News & Brews February 18, 2026
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Treasury questions if it can pay for Shapiro’s home upgrades
As Gov. Shapiro has undertaken a $1 million-plus security upgrade to his private Montgomery County home—payable in his view by taxpayers—Spotlight PA reports that the “Treasury Department is questioning whether state procurement rules permit public money to be used for construction work on a non-state-owned property like Shapiro’s house.” Records show that treasury employees have asked the state police questions including, “How does the location in question constitute being public real property? Please provide any policies or guidelines related to defining public property to include privately owned residences.” State police had recommended the security upgrades, but many have argued Shapiro should pay for them out of his own pocket as it’s his private residence.
Audit: Bills never sent for some affordable housing loans
The Center Square reports that an audit of the Pennsylvania Housing Financing Agency’s PennHOMES program revealed that “at least 24 loans given between 2022 and 2024 have not yet been billed for repayment, while it was unclear if the applicants behind some of the projects even had the money to do so.” The program is primarily federally funded, and “it was the first time since the 1980s that the agency underwent any kind of financial review.” (Read lawmakers’ response here.)
Tracking legislative retirements
So far, more than half a dozen sitting state lawmakers have announced they will not seek re-election this November, and an additional three are running for other seats without confirming that they’ll leave their current seat. This is according to Spotlight PA’s Legislative Retirement Tracker. Among the latest to announce is Republican Stephenie Scialabba, who was first elected in 2022. The Butler Eagle reports that Scialabba said she is leaving the legislature to care for her child.
The latest in the ongoing Suplizio trial
Remember in 2023 when former DuBois City Manager Herm Suplizio was federally indicted on charges of conspiracy and fraud—and later, in 2024, indicted on charges of theft and misappropriation of taxpayer funds? (This was after he unsuccessfully ran for state Senate.) Well, in the latest in his trial, a federal judge now wants his attorney to respond by March 20 to a potential conflict of interest. It appears one of the witnesses for the prosecution is represented in another case by Suplizio’s defense attorney.
Petition season is open!
Yesterday was the first day that candidates for office can circulate and file nominating petitions to get on the May 19 primary ballot. As ABC27 reports, “Candidates, campaign staff, and supporters will come door-to-door, set up on street corners, or elsewhere to ask the public to sign petitions.” The number of signatures required varies depending on the office sought. (True story: About 15-20 years ago, I had to get around 3 signatures to get on the ballot for local committee—and I was completely stressed knocking on three doors and loathed every minute of it. Even though I won that completely-uncontested-no-opponent race, that alone reaffirmed that I shall never run for public office.)