News & Brews April 18, 2025
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Historic win for school choice in Texas
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has shown the country how to lead on educational opportunity. Yesterday, the Texas state House voted to pass legislation that will create one of the largest school choice programs in the country. (The Senate is already on board, so the House was the biggest hurdle.) As the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board explains, “When Gov. Abbott called special sessions in 2023 to pass education savings accounts, 21 GOP House lawmakers joined Democrats to vote them down…. Gov. Abbott responded by making ESAs a political liability for these Republicans by endorsing pro-ESA opponents in primaries. Voters backed most of his endorsements.” With Texas’ program, more than half of America’s children will now be eligible for private school choice. And as the American Federation for Children explained, the Texas bill is “the largest day-one school choice bill in American history.” Pennsylvania, take note: This is how it’s done.
Mulling run for governor, Garrity talks Pa. budget
The Post-Gazette reports that as the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office “has projected the big gap between spending and revenue will cause the state to use up all of its savings in coming years,” Pa. Treasurer Stacy Garrity says this impending crisis factors into her consideration of whether to run for governor next year. “After we run out of money, which we are going to, you know, two things are going to happen,” Garrity said. Those two things are either tax hikes or spending cuts. “Two options that are not good. So I don’t think we should wait until we run out of money to address this. I think we have to do it now.”
Gov.’s mansion on track for quick reopening
PennLive reports, “The living quarters and workspace at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence will be ready to reopen” quickly following Sunday’s arson attack. “In a press release issued Thursday, Department of General Services Secretary Reggie McNeil said ‘an aggressive restoration and construction schedule’ will allow the living quarters and the staff workspace to reopen within the next few days.” Meanwhile, yesterday Shapiro recounted the attack after visiting and thanking firefighters who responded.
Gainey, O’Connor spar at heated mayoral debate
In Pittsburgh yesterday, incumbent Democrat Mayor Ed Gainey and Democrat Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor met in a “contentious debate that put both Democratic mayoral candidates on the defensive,” the Post-Gazette reports. O’Connor criticized Gainey “for what he said was a lack of transparency about the grim state of the city’s finances,” while Gainey “said his administration was doing an ‘incredible job’ to ensure a strong city budget.” The two also sparred on affordable housing, the topic on which “tensions reached their highest.” And each accused the other of having ties to Trump. The primary election will take place on May 20.
Lancaster’s incoming Dem senator suggests he may vote to protect women’s sports
The LNP reports that at a recent forum, Democrat Senator-Elect James Malone, who won a special election last month in Lancaster County, said he was “probably going to vote” in favor of legislation that would protect girls from being forced to compete against biological males in sports, adding that he would “try to amend it to separate kids from adults.” This prompted the co-chair of his campaign, who is also the vice-chair of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, to jump in, and the LNP reports that she “interrupted Malone as he was speaking about the legislation at the forum and said there are some bills Malone has not fully read.” Seriously. In response, Malone said, “Basically, she’s telling me not to tell too much. I have already gone through and read that one in detail and have my position on it.”