News & Brews December 12, 2025
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Should state pay for budget impasse costs?
The Post-Gazette reports that some county and school board interest groups would like the state to reimburse counties for money lost during the 135-day state budget impasse. “Losses for the 67 counties collectively are not known but may have been as high as ‘the tens of millions of dollars range’…. Allegheny County already has billed the state for more than $1 million in ‘lost investment income,’ a spokesperson said. School districts … don’t yet know their collective losses.” Meanwhile, it’s almost time for the 2026-2027 budget season to begin….sigh.
Ward: Shapiro may have ‘strong women’ problem
State Senate President Pro-Tempore Kim Ward posited in an interview with WPHT’s Dawn Stensland yesterday that Gov. Josh Shapiro may have a problem with strong women. “One thing that the governor doesn’t like, and that is to be challenged,” Ward said. “And he doesn’t want to be challenged by a woman.”Ward gave three examples. First, Shapiro’s recent “that’s complete and utter b***s****” reaction to hearing what Kamala Harris said about him in her book. Second, Shapiro saying “consider the source” when Ward challenged him. Third, Shapiro telling state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill that he “didn’t like her tone” when she questioned him in a hearing when he was attorney general. “I haven’t seen him snap at my male colleagues in that same kind of belittling manner,” Ward said. “He might have a … problem with strong women.”
Philly teachers join with alleged terror-tied group
The Washington Examiner reports that private messages obtained by the news outlet reveal that a group “of pro-Palestinian Philadelphia public school teachers is working closely with Students for Justice in Palestine, an activist group that has publicly praised Hamas and faces multiple congressional investigations over its alleged terrorism ties.” In a Signal chat from November, one teacher who helps lead Philadelphia Educators for Palestine wrote, “We are beginning talks about a collaborative teach-in with several local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, which will focus on connections between local Philly issues and the genocide/occupation in Palestine.” Here’s a thought: How about taxpayer-funded public school teachers make sure kids can read instead of teaching them to hate Jews?
Independents go to court over primary elections
It bears repeating that primary elections are party functions and, as such, participation is limited to party members. Independent voters are free to become party members and vote in Pennsylvania’s primary elections. But they don’t want that. Instead, they want to force political parties to allow non-members to vote in internal party elections. So, independents have gone to court (again?), claiming they’re being treated as second-class citizens—even though they are free to register with a party and vote in the party’s primary. A better option would be to stop using taxpayer funds for internal party elections. But that’s unlikely. So, here we are.
‘Vice grip of progressive primary voters’ on Dems
We all remember the Tea Party movement, in which the conservative wing of the Republican party started a wave that spread throughout the party. Well, Democrats are in the midst of a somewhat similar progressive wave in their own party. Writing in the Liberal Patriot, Ethics and Public Policy Center Senior Fellow Henry Olsen looks at the growing influence of far-left progressive voters in Democrat primaries. Then, he dives into the different mechanisms of how each party selects its nominees, explaining why for Democrats, this means even greater influence for progressives. (I admit my head was spinning a bit reading about the internal party workings.)