News & Brews March 25, 2025
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Committee votes to hide report on Allentown tax perk
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee voted against releasing an interim report on the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone’s (NIZ) receipt of more than $500 million in taxpayer dollarsover the past ten years. The NIZ was created by a 2009 law applying only to Allentown and architected by now-Revenue Secretary Pat Browne, who represented the city in the state Senate at the time. GOP state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (York County) posted after yesterday’s vote, “We are unaware of any other state government program deemed so confidential that professionals dedicated to fair and impartial review cannot audit it.” She added, “WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?” Read more background on the issue here.
WI court race could change balance of power in Congress
Substitute “Pennsylvania” for “Wisconsin” in the headline above, and it would still be true. The Daily Signal explains how next week’s state Supreme Court election in Wisconsin could impact which party controls the U.S. Congress. As one political advisor explained, Democrats in the race are “promising donors and voters that they can pick up two additional U.S. House seats by redrawing the [congressional districts] map in a way that is favorable to the Democrats.” Of course, we saw our state Supreme Court do just this in 2018. And with voters this year in Pa. choosing whether or not to hand these same justices additional 10-year terms—with another redistricting round happening within those 10 years—the stakes in Pa. are even higher given our status as the most important swing state in the nation.
When public schools turn kids away
The Commonwealth Foundation’s Rachel Langan explains that according to data obtained via Right-to-Know request, “during the 2023–24 school year, the School District of Philadelphia spent over $35 million to educate 681 students at non-district schools.” Specifically, the “School District of Philadelphia outsources special education to private schools when the district is unable to meet the student’s special education needs.” Apparently admitting that it cannot be all things to all children, the district unintentionally provides a strong argument in favor of school choice.
Incompetence and irresponsibility on display
Filed under “elected officials do dumb things.” Spotlight PA has a sob story on local municipalities that have “become so financially distressed they could require state assistance as billions in federal stimulus dollars dry up.” Basically, “State and local governments received unprecedented federal aid during the COVID-19 pandemic to cope with its impact on public health and the economy.” Now, that one-time relief is ending. BUT WAIT! As the Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield questioned, “Surely municipalities didn’t use one-time federal aid to boost permanent expenditures, despite warnings not do that. Right?” Indeed, many warnings were issued along the lines of, “Hey Genius, don’t use one-time revenue for recurring needs.” And yet, it sure sounds like some local officials used one-time revenue for recurring needs. And now, Gov. Shapiro wants to use taxpayer dollars to bail out the incompetence. Are you on board?
What does voter registration look like in today’s special elections?
As the media continues to hype today’s special elections in Allegheny County and Lancaster County, the Post-Gazette adds some voter registration context. In the Allegheny County state House seat, where voters will choose a successor to the late Democrat state Rep. Matt Gergely, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by 15,000. And in the Lancaster County state Senate seat, where voters will pick a replacement for GOP state Sen. Ryan Aument, Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 42,000.