News & Brews October 1, 2025
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‘Mounting damage’ as Pa. starts 4th month of budget impasse
Pennsylvania’s state budget was due June 30, and there’s still no budget in sight. Now, the AP reports, “Pennsylvania’s counties, school districts and social service agencies are warning of mounting layoffs, borrowing costs and damage to the state’s safety net….” For his part, Gov. Shapiro continues to blame the GOP-controlled state Senate, despite his claim on the campaign trail that he’s able to bring all parties to the table to get stuff done. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have no appetite for Shapiro’s plan to spend billions of dollars more than taxpayers have—while expecting taxpayers to somehow come up with the money.
How gov’t shutdown impacts Pa.’s federal workers
And speaking of budget gridlocks, the federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. this morning due to one. The Inquirer reports on how this impacts Pennsylvania’s 100,000-plus federal workers. In short, while most will be furloughed, some doing what’s deemed “emergency work involving the safety of human life or the protection of property” will continue working. Both U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick voted to keep the government open, with Fetterman one of a couple Dems to break rank to do so.
Philly BIA leader resigns after anti-Israel speech
The Inquirer reports, “Real estate developer Mohamed ‘Mo’ Rushdy resigned from the leadership of Philadelphia’s influential Building Industry Association (BIA) on Tuesday, less than two weeks after he gave a speech before City Council condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.” In his speech, Rushdy blamed Israel for the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. The speech naturally did not sit well with BIA members and leaders. Taking over the BIA helm will be Post Brothers Vice President of Development Sarina Rose. (Notably, a decade ago Rose was instrumental in closing a loophole in Pa. law that allowed unions to stalk, harass, and threaten to use weapons of mass destruction with impunity as long as they were involved in a labor dispute.)
Pipeline expansion needed for energy dominance
The Center Square reports on the recent Shale Insight 2025 conference, which took place last month in Erie and was hosted by the Marcellus Shale Coalition. “Pipeline expansion across the Appalachian Basin holds the key to solving the nation’s energy crisis, according to industry experts, though state policies and regulatory hurdles continue to restrain development,” the story notes. This was one of several topics of discussion at the conference, which brought together industry leaders as well as policymakers. “Participants widely agreed that natural gas is the cornerstone of U.S. energy, while highlighting overlapping concerns over grid reliability, affordability, and infrastructure bottlenecks.”
Shapiro’s partisan attacks belie his calls for civility
The Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield writes in PennLive that while Gov. Josh Shapiro has “hit the mark” verbally in encouraging folks to think about the words they use and avoid the “rhetoric of rage,” unfortunately his calls for civility can ring hollow given his own rhetoric. For example, he’s called Republicans “profoundly and pathetically weak people.” And he cozies up for photo-ops with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who calls her opponents who support school choice “fascists.” Nate concludes, “Gov. Shapiro is a good man whom I disagree with on most issues. And I would gladly debate him, civilly, pointing out when he gets it right and when he gets it wrong. But he needs to hold himself and those in his party accountable for their own inflammatory rhetoric and avoid treating the other party like enemies.”