News & Brews March 13, 2025
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Pa. is 16th most expensive state to start a business
According to new rankings based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve of St. Louis, Tax Foundation, Energy Information Administration, and more, Pennsylvania ranks as the 16th most expensive state to start a business this year. The Central Penn Business Journal reports, “The study showed that Pennsylvania imposes an 8.49% corporate tax (#47), and the cost of labor remains above average ($69,250, #36). Labor force participation in the state is 62.2% (#32 tied), and the LLC fee is $125 (#31 tied), but monthly electricity costs are only $457.23 (#6) which helps bring up the overall score.”
Philly DA race turns ugly quickly
On Tuesday evening, progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner faced Democrat primary challenger former Judge Patrick Dugan in a debate that foreshadowed a heated contest. The Inquirer reports that the debate “did not involve much in the way of pleasantries. What started as a tense conversation between two attorneys ended with jumbled yelling and one candidate telling the other to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.” Krasner tried to paint Dugan as a pro-Trump conservative (which he denied) while Dugan attempted to define Krasner as incompetent. No Republican is running for DA, and the winner of the Democrat primary is essentially a shoo-in for a November victory.
AG Sunday discusses first weeks in office
In a meeting with the PennLive editorial board, Attorney General Dave Sunday “parsed through a handful of issues that his office has taken on as priority, including human trafficking and identity fraud, particularly fraud targeting the elderly.” Sunday emphasized his commitment to upholding the law as opposed to joining the crowds that “do things for solely partisan reasons.”
U.S. Dept. of Ed office in Philly slated for closure
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, “The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in Philadelphia is one of seven such offices to be shut down nationally” as part of the work currently underway to dismantle the federal behemoth that’s proven an abysmal failure at educating students (the Inky doesn’t admit that last part, of course). The story notes, “The federal department, which will be reduced from 4,133 workers to 2,183, said it would continue to provide ‘all statutory programs’ that the agency is responsible for, including ‘formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking.’”
Judge to decide on injunction against Cleveland-Cliffs and United Steelworkers
The Post-Gazette reports that after a three-hour hearing yesterday, “A federal judge will decide whether to grant U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel a preliminary injunction against Cleveland-Cliffs and the head of the United Steelworkers union.” Both U.S. Steel and Japan-based Nippon Steel contend that Cliffs “conspired with the union that represents thousands of workers at both Cliffs and U.S. Steel to thwart a $14.9 billion merger with Japan’s largest steel company.” The judge said she will issue a ruling “as quickly as we can.” (The Tribune-Review also has more.)