News & Brews May 19, 2025
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Shapiro accepted $68K in luxury helicopter trips
Gov. Josh Shapiro accepted $68K worth of luxury helicopter trips from billionaire Michael Rubin last year, per campaign finance reports, which the Inquirer says is “raising questions from lawmakers and good-government experts.” The in-kind contributions, which are legal, “raised questions … about the access the uber-wealthy have to Pennsylvania’s top executive.” The trips to New York were “for a number of campaign appearances, including those on The View, The Daily Show, a Clinton Foundation conference, and more.” Separately, Spotlight PA reports that top lawmakers combined accepted $119K in “gifts, trips, and more” last year.
Pa. readies for primary elections tomorrow
Voters who haven’t already voted by mail will head to the polls tomorrow in several important primary races. Among the most high-profile of these are primary contests on the GOP side for state Superior and Commonwealth courts (we are supporting Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft for Superior Court and Matt Wolford for Commonwealth Court), a Democrat primary for Philadelphia district attorney and a Democrat Primary for Pittsburgh mayor. Races garnering less media attention include primaries for Harrisburg mayor, Erie mayor, and more.
Shapiro covered up Biden’s decline
POLITICO reports that the cover-up scandal of former President Biden’s decline is now “hanging over the 2028 [presidential] field.” This includes Gov. Shapiro, who last week “appeared to try to differentiate himself from other ambitious Democrats — and put some distance between himself and Biden — by maintaining he privately raised concerns with the former president in the moment.” But publicly, when asked in August of last year by POLITICO “if he had any concerns that Biden had slipped,” Shapiro replied, “Not at all, and I’ve been in regular contact with the president.”
981 Pa. state workers made $200K+ last year
PennLive reports that previously, the outlet tracked the $100K club—taxpayer funded workers earning six figures or more. “But the size of the list increased so quickly that two years ago the threshold was bumped up to $200,000.” And since 2020 the number of folks on that list “has increased by more than 500%.” Last year, 981 state employees made the list. And half of them are “higher education administrators tasked with trying to reverse the fortunes of the 10 state-owned universities.” In fact, “The number of higher education employees in the state-owned universities who earned more than $200,000 grew at a faster rate in 2024 than at any other state agency.”
Topper: Time to consider privatizing SEPTA
Pa. House Republican Leader Jesse Topper (Bedford and Fulton counties) writes in the Inquirer, “In 2023, SEPTA received $757 million from the commonwealth, funded mainly through sales tax revenue. In the current budget, that number is likely to hit $900 million.” And if Shapiro gets his wish, “SEPTA would receive $1.06 billion from a $165 million increase.” This doesn’t even count all SEPTA revenue, including from user fees. Still, the public transit system remains a fiscal mess. Topper says what must be said, “Facing such a serious problem, the solutions for this or any agency in crisis simply cannot be from the same bank of tired ideas. On the contrary, we must think of new and innovative solutions that ensure the long-term viability of crucial assets like SEPTA.” And that includes partially privatizing SEPTA’s operations.