News & Brews April 20, 2026
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National Republicans look to flip Pa. House
The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which focuses on electing Republicans to state legislatures, recognized in a memo last week that this year “is likely to be one of the most challenging for state Republicans in recent years.” Still, RSLC has set its sights on flipping the Pa. House back to Republican control. The memo notes, “Republicans must focus on reclaiming the [Pennsylvania] state House which currently stands at a 102-101 advantage for Democrats while holding our state Senate majority. This remains one of the most competitive and consequential split-legislature environments in the country.” Additionally, RSLC warns that if Democrats keep the House and governor’s office and flip the Senate, this “would give them unilateral authority to redraw Pennsylvania’s congressional maps and tilt the delegation toward Democrats for years to come.”
Shakeup at the Pa. Human Relations Commission
The state agency charged with investigating complaints under the state human relations act is under investigation itself. Per Gov. Shapiro’s office, “The Office of Administration is currently conducting a review of (PHRC) agency purchases. As a result, some procurement methods, including purchasing cards, have been temporarily suspended.” The statement follows a letter to Shapiro in which the PHRC executive director said he will step down. Per the director, “This decision has not come lightly as the events of February 23rd in which I was requested by your office to resign within two weeks without a conversation with me, or ‘due process’ left me deeply hurt.” The director’s departure follows other departures at the agency.
Insurance yanked for counties cooperating with ICE
The Post-Gazette reports, “Beginning in June, Pennsylvania counties that have partnered with the federal government to assist in its immigration enforcement efforts will no longer be covered by their current liability insurance if lawsuits arise from involvement in ICE operations.” The decision, by the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP), “ends coverage for counties that perform proactive immigration enforcement duties, including conducting investigations or making arrests.” And it means that counties that allow local law enforcement to partner with ICE “will have to buy additional insurance coverage on top of their PCoRP coverage.”
Op-Ed: Data revisions signal bad news for Pittsburgh
The PNC Financial Services Group Vice-President and Chief Economist Gus Faucher writes in the Post-Gazette, “In the past month the federal government has revised historical data on two important indicators for the Pittsburgh-area economy, and the news is not good.” First, previous employment “data indicated that local employment in late 2025 had surpassed its pre-recession level; after revisions that is no longer the case.” Second, “what was initially reported as a slight increase in local population in 2024 was instead a small decline, with another drop in population last year. Taken together, these revisions show the challenges that the Pittsburgh economy faces.”
The new Post-Gazette could be much smaller
Everyone was all smiles with the initial announcement that the Post-Gazette would remain open after being purchased by the non-profit, Democrat-aligned Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. But it looks like a financial crisis is a financial crisis no matter who owns it, and the new owners have “confirmed that steep staffing cuts … are incoming.” It also remains to be seen whether the current union—which was on strike for three years—will remain the paper’s union. WESA reports, “Whether the union remains the official bargaining representative of the new workforce depends on whether the majority of staff retained by new ownership are members of the bargaining unit.”