News & Brews January 14, 2026
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Lawmakers push Shapiro to opt into school choice program
Yesterday, Pa. House Education Committee Chair Bryan Cutler (Lancaster County) and fellow GOP committee members sent a letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro, “asking him to opt Pennsylvania into a new upcoming federal tax credit program that allows for individual taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 for contributions to scholarship granting organizations.” In order for Pennsylvania children to benefit from the program, the state must proactively opt in. In December, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis became the first Democrat governor to opt his state in. Several Republican governors have done the same. Shapiro has pretended to support school choice for years, but his repeated action (and inactions) belie his words. And virtually no one believes him anymore.
U-Haul’s election lesson
In light of the recent U-Haul report showing people are fleeing Pennsylvania, our president and CEO Matt Brouillette writes in RealClear Pennsylvania that “people are voting with their feet against Pennsylvania and other purple and blue states that have become inhospitable to live, work, and raise a family.” The only reason we aren’t as bad as California, New York, and Illinois—among the worst states in terms of outmigration—is that the Republican state Senate has blocked terrible Democrat policies. But if Democrats gain a Senate majority—and a trifecta of controlling House, Senate, and governor’s office—this will change. “And the threat is very real.”
‘Data center moratoriums are new fracking ban’
Here’s an interesting Wall Street Journal op-ed in which Peter Huntsman, chairman and CEO of Huntsman Corp., a petrochemical manufacturer, argues, “Data center moratoriums are the new fracking bans. Environmental nonprofits are deploying the same playbook against data centers that they have used against oil, gas, nuclear and chemical companies over the past decade, and many business leaders are again tempted to stay silent.” Yet, “Trying to stop data center construction while expecting continued economic growth is no different from trying to stop oil, gas and nuclear production while expecting reliable, affordable electricity.” Huntsman calls on his fellow business leaders to, this time, speak up.
Longtime Pa. House member will not seek re-election
GOP state Rep. Sheryl Delozier (Cumberland County), who was first elected in 2008 and won each of her last two re-elections 55% to 45%, announced yesterday that she will not run for re-election this November. Unlike many retirement announcements, which coincide with the outgoing member endorsing a successor (often a staffer), Delozier is opting not to endorse right now, saying, “You know, there’s a lot of really great people in the 88th District. And I have full confidence that this seat will be in good hands.”
PGH-area union loses forced-membership fight
Teamsters Local 585 in the Pittsburgh area is facing possible prosecution after it “violated federal labor law by effectively telling [an employee that he] would get …. fired if he did not join” the union. The case stems from Josh Hammaker, a driver for ABARTA Coca-Cola’s Houston, PA, distribution center, who filed charges after “union officials and his employer threatened to fire him for refusing to join the union.” The National Right to Work Foundation explains, “Under the National Labor Relations Act and Supreme Court cases like General Motors v. NLRB, neither union officials nor employers can require workers to maintain formal union membership as a condition of getting or keeping a job…. As part of the settlement, ABARTA officials must post notices at Hammaker’s workplace stating that they “will not tell employees that we will discharge them if they do not sign and submit applications to join the Union….” Score another one for workers’ rights.