News & Brews January 29, 2026
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Pa. economy ‘struggling to compete’
The Commonwealth Foundation points out that despite Gov. Josh Shapiro’s claims that Pennsylvania’s economy is doing great, it’s actually not. “Unemployment continues to climb, and the labor participation rate fell from 62.7 percent in January 2024 to 61.6 percent in December 2025…. Pennsylvania continues to lose population to states with better tax and regulatory climates.” What’s more, “The American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) 2025 Rich States, Poor States places Pennsylvania 36th in Economic Outlook and 44th in Economic Performance.”
McCormick: Fiscal lessons from year one
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick writes in the Wall Street Journal, “My first year in the U.S. Senate gave me a crash course on how Washington works. It isn’t pretty.” He continues, “I arrived last year worried about the amount of money Congress spends…. From 2019 to 2024, Medicaid spending jumped 51%, from $409.4 billion to $617.5 billion, now making up 9% of the federal budget. You might assume that increase covered new people getting Medicaid. It didn’t. Enrollment grew by roughly 13%—one-fourth as quickly as spending…. When I was a CEO, if I was faced with the prospect of bankruptcy and told my board that I had no plan to scale back spending or change strategy, I would have been fired on the spot. One year into the job as a senator, I’m starting to think that same principle should apply to elected officials.”
Shapiro’s choice during school choice week
This week is National School Choice Week, and GOP state Rep. Martina White (Philadelphia) issued a statement saying this “would be a perfect time for Gov. Josh Shapiro to confirm Pennsylvania’s participation in a new, federal tax credit program.” Thus far, Shapiro has balked at giving a straight answer on whether he will opt Pennsylvania into the new school choice program. If he does not, he will be blocking Pennsylvania children from benefiting from a new educational opportunity that’s readily available to them. Relatedly, last week, White and Pa. House Republican Policy Committee Chair David Rowe hosted a hearing on school choice. You can watch the video here.
GOP lawmaker stepping down
Republican state Rep. Seth Grove (York County), who had already announced he will not seek re-election this year, has decided to step down at the end of this month. Several Democrat lawmakers had taken issue with Grove’s new position as CEO of the Pennsylvania Concrete and Aggregates Association, arguing he shouldn’t hold both positions at once. Of course, Democrat House Majority Leader Matt Bradford holds a position at a pay-to-play law firm that enjoys government contracts, and Democrat Rep. Ben Waxman has a stake in the Bucks County Beacon, a media outlet that reports on (among other things), Ben Waxman. And Dems are just fine with it. When asked if his resignation was related to Democrats’ apoplexy, Grove responded, “Nope. Just done.”
Fetterman won’t support gov’t shutdown over ICE
While criticizing ICE operations in Minneapolis, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is breaking from fellow Dems by refusing to support a government shutdown over the issue. Currently, six funding bills are pending before the Senate, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE. Democrats are willing to block all six and partially shutdown the government over their ICE opposition, but not Fetterman. “I will never vote to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department,” he said. Defense appropriations is one of the six bills pending.