News & Brews September 29, 2025
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Taxpayers fund Shapiro admin trip to Ireland
Spotlight PA reports that as the budget impasse drags on, members of the Shapiro administration are on a taxpayer-funded trip to Ireland. “Privately, the Shapiro administration told staff this week to avoid all unnecessary travel due to the budget impasse….” But the admin also told cabinet members not to cancel existing trips “if doing so would incur fees or other additional costs.” (It’s unclear how canceling a trip to Ireland costs more than traveling to Ireland.) Among other things, the officials attended the Steelers v. Vikings game, courtesy of Team PA, whose donors the administration refuses to reveal. Meanwhile, several lawmakers who also traveled to Ireland paid for their own expenses.
Shapiro called out by Citizens against Gov’t Waste
Citizens against Government Waste has awarded Gov. Josh Shapiro the unfortunate title of “Porker of the Month” for September 2025. In its announcement, CAGW notes, “Gov. Shapiro wants new spending that would increase the 2026 budget deficit in Pennsylvania by billions of dollars. To help pay for his spending spree, Gov. Shapiro wants to raid the state’s Rainy-Day Fund. His plan would also force local school districts to raise instead of lower property taxes. Pennsylvania is in a three-month-long budget impasse because of Gov. Shapiro’s demands, which are disrupting public services and leaving taxpayers in limbo.”
Philly Register of Wills had ‘hit list’ of employees?
The Inquirer reports that per a lawsuit the City of Philadelphia is settling, Register of Wills John Sabatina, Sr. “used a ‘hit list’ of targeted employees to make room for patronage hires.” A document revealed as part of the suit “sheds new light on the costly fallout that follows leadership changes in the register of wills office, a time-honored patronage den whose employees do not have the civil-service protections afforded other city workers.” And one note on a spreadsheet of employees states, “We have enough immediate terminations to allow us several hires in the next two weeks.”
UPenn creates transportation think tank
The University of Pennsylvania recently announced the creation of the Richards Transportation Initiative at Penn (R-TRIP), which will be a “hub for research, innovation, and real-world solutions in transportation.” Heading R-TRIP will be former SEPTA General Manager Leslie Richards. And R-TRIP’s founding sponsors include “Google Public Sector, AtkinsRéalis, Bentley Systems, HNTB, INRIX, STV, WSP, 4M Analytics and Slalom,” per a news release. The announcement comes as SEPTA still hasn’t figured out how to manage its own finances and keeps begging for more taxpayer money every year.
33 Pa. counties will hold sheriff elections in Nov.
On Nov. 4, sheriff’s offices in 33 Pennsylvania counties will be on the ballot. Spotlight PA has a short primer on these elections: Which counties will hold them? What’s the role of county sheriffs? What training do they receive? And more.