committee held budget hearings with the Pa. Department of Education. The Center Square reports that a recurring question was, “Are we getting what we pay for?” (BTW, the answer is, “no”). Lawmakers also focused on Gov. Shapiro’s effort to slash funding for cyber charter school students to a maximum of $8,000 per student. When asked why this same cap shouldn’t apply to traditional public school students, Education Secretary Carrie Rowe incorrectly claimed that traditional public schools have on average less than 8% of their spending in reserve (the actual average figure is 19%, with more than half of Pa.’s school districts having more than 20%).
Pa. has moved to comply with Trump’s order protecting women’s sports
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) has updated its policies to comply with President Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports by ensuring women and girls are not forced to play against biological men. The Tribune-Review reports, “The PIAA eliminated its one-sentence transgender athlete policy and changed language in its handbook to no longer ask member schools to determine those students’ ‘gender’ but rather their ‘sex.’…. The PIAA had announced in a Feb. 6 statement that it would ‘comply with the law’ as established.”
‘Tax-cutting governors experience growth’
“Low taxes, fewer burdensome regulations, and policies that foster economic opportunity … attract individuals and businesses seeking a free enterprise environment where economic opportunity may thrive. In stark contrast, states with policies that stifle competition and impose high costs on businesses continue to lose residents.” So write Jonathan Williams, President and Chief Economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council and Joshua Meyers, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Director of the American Legislative Exchange Council. Looking at 17 years of research, they add that “states with economically competitive policies attract the most people. In 2024, the top 15 states in our rankings all saw net domestic in-migration, proving that sound economic policies can help drive success.” (Pa. ranks 35th in economic outlook and 42nd in economic performance, quite far from the top 15.)
Bet you didn’t hear about this protest
Kudos to the Delaware Valley Journal for covering this, as I’ve been wondering for days why I hadn’t seen a peep about it in mainstream media. Last Wednesday, “one day before the Hamas terror group released the bodies of the two Bibas boys, Ariel, 4, and 9-month-old Kfir, pro-Palestinian protestors tried to take over a building at Swarthmore College” in Delaware County. The anti-Israel mob “took over the first floor of the east wing of Parrish Hall. Although college officials told them to leave, they refused. Instead, they ‘escalated the situation….’” Now, “In a letter to protesters, Stephanie Ives, vice president for student affairs, says those found in violation during the Parrish Hall protest face ‘loss of all academic privileges’ and ‘loss of access to campus services, including food and housing.’” Swarthmore has often been ranked among the most left-wing colleges America.
Watch today’s budget hearings
Pa. House and Senate Appropriations Committees will continue budget hearings today. On the House side, lawmakers will hear from the Department of State at 10:00 a.m. and the Department of Labor & Industry at 1:00 p.m. Those hearings will be live streamed here. On the Senate side, lawmakers will hear from the Department of Environmental Protection at 9:30 a.m. (watch here) and the Department of Aging at 1:00 p.m. (watch here). Keep up with the full schedule of hearings here.