News & Brews September 3, 2025
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Shapiro’s Vereb scandal deepens
Gov. Shapiro’s story surrounding the Mike Vereb sexual harassment scandal is continuing to unravel. Broad + Liberty reports that Shapiro’s “claim that an HR policy prevented him from learning about sexual harassment allegations against his top aide is contradicted by the policy itself.” And now, his administration is “saying the policy didn’t explicitly prevent the governor from being told, but that officials were only brought in on a ‘need to know’ basis.” But this story just doesn’t add up. “It is unimaginable that this sort of behavior could occur by a top cabinet official who has followed the governor throughout his various positions in statewide office, without the governor knowing,” said GOP Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill (York County). “This is either a failure in leadership by the Shapiro administration or a concerted effort to sweep a sexual harassment scandal under the rug.”
With retention on the ballot, a look at election rulings
As three Democrat Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices face voters this fall for a “yes” or “no” vote on whether they deserve another 10-year term, Votebeat recounts how these three justices ruled on various election cases. The story doesn’t touch on non-election cases, such as when the court ruled in favor of former Gov. Wolf’s executive order forcing 20,000 homecare workers to unionize, or when the court allowed “venue shopping,” which harms healthcare access in Pennsylvania.
Your tax dollars at work (against you)
Did you know that governments across Pennsylvania use tax dollars to hire outside lobbyists who then lobby Harrisburg lawmakers for more state spending (i.e. higher taxes)? It’s no secret. The Commonwealth Foundation has been writing about it for years. Well, WITF now has a story about it, too, highlighting how dozens of local governments are spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money to hire lobbying firms. “At least five bills to ban the practice have been proposed in Harrisburg in the last 20 years,” the story notes, “but none have been enacted.”
Oversight committee met only once in four years
In 2019, Pa. House Republicans created the House Government Oversight Committee “to provide better legislative oversight on how tax dollars are spent and how state agencies operate.” But CBS21 reports that the committee has met only once in the past four years. And a spokesperson for Democrat House Speaker Joanna McClinton said, “no issue has arisen to date that would compel the committee to meet.” Umm. Come again? In four years, Democrats have seen virtually no need to make sure tax dollars are spent wisely?
3rd state lawmaker vies to replace U.S. Rep. Evans
Democrat state Rep. Morgan Cephas of Philadelphia has become the third Democrat lawmaker to enter the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans. The Inquirer reports that Cephas joins the “crowded 2026 Democratic primary field that includes her colleagues state Sen. Sharif Street and state Rep. Chris Rabb.” Non-lawmakers running for the Democrat nomination include physician Dave Oxman. Additionally, “former Philadelphia Health and Human Services director Ala Stanford is rumored to be considering a run.”