News & Brews July 14, 2026
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Pa. spends $60M per year to run legislature
In a budget of more than $50 billion, $60 million might not sound like a lot, but PennLive reports that’s the amount the state legislature spends per year “on operational expenses including utilities, food, office rent and lodging for lawmakers and staff.” But “each year, [lawmakers] allot more than they spend,” and “the General Assembly receives new funding every year while unspent money rolls into a reserve instead of reverting to the state’s general fund. Leaders can then spend those funds with little oversight.”
State budget ‘pushes billions off books’
The Centers Square reports, “As many Republican lawmakers congratulate themselves for successfully passing the budget without dipping into the state’s so-called Rainy Day Fund, Rep. Russ Diamond is one of 35 dissenting voters in the House who believe that the numbers were merely manipulated to look responsible.” Per Diamond, the budget “spends way more than the numbers that are being advertised. A couple of accounting tricks pushed $2.6 billion off the books.” One of these “tricks” was “delaying the payment of $1.3 billion to Medicaid providers otherwise known as a ‘Medicaid roll.’ While keeping the books balanced for now, providers will eventually have to be paid back along with interest, Diamond said.”
Stelson raises nearly $2M in Q2
Democrat Janelle Stelson, who again is seeking to unseat incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, raised almost $2 million in the second quarter of 2026 and ended the quarter with almost $4.5 million cash on hand, per her campaign. The fundraising reports aren’t due until tomorrow, but Stelson’s campaign revealed the info ahead of time. The race is one of four seats in Pennsylvania that Democrats are targeting with oodles of cash.
School choice cuts target working-class families
GOP state Rep. Martina White (Philadelphia) writes in Broad + Liberty that Democrats’ efforts to limit tax credit scholarships would “narrow eligibility so many working- and middle-class families would no longer qualify…. Apparently, a family earning $250,000 deserves public support for college. But a working family earning less than half is considered too wealthy to receive less than $4,000 to help their child access a better K–12 education.” She writes that supporting educational opportunity for working-class families “shouldn’t be controversial.”
DeSantis to campaign for Garrity
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is heading to Pennsylvania today for a fundraising event with Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity, the Center Square reports. The luncheon event in Philly is described as a “fireside conversation on affordability and the future of freedom.” Garrity has praised DeSantis as “arguably, probably, if not the best, one of the best governors that we have had in modern history.”