News & Brews October 2, 2026
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The ‘fight for state political power heats up’
The AP reports, “Political power in legislatures and governors’ offices is at stake in the November elections in more than one-third of the states,” and “Outside groups aligned with the two major parties have pledged heavy spending in a battle for control of closely divided legislatures in at least a half-dozen states.” Of course, this includes Pennsylvania, where Democrats hope to gain a governing trifecta.
The implications go far beyond this one election. “If Democrats are able to win full control in Minnesota, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, they could use their new trifectas to redraw U.S. House districts ahead of the 2028 elections. … Republicans currently hold 20 of the 33 total congressional seats in those three northern states. So Democrats could make notable gains if they redraw districts to their advantage.”
‘All eyes on Pa.’ amid tax credit scholarship rules
Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury released its long-awaited final guidelines on the new federal tax credit scholarship program. Pennsylvania students can benefit from the program only if Gov. Josh Shapiro opts the state in, but he’s been balking at making a decision, supposedly waiting for the final rules (even though dozens of other states have already opted in). Now that the guidelines are here, Shapiro has no excuse left not to opt Pennsylvania in so families can benefit from this educational opportunity.
Fetterman & McCormick want to regulate AI
The Center Square summarizes a joint op-ed U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick wrote in The Free Press on their ideas to regulate AI. One very DSA-sounding perspective is their proposal to redistribute wealth generated from AI. “All Americans should have an ownership stake in the financial windfall of AI, not just the select few at the top of the socioeconomic ladder.” The story continues, “The two senators made the case that these projects are creating good-paying jobs and are increasing tax revenue that supports schools, policing, and infrastructure. However, they also said communities and companies ‘should form a covenant’ to ensure these data centers are ‘built the right way.’”
The challenges of Pa.’s rapidly aging population
City & State PA reports, “While populations across the nation and most of the world are skewing older, Pennsylvania is currently among America’s fastest-aging states. By 2030, 1 in 3 Pennsylvanians will be over 60; the fastest-growing demographic is people over 65, up 13% just since 2020, with the over-80 subset increasing particularly fast. Meanwhile, the proportion of children and younger, working-age adults has been steadily declining… The result: Pennsylvania’s overall population – which after years of slow growth recently stalled around 13 million – is projected to slowly decline.”
What might this mean for our education and health systems? The story offers some opinions. Here’s one that we like: “[N]ot every problem needs to be solved with dollars. Sometimes it needs to be. But other times, we need to roll up our sleeves and think differently.”
Pa. Supreme Court upholds SEPTA special prosecutor
The state Supreme Court unanimously ruled yesterday that the state law creating a special prosecutor to pursue SEPTA crimes is, indeed, constitutional. The Inquirer reports, “All seven justices rejected District Attorney Larry Krasner’s argument that the law unconstitutionally strips the authority of an elected district attorney by granting jurisdictions to crime ‘within’ SEPTA to a special prosecutor appointed by the Pennsylvania attorney general.” The ruling comes as “[t]he law that authorized the role is set to expire at the end of the year, and while Harrisburg lawmakers set aside $1.2 million for the special prosecutor’s operations next year, they have not yet agreed on extending the measure.”
