As natural gas production expands in other states, Pennsylvania’s has flatlined and seen productivity declines. Industry leaders blame permitting issues and other roadblocks, while environmentalists say the economic outlook for gas has weakened and nature benefits. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support
A redundant permitting process, delays, and problems with getting plugged into the grid means headaches are routine for new power projects. For one renewable hydroelectric plant, the process has driven up the cost of the project by 30% — if not more. A plan to build seven turbine-generators at the Braddock Locks and Dam outside Pittsburgh to produce 5.25 megawatts of electricity, as The Center Square previously reported , has had years of delays. State officials have noted that the delays have r...
Both chambers of the General Assembly officially left Harrisburg for the summer — an ominous sign that the bipartisan wound won’t heal anytime soon. The development comes nearly two weeks after the Senate recessed until mid-September, furious over Gov. Josh Shapiro’s default on a $45.5 billion budget deal — complete with a new $100 million school choice program he helped draft — amid resistance from Democratic leadership in the House. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show...
Pennsylvania officials will soon have a five-year action plan for how to build out universal broadband service across the state. As federal funds roll out nationally, however, demand for labor will be high and could make the task harder. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support
Pennsylvania’s legislators have one of the highest salaries in the nation, and generous reimbursement rules for expenses can send more taxpayer money into their pockets. A proposed bill could change those rules, however, limiting the checks to cover only costs that lawmakers actually paid. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support
Pennsylvania ranks high among the list of states reporting a rise in deaths from an animal tranquilizer that’s immune to existing overdose-reversing medications. Xylazine, also called Tranq, killed 102 people in 2018, according to federal data. That figure increased 35-fold just three years later. For the states in CDC’s Region 3 – Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington D.C. – the overdose rate is nearly quadruple the national average. Support this podcast: http...
The governor’s vow to veto funding for a new school choice scholarship program and end the budget impasse may prove ineffective after all. Thanks to the complexities of the legislative process, the state’s annual spending plan requires multiple enabling pieces of legislation – commonly referred to as “code bills” — to become effective. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will soon see a new commissioner focused on fare collection and reducing how much tolls increase annually. Keith Leaphart, a physician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, received a unanimous and favorable recommendation from the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday for the Turnpike Commissioner position. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
After multiple hearings, Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt's nomination cleared his first legislative hurdle. On Monday, the Senate State Government Committee voted 10-1 to recommend Schmidt’s nomination. Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, was the only member to vote against Schmidt, who had appeared before the committee twice earlier this month. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
Lifeline scholarships in Pennsylvania just got a celebrity endorsement, according to a letter sent to the governor’s administration Thursday. Meek Mill – a rapper, activist, and Philadelphia native – is one of the lead signatories on a letter sent to Gov. Josh Shapiro, two of his cabinet members, and the General Assembly that says the Lifeline Scholarship program will free students trapped in “failing” schools, irrespective “of their family’s socioeconomic status or their zip code.” Support this...
As solar capacity in Pennsylvania grows rapidly – accounting for more than half of the state's proposed energy projects – so do questions about how maintenance costs for the power grid should be distributed. During a public hearing hosted by the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee on Tuesday, experts tussled over whether legal favoritism for solar projects – combined with overreliance on traditional power sources – may leave some ratepayers footing more of the bill fo...
The Senate introduced a proposal for lifeline scholarships Thursday without fanfare, despite the policy’s high ranking on Republicans’ legislative priority list. Senate Bill 795 would create spending-restricted accounts for students living in low-performing districts to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, and other educational expenses. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
In some schools across the state, students walk the same halls that children of Civil War soldiers once did – a fact lawmakers find shameful, not venerable. House Education Committee Chairman Peter Schweyer, D-Allentown, represents one such school in his district: Harrison-Morton Middle School, built in 1874, and on track to graduate its 150th class next year. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
The state House approved a boosted phone surcharge for 911 services, even though the proposal’s tie to inflation sparked division among lawmakers who all agree the state’s emergency services system needs more money. House Bill 1304 increases the monthly fee assessed on phone bills from $1.65 to $1.97, to adjust every year after with the consumer price index until the provision sunsets in 2029. Doing so would generate an additional $30.4 million for the state’s emergency services fund in 2024, ac...
The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a law last year to curtail dirt bikes and ATVs from use in cities across the state, but not all localities are happy with it. In Philadelphia, the regulations cause problems for a pre-existing local ordinance. Before the state law passed, Philadelphia’s off-road vehicle law had stronger provisions, but that has now been superseded by the legislature. One way to find a compromise would be to exempt the city and let it reimplement its more-stringent law — a...
Tax credits for workers and families advanced to the Pennsylvania House floor this week, setting the stage for a partisan showdown over the ballooning cost of incentive programs moving through the chamber. Lawmakers clashed over two bills – one to create an earned income tax and another to expand the state’s existing child care tax credit – in the House Finance Committee on Tuesday. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
Unexpected revenues woven into a new budget proposal on Monday pads Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desired bottom line, though by how much remains a point of controversy among lawmakers. The plan increases public education spending by $491 million and splits $450 million between two restricted accounts reserved for school facilities modernization and whole home repairs. There’s also cuts to certain government operations, conservation programs and some services for schools, health care, and public assistanc...
No EMS-related hearing in the General Assembly is complete without legislators and testifiers sounding the alarm over a system in crisis. At a Senate Health and Human Services hearing on Tuesday, these warnings and more echoed in the Capitol. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support
Pennsylvania’s emergency services face a serious financial crisis — and a dire situation to recruit first responders and ensure their health. The state’s inaction, combined with mounting demands, leaves firefighters frustrated. Emergency workers scale back their voluntary commitments or quit for easier jobs with higher pay. Many of them suffer from PTSD and health problems. Suicide rates eclipse the generation population. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania...
Voters in Philadelphia ranked crime as a top concern heading into the May primary election. Democrats, who have a strong majority in the city, even chose former City Councilwoman Cherelle Parker, who campaigned on public safety. Whether Parker, who rode to victory on the support of the city’s political establishment, can align her policies with voter preferences, however, remains to be seen. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
Two controversial gun bills cleared the state House on Monday with bipartisan support, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get anywhere near the governor’s desk any time soon. That’s because, despite Democrats’ slim margin in the lower chamber, Republicans still control the Senate by six votes – and they believe stricter laws, including universal background checks and emergency protection orders, won’t solve the problems the proposals purport to fix. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, told...
Attracting businesses and encouraging entrepreneurs already in the area to grow the economy isn't the only issue holding back rural workforce growth. Other practical problems that pop up, from the pressures of family or a lack of infrastructure, can keep residents out of a job, state officials told the Senate Majority Policy Committee recently. “Bringing people into Pennsylvania and keeping them here, particularly in rural communities, is a challenge that we all need to address and think about,”...
The possible parameters for a state budget compromise emerged this week in a window across the street from the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg. The Commonwealth Foundation, a free market think tank headquartered just steps from the building’s grand rotunda, unveiled signage for its “Shapiro’s Promises” campaign – in reference to Josh Shapiro’s overtures for bipartisan cooperation during his first term as governor. By all appearances, negotiating his first spending plan – with a Republican-maj...
Researchers say they recently discovered a grim consequence of the pandemic: overdose death rates climbed dramatically. The United States saw overdose fatalities increase 50%, with 107,000 people dying in 2021. The biggest spikes happened among American Indian and Native Americans and black Americans. Among adolescents, overdoses more than doubled. Federal regulatory changes during the pandemic, however, granted more flexibility that some health professionals and advocates want to keep in place ...
Democratic state officials, both current and former, sailed to victory in contested primaries across the state. Republicans, likewise, held the 108th state House district despite hope from Democrats to widen their narrow one-seat majority in the lower chamber. Meanwhile, the stage has been set for a November showdown for the open state Supreme Court seat. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
A revenue analysis estimates that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal for adult-use cannabis could bring in more than $250 million annually — but legalization advocates aren’t so enthusiastic. The concern is not about legalizing and regulating marijuana. Instead, it’s a worry that Pennsylvania will repeat the mistakes of high-tax states that have failed to move people from the illegal market into a regulated one. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus...
Long-simmering problems in Pennsylvania’s emergency medical services system have created stress points for ambulance services and fire departments big and small. The House Democratic Policy Committee held a panel on Friday to hear from first responders on where their legislative priorities should be to address the growing crisis. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity leads a coalition of state financial officials pushing back against new federal mortgage fees they call “unconscionable.” “This new policy makes it more expensive for people with good credit to buy houses – and that’s absurd,” she said. “Americans who have built a good credit score and saved enough to make a strong down payment should not be penalized and forced to pay more on their mortgage every single month.” Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotif...
Onerous rules that restrict new housing and make it impossible to build starter houses or small apartment buildings drive up prices and push homeownership further out of reach, experts told Senate Republicans on Wednesday. As Pennsylvania faces a housing shortage, a return to abundance may require state-level zoning reforms – and limits on local control, they say. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvania-in-focus/support...
Nurse practitioners rallied in Harrisburg on Wednesday for greater independence in practice, advocating for a change that dozens of other states have already made. More independence would mean abolishing state requirements for nurse practitioners to have a collaboration agreement with a physician. Instead, advocates want NPs to have full practice authority to see patients and provide the treatment they were trained to give. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pennsylvan...
