News & Brews April 23, 2026
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Pa. unions spend big on politics
A new analysis from the Commonwealth Foundation shows that Pa. public and private sector unions spent $22.4 million on politics and political activity last year. And when it comes to public sector union political spending, 91% of candidate donations went to Democrats. Outside of last year’s judicial retention elections, the top individual recipients of union political money included Gov. Josh Shapiro, Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker, Pa. House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, and both the House Majority and Senate Minority Appropriations Chairs.
Trump, Shapiro, McCormick applaud coal plant continuation
The Center Square reports that President Trump, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, and Gov. Shapiro are all applauding the decision to keep a pair of coal-fired power plants in western Pennsylvania operational for a few more years. “The Keystone and Conemaugh Generating Stations were previously scheduled to cease operations on Dec. 31, 2028. However, the [decision] would allow the plants to continue operating through 2032 due to upgraded wastewater treatment equipment at both plants.” Far-left environmental groups, not surprisingly, were none too happy, with one saying the decision “casts a dark shadow over Earth Day 2026.” (No hyperbole here….)
Pew releases Philly State of the City report
Pew Charitable Trusts has released its 2026 State of the City report for Philadelphia. And while the report points to “notable progress that the city has made on many of the most challenging issues facing its residents, including reductions in homicides and shootings, overdose deaths, and the poverty rate,” it adds that “there are also troubling signs, including stagnating educational attainment, median income, and population.”
PGH schools consider strengthening parental opt-out policy
WESA reports that in light of the Supreme Court ruling “that schools cannot deny parents the ability to opt out of lessons that include LGBTQ characters or themes,” the Pittsburgh school district is considering a policy amendment that “would more precisely spell out that right, and require the district to notify parents about the option to opt out annually.” Specifically, under the proposed change, “school staff would be required to ‘provide reasonable and realistic advance notice to parents/guardians when instruction is planned that may conflict with sincerely held religious beliefs.’” Not surprisingly, not everyone is on board with these increased parental rights protections. And the school board president “questioned how the district would gauge whether a family’s religious beliefs are sincere.” Because somehow, school districts are now the arbiters of “sincerity.” Nonsense like this is why we need school choice.
Judge halts Dems’ gerrymandering effort, appeal coming
As expected, the legal battles over Virginia Democrats open gerrymandering effort are in full force. Yesterday, a circuit court judge ruled that the redistricting “referendum violated several clauses of the state constitution, arguing it skirted a 90-day public notice requirement and calling the question that was presented to voters ‘flagrantly misleading.’” The state’s Democrat attorney general is appealing the ruling. The same judge had previously ruled “that the constitutional amendment was illegal when it was passed by the state General Assembly. The state Supreme Court [then] ruled that this week’s vote could move forward, but did not rule on the underlying legal issues.”