News & Brews October 8, 2025
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Pa. budget impasse hits 100 days
Despite Gov. Shapiro predicting back on June 30 that a state budget agreement would come “very soon,” Pennsylvania is now 100 days into a budget impasse. Within those 100 days, Shapiro has traveled to Canada, appeared on the Stephen Colbert show, and gone on Meet the Press. But he hasn’t managed to demonstrate any leadership in bringing lawmakers together to get stuff done. Meanwhile, the latest news looks at the impact Shapiro’s impasse is having on Pa. college students, whose financial aid is delayed.
Pa. House again votes for taxpayer-funded strikes
Yesterday, the Democrat controlled state House voted 106-97 to give taxpayer-funded unemployment benefits to striking workers. All Democrats and four Republicans supported the bill, which is identical to a bill the House passed two years ago. The Tribune-Review reports, “The bill stands no more chance of making it to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk this time around, given that the Republican-majority state Senate has shown no interest in the matter.” Well, thank heavens for that! As the Commonwealth Foundation explained two years ago, this legislation is “effectively forcing taxpayers to fund strikes. Unemployment compensation is intended for workers who lose their jobs involuntarily and is paid for by a payroll tax on employees and employers.” What’s more, the bill “incentivizes labor strikes by mandating that taxpayers cover their cost.”
Pa. Senate holds AI hearing
On Monday, the Pa. Senate Education Committee and the Pa. Senate Communications and Technology Committee held a joint hearing on “the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom and how schools are adapting programs to prepare students for changing workforce demands.” Among the testifiers was Lauren Holubec, executive director of the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association. She explained that over the next 10 years, up to 60% of jobs will be impacted by AI, and “the coming impact won’t be limited to high-tech roles but will reach nearly every sector. Among other steps, Pennsylvania will need to retrain displaced workers.
O’Connor, Moreno face off in PGH mayoral debate
Democrat Corey O’Connor and Republican Tony Moreno faced off yesterday in their first head-to-head debate before next month’s Pittsburgh mayor’s election. The Post-Gazette reports, “Throughout the debate, Mr. Moreno, a retired police officer, criticized Mr. O’Connor’s record from his 11 years on Pittsburgh City Council,” including accusing him of defunding the police. Meanwhile, “Mr. O’Connor said the difference in the candidates in this election was that he would be ready to go day one, while Mr. Moreno was ‘going to go back and talk falsely on somebody else’s record.’”
Pa. state university system enrollment up for 1st time in >10 years
The Post-Gazette reports that enrollment in the Pennsylvania state university system increased 0.6% in 2025, marking the first increase in more than a decade. Overall enrollment of more than 83,000 still remains significantly lower than 2015, when it stood at more than 107,000. Retention in the fall of 2025 was “also at 81%, its highest level on record, and community college transfers grew more than 14%.” Still, “All of this comes as colleges across the Northeast brace for an enrollment cliff tied to declining birth rates that is slated to start next year. By 2041, the share of high school graduates is expected to drop 13% nationwide, and 17% in Pennsylvania.”