News & Brews October 21, 2025
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WSJ Op-Ed: ‘Pennsylvania has a big election, too’
Our president and CEO, Matt Brouillette, writes in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that Pennsylvania’s judicial retention elections this year could be the most significant elections in the country—more so even than the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races. However, how the justices are campaigning is cause for concern.
Pa. Supreme Court’s impact on rural communities
And speaking of the state Supreme Court, Spotlight PA summarizes several Supreme Court cases that particularly impact the state’s rural communities, “where agriculture is a main industry and public lands are plentiful.” The cases involve regulations, natural gas, agricultural operations, and more.
Pa. agency website displays partisan messages
ABC27 reports that the Pennsylvania “Department of Human Services is displaying partisan messages on its website blaming Republicans for the federal government shutdown.” One message reads, “Because Republicans in Washington D.C., failed to pass a federal budget, causing the federal government shutdown, November 2025 SNAP benefits cannot be paid.” (The federal government is doing something similar, albeit blaming Democrats.) Either way, both messages are questionable as they use taxpayer dollars for partisan purposes. As the Commonwealth Foundation’s Nate Benefield pointed out, however, “With their taxpayer-funded propaganda, Pa. bureaucrats expect readers to 1) Not realize that the filibuster exists, 2) Not realize that [U.S.] Senate Democrats are using the filibuster to shut down the government, and 3) Not realize Gov. Shapiro is encouraging that filibuster.”
‘No enemies on the Right’ is simply wrong
If you’re anything like me, you think the satirical Babylon Bee is a brilliant and hilarious website. (And if you’re not familiar with it, enjoy!) Well, the Bee’s CEO, Seth Dillon, who makes a career out of “mocking bad ideas,” writes in the Free Press that there’s a danger when conservatives will criticize the Left’s bad ideas but refuse to criticize their own for fear of ceding “unity.” Dillon writes, “The principles that make conservatism worth defending—individual liberty, constitutional governance, objective truth—aren’t impediments to victory. They’re its only foundation. Abandoning our principles in pursuit of power is not a winning strategy; it’s a confession that we never really believed in them at all.”
Public hearing today on school cell phone policies
This morning at 10:00 a.m., the Pa. Senate Education Committee will hold a public hearing on cell phone policies in schools. Among those scheduled to testify are school superintendents, the president of the state’s largest teachers’ union, students, a parent and pediatrician, and more. You can see the full agenda and watch the live stream here.