News & Brews July 11, 2025
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Pa. Dems’ billionaire hypocrisy
Pennsylvania Democrats love to slam “billionaires on the Right.” But it turns out Dems have their own favorite billionaires whom they willingly rely on in their campaigns. (Actually, this is no surprise. We’ve known this for a long time.) The Inquirer finally reports on a group called the States Project that’s funneling money into elections. What the Inquirer story conveniently doesn’t mention (shocker) is that the States Project, per its own website, is part of PAC for America’s Future, which has funneled more than $18 million to Pennsylvania elections. And since 2020, 97% of the PAC’s donations have come from outside of Pennsylvania, including from the millionaires and billionaires whom Democrats pretend to hate. See more on that here.
AFSCME strike shows labor ‘fault lines’ in Philly
AFSCME 33’s nine-day strike in Philly may be over, but a rift among the city’s labor unions may not be. The Inquirer reports that during the strike, “Philadelphia unions found themselves in the difficult position of having to choose between supporting the roughly 9,000 blue-collar municipal workers on strike and maintaining relationships with their employer, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.” And even now, “tensions remain high in labor circles about the preceding week’s events, particularly over work that some members of the building trades unions did to help the Parker administration maintain normalcy during the work stoppage….”
Lawmakers again aim to legalize recreational pot
The state budget isn’t done. Girls are still forced to play sports against biological males. And kids remain trapped in failing schools. But Pa. lawmakers are again taking a stab at legalizing marijuana for fun. ErieNewsNow reports, “State Senators Dan Laughlin (R-49) and Sharif Street (D-3) have introduced Senate Bill 120, legislation that would legalize adult-use cannabis across Pennsylvania and create a new regulatory framework for both recreational and medical marijuana programs.” The Pa. House passed recreational pot in May, but the bill would have had state-run liquor stores manage its sales, making the proposal “dead on arrival” in the Senate.
Lawmaker wants to shrink size of Pa. Legislature
It’s a tough lift to try to get lawmakers to vote to shrink their own legislative body, but that’s not stopping Democrat state Sen. Lisa Boscola (Lehigh & Northampton counties) from trying. She plans to introduce legislation that would decrease the size of the Pa. House from 203 members to 101 and the size of the state Senate from 50 members to 38. “Pennsylvania currently has the largest full-time state legislature in the nation.” Boscola notes in her co-sponsorship memo. “While the importance of strong constituent representation cannot be overstated, the size and cost of our legislature have become unsustainable and outdated for the needs of a modern and efficient government.” Changing the size of the General Assembly would require a constitutional amendment, so the proposal would have to pass both chambers of the Legislature in two consecutive sessions and then earn the backing of voters.
The growing Dem field running for PA-3’s seat
Since Democrat U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadelphia announced he won’t run for re-election next year, two state lawmakers—Sen. Sharif Street and Rep. Chris Rabb—have entered the race for the Democrat nomination in Pennsylvania’s third congressional district. Now, the Inquirer reports on a third Democrat, this one a political outsider, who’s in the fray. Dave Oxman, an intensive care physician and medical school professor “has raised nearly $300,000 for his campaign already, not a small sum for a first-time candidate. He’s pitching himself as the unelected outsider in a crowded 2026 Democratic primary field where he hopes his background in medicine can be an asset.”