News & Brews March 24, 2025
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So-called ‘analysis’ of Pa. donors leaves our major Dem players
Spotlight PA has a so-called analysis of ‘powerful interests’ that poured millions into Pa. elections. But wait, while focusing a lot on pro-school choice supporters, the fine print way down low in the story says the analysis “omitted donors — like lobbyists, lawyers, some unions, and some PACs — whose interests were too varied to fit into a single industry. For example: The Washington, D.C.-based PAC for America’s Future — funded by a mix of out-of-state megadonors and celebrities — gave $7.5 million to state House and Senate Democrats’ campaign committees last session. However, it was omitted because it doesn’t have a single policy focus.” In fact, in the past three election cycles, the PAC for America’s Future has been the single largest donor to the Pa. House Democrat Campaign Committee. And the PAC gets its money from the millionaires and billionaires that the Left pretends to hate. Yet a media analysis of donors leaves them out. Hmm.
Why does the PSEA have so much private data?
Last week, news broke that the Pennsylvania State Education Association had been hit by a cyberattack that “exposed the personal data of more than half a million individuals….” Hackers accessed “date of birth; social security numbers; driver’s license numbers; passport numbers; bank account information including account and routing numbers and passwords; credit and debit card information, including card numbers, pins, and card expiration dates; and health insurance and medical information.” So, why does the state’s largest teachers’ union keep all this info, much of which has nothing to do with representational activities? The Commonwealth Foundation explains, “Simply put, unions often obtain personal information to contact employees about political causes and union organizing outside the workplace.”
Shapiro uses rhetoric of ‘freedom’ to hide union devotion
Gov. Josh Shapiro may be talking like a political moderate these days, but as our president and CEO Matt Brouillette explains in an op-ed in PennLive, behind Shapiro’s rhetoric “lies a deep devotion to government union donors that has kept Pennsylvania children trapped in failing, union-run schools and exploded the commonwealth’s budget deficit to fund union-backed spending priorities.” And, as they say, Matt has the receipts to back it up.
Despite media hype, little change expected in tomorrow’s special elections
You may have seen media stories about how tomorrow’s special elections—one in the Pa. House in Allegheny County and one in the Pa. Senate in Lancaster County—will determine the direction of the Pa. House and could even be a sort of referendum on Trump. But let’s just put this in some actual context. In 2024, former Democrat Rep. Matt Gergely (who passed away earlier this year), ran unopposed in the heavily Democrat Allegheny County district. In other words, the district leans so far Left that the GOP did not put up a candidate. Meanwhile, the last time the Lancaster seat was up for election in 2022, former state Sen. Ryan Aument also ran unopposed—Dems knew it was a lost cause to put up a candidate. So yes, if either of these seats flips, it would be significant. But we’re not holding our breath.
Pa. Supreme Court added new definition of parenthood
On Thursday, the Pa. Supreme Court ruled in favor of so-called “intent-based parentage,” which, as the Inquirer explains, means that “in situations where aspiring parents use assisted reproductive technology, like IVF, with the intent to conceive and co-parent a child together, they have effectively proven that they are parents. They do not need to sign a formal contract or share genetics with the child to establish legal parenthood.” Some, however, believe this issue is for the legislature, not the courts, to decide.