News & Brews July 8, 2026
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Josh Shapiro is still going after nuns
For nearly a decade, Josh Shapiro has been harassing the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of nuns that cares for the elderly poor. Shapiro has dragged the nuns to court, seeking to force them to provide contraception coverage, which violates their religious beliefs. Yesterday, the nuns were back in court, this time before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals continuing to fight for their religious freedom as Shapiro continues to attack it. Read more on the case background here.
What would Dem trifecta mean for elections?
Votebeat reports that if Democrats succeed in gaining a trifecta this November, they would implement voting and election changes including “pre-canvassing, drop boxes, electronic pollbooks, preregistering voters who will be 18 by Election Day, early voting, and same-day voter registration.” And how about mid-decade gerrymandering? Oh wait, they already did that last decade.
Your annual turnpike toll hike is coming
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission unanimously approved a 3.5% toll hike, set to go into effect in January. The Post-Gazette tells us that this is the lowest hike since 2014. But really, that’s no consolation as the Pa. Turnpike has been ranked the most expensive toll road in the world. And driving the length of the road will cost you more than $150 without EZ Pass. Of course, this is also maddening given the fact that the reason tolls continue to climb goes back to power, patronage, and politics.
Here’s a map of Pa.’s data center boom
As the issue of data centers has become a flashpoint in Pennsylvania, PennLive reports that the “data center development boom … [is] in full force in the Commonwealth now, with dozens of large-scale projects either being built, undergoing planning reviews by local governments or vying for choice locations.” Here’s an interactive map of the largest data center projects across the state.
There’s still no state budget
It’s not blanketing the headlines, but Pennsylvania is still in the midst of a budget impasse, as we’re now eight days past the June 30 deadline. And it looks like we’re one of just three states—the others being Massachusetts and South Carolina—with a late budget and the only one without some sort of interim spending plan in place. Capitolwire reports, “Pennsylvania has no budget or stopgap budget in place. Massachusetts operates under an interim budget and South Carolina passed a continuing resolution while budget negotiations continue.”