News & Brews July 15, 2025
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Pa. House passes $50 billion budget
Yesterday, Pa. House Democrats, joined by three Republicans, passed a ridiculous $50 billion state budget that includes a $2.9 billion spending increase with no way to pay for it. PennLive reports that “the parties involved indicated that the bill was a first step and not necessarily indicative of the exact final numbers.” But if your first step is off the edge of a cliff, there’s a pretty good chance nothing good will follow.
On new data centers, ‘biggest risk is power’
As lawmakers of both parties announce massive data center investments in Pennsylvania, PennLive reports that per Mike Turner, the Ashburn District Supervisor in Loudoun County, Virginia (”the data center capital of the U.S.”), “The biggest risk is power. The AI market in data centers are voracious consumers of power.” Turner adds, however, that “Pennsylvania is in the envious position that they can plan this all out, but they need to plan it all out. They need to plan where the power line is going to go, where the generation plants are going to go, and how many data centers they can afford to have.” Indeed, this planning is one reason for today’s Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh (see next item).
Energy and Innovation Summit happening today
Axios reports that at today’s Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Melon University, President Trump and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick plan to announce $70 billion in AI and energy investments into Pennsylvania. According to event organizers, “Anticipated investments include new data centers, new power generation and grid infrastructure to meet surging data center demand, along with AI training programs and apprenticeships for businesses.” Gov. Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Fetterman reportedly plan to attend, along with a host of CEOs. You can view the panelists’ bios here, and the event will be live-streamed here.
On cyber charter funding, are you smarter than an 11th grader?
Are you smarter than an 11th grader? If you’re a Pennsylvania lawmaker trying to cut cyber charter school funding, don’t try to answer this, because the answer may be, “No.” John Walish, a rising junior at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, draws on his pretty impressive education in AP Calculus BC, U.S. Government and Politics, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Physics C: Mechanics, and English Language and Composition (did I mention quantum physics?) to poke very large, gaping, huge, ginormous holes in the arguments made by Gov. Shapiro and some lawmakers to slash funding for public cyber charter school students. (Yes, I know this sentence is super long, but I didn’t take AP English.) Check out his piece here.
PSEA mum on whether it voted to cut ties with ADL
In the latest display of antisemitism, the National Education Association voted for a non-binding resolution that would sever the organization’s ties with the Anti-Defamation League. As the Delaware Valley Journal explains, “ADL is the most prominent pro-Jewish organization in the country. For years, it’s provided educational classroom materials to help schools teach about antisemitism and the Holocaust.” When the Journal asked the Pennsylvania State Education Association how its representatives voted on the measure, the state’s largest teachers’ union wouldn’t say.