News & Brews June 26, 2025
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Medicaid ‘looms’ over state budget talks
The Inquirer reports that “ballooning” Medicaid costs are “looming over state budget talks.” And despite all the talk about federal changes to Medicaid to reduce fraud and waste, Pennsylvania’s Medicaid spending crisis exists “no matter what federal lawmakers decide.” The Inky notes that Medicaid is “the single largest cost driver for the state and makes up a large portion of Pennsylvania’s nearly $50 billion annual budget.” Gov. Shapiro wants to increase Medicaid spending, while Republican lawmakers want to preserve the program for those who truly need it, including by implementing commonsense requirements for Medicaid.
American political dynasty’s ‘slow painful death’
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s New York City mayoral primary election, in which socialist Zohran Mamdani bested former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, POLITICO argues the results were “not an only-in-New York story.” Instead, the outcome “fits into a larger national story — the extinction of some of the country’s mightiest political dynasties.” And as one example, the editorial points to the defeat last year of longtime U.S. Sen. Bob Casey here in Pennsylvania.
Census figures show ‘rapidly aging America’
The Post-Gazette reports that per new U.S. Census data, “Since 2020, the number of people aged 65 or older has increased by 13%, while the number of children under the age of 18 has decreased by 1.7.” And in Pennsylvania, “older adults outnumber children in four out of five counties — and not just in rural areas, but also in some of the state’s most populous regions.” The shifting demographics “could pose a challenge for communities that aren’t prepared to support older adults with everything from health care services to affordable housing to public transportation.”
Pa. court rules against ban on open carry in Philly
The state Superior Court this week “ruled that a ban on openly carrying a firearm without a permit in Philadelphia is unconstitutional, but stopped short of repealing the law,” the Inquirer reports. “In a 2-1 decision Monday, the majority found that a state law requiring a license to openly carry a firearm in Philadelphia, while exempting the rest of Pennsylvania from the requirement, violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.”
Op-Ed: ‘What public schools can learn from Fred Smith’
FedEx Founder Fred Smith passed away last week. His business legacy offers a lesson not only for delivery services but also for … public schools? The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley writes, “The U.S. Postal Service had a monopoly on certain types of mail delivery. The result, as ever, was bureaucratic inertia and mismanagement. Customers suffered because they could be taken for granted. Smith came up with a way to deliver documents faster and more reliably…. The Postal Service had no choice but to respond to the challenge.” Like the postal service, the public education system is also failing its customers. “Needed improvement won’t come from within the education establishment … unless outside pressure is brought to bear in the form of charter schools, parochial schools, vouchers, tax credits and other innovations.”