News & Brews March 27, 2026
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Pa. high court rules on mandatory life sentences
Spotlight PA reports that “the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has struck down mandatory life sentences for people convicted of felony murder, a watershed moment in the history of the state’s centuries-old justice system that will lead to one of the largest resentencing undertakings in United States history.” Felony murder can include things like being the getaway driver where a murder was committed. “The outcome could fundamentally change the lives of more than 1,000 people currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.” Gov. Shapiro, who just recently stayed the execution of a convicted serial killer, praised the ruling.
Automatic voter registration, 2.5 years later
Votebeat reports that since Gov. Shapiro instituted automatic voter registration (AVR) in Pennsylvania in late 2023, more than 350,000 individuals have registered to vote through the program available at PennDOT facilities. This is compared to about 230,000 during a comparable period at PennDOT before AVR was instituted. But an “analysis found that these new voters are less likely to actually vote than their counterparts who registered by other means.”
Pa. ranks 36th in highways
Gov. Shapiro may be “sick and tired of losing to friggin’ Ohio,” but we just lost to Ohio, again. The 29th Annual Highway Report from the Reason Foundation ranks Pennsylvania 36th in the “best-performing, most cost-effective roads and bridges.” (Ohio is 5th.) The report considers 13 categories, including traffic fatalities, pavement conditions, congestion, deficient bridges, and spending.
2027 restart date for TMI ‘remains the goal’
PennLive reports, “A Constellation executive told an energy industry conference Thursday his firm still does not have a green light to send power from a reopened Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear power station to the grid next year.” And “PJM Interconnection’s latest analysis suggests the way may not be clear … until 2031.” But Constellation officials’ position is that “a summer 2027 restart for the plant remains the goal and expectation.”
Op-Ed: Shapiro’s $7B problem
Commonwealth Foundation Chief Policy Officer Nathan Benefield writes in the Pottstown Mercury that “Gov. Josh Shapiro wants Pennsylvanians to believe that he is delivering affordability. But his unaffordable budget tells a different story.” Indeed, “the governor’s $53 billion spending plan will result in a nearly $7 billion deficit.” And, “To mask its deficit spending, the Shapiro administration relies on disingenuous projections,” such as taxing recreational marijuana, which isn’t even legal in Pennsylvania. (I mean, sure, I’d like to project that I’ll earn money off my tomato garden—but I don’t have one.)