News & Brews June 5, 2025
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Shapiro dodges budget question
Gov. Josh Shapiro has a knack for not taking a position on issues—U.S. Steel’s sale and RGGI, to name just a few. Instead, he plays all sides, claims to be working behind the scenes, and then takes credit (or lays blame) for the outcome. Well now, while pushing for a SEPTA bailout, he’s again dodging a question. This time, he and Pa. House Majority Leader Matt Bradford “have declined to say whether they would hold up the state budget over mass transit funding,” the Inquirer reports. Of course, spending hundreds of millions to bail out SEPTA is a terrible idea. But we suppose refusing to take a position is better than promising to support something and then going back on your word. (Lifeline Scholarships, anyone?)
Pa. House votes to gut public school funding … for some
Yesterday, the Pa. House voted 104-98 to slash funding for public school students who attend public cyber charter schools. Somehow, while believing that the $23,000 Pa. now spends on each traditional public school student isn’t nearly enough, House Democrats (and two Republicans) think cyber charter students shouldn’t receive a penny more than $8,000 per student. Republicans Tom Mehaffie (Dauphin County) and K.C. Tomlinson (Bucks County) voted for the education funding cut. The real issue, of course, is that the traditional public school bureaucracy is failing kids, and union-beholden Democrats hate the idea of giving families educational options.
Pa. Senate backs stronger penalties for destroying RTK records
The Pa. Senate voted 31-18 yesterday for legislation, sponsored by Sen. Cris Dush, that would “make the intentional destruction or alteration of Right-to-Know (RTK) records a third-degree felony.” The legislation comes following reporting by Broad + Liberty that Gov. Shapiro’s office may have purposefully deleted emails relating to the sexual harassment scandal involving Shapiro’s former secretary of legislative affairs, Mike Vereb. Only four Democrats joined Republicans in backing the bill, which now heads to the House.
Op-Ed: ‘Full expensing boosts economic growth’
Club for Growth President David McIntosh and Susquehanna International Group Managing Director and Co-Founder Jeff Yass write in the Wall Street Journal that President Trump and Congress should “establish full and permanent expensing—a policy allowing businesses to deduct immediately the cost of their investments in capital assets including machinery, equipment and buildings.” The recently passed House bill includes this provision, but it’s temporary. “Businesses make short- and long-term decisions based on the tax code,” McIntosh and Yass write. “When Congress enacts a temporary policy and then allows it to expire, the economic effect resembles a short-term stimulus, not a structural reform that fosters sustainable growth.”
Judge says Allegheny Republican must face voters
WESA reports, “An Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge has ruled that Republican County Council member Mike Embrescia must run for re-election this fall, dealing a setback to local Republicans who hoped to hold the seat uncontested until 2027.” Embrescia had been chosen as an interim council member following the resignation of Sam DeMarco to join U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s office. But the GOP claimed Embrescia shouldn’t have to run for a full term until 2027, when DeMarco’s term would have expired. Republicans plan to appeal the ruling.