News & Brews October 2, 2025
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
New Pa. poll: Here’s what voters think
A new Quinnipiac poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania shows Gov. Josh Shapiro with a 60% job approval rating, his highest by one percentage point since Quinnipiac began asking the question in 2023. Shapiro’s disapproval rating also hit a high (again by one percentage point) of 28%. Voters are divided in their view of how Sen. Dave McCormick is doing, “with 39 percent approving, 35 percent disapproving, and 26 percent not offering an opinion.” Meanwhile, on U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, “Republicans 62 – 21 percent approve of the way Fetterman is handling his job, while Democrats 54 – 33 percent disapprove. Independents are evenly split, with 43 percent approving and 43 percent disapproving.”
Pa. House passes 1 gun bill; 2 others fail
A handful of Pa. House Republicans joined nearly all Democrats (save a handful) in voting 104-99 for legislation that would implement universal background checks for any kind of gun in Pa. Meanwhile, two other pieces of gun legislation failed by one vote each, with Democrat Rep. Frank Burns joining all Republicans in opposing bills that would create a red flag law so courts could temporarily ban people considered a risk from having guns and would ban ghost guns.
AG Sunday joins investigation into Big Tech environmental claims
The Delaware Valley Journal reports that “Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday joined other Republican state attorneys general to investigate big tech companies regarding their allegedly deceptive claims that they are powered in large part by renewable energy.” Specifically, the group “sent a letter to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta … [saying] the companies’ claims about purchased certificates to offset emissions are deceptive for consumers because purchasing credits does not reduce their own or any emissions.” The group is “also concerned that these tech giants are pressuring utilities to move away from fossil fuels to less reliable renewable sources, which would destabilize the power grids across America.”
Top Shapiro staffer takes role at Pa. Dem Party
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s executive deputy chief of staff, Larry Hailsham Jr., has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. Hailsham previously worked on Shapiro’s 2022 campaign before taking a post in his administration. And, of course, since Shapiro has been campaigning perpetually since taking office—using his $3M taxpayer-funded staff as a continuous PR machine—we’re not sure how Hailsham’s role with the Dem Party will be substantively different in its goal of promoting Shapiro than his role as Shapiro’s deputy chief of staff. Except now, taxpayers won’t be funding the position.
State database deems innocent Pennsylvanians guilty
If you’ve ever dealt with so-called child protective services, you know they can often abuse families even when families are doing nothing to harm children. Well, Spotlight PA reports that in Pennsylvania, even being suspected of abuse (or of things that are nowhere near abuse but the state doesn’t like) can land you on a database of “people convicted and suspected of child abuse and neglect.” For example, one mother landed on the list—and lost her job as a result—because she didn’t take her son for a recommended dental procedure. Now, two lawmakers are seeking to change the system.