Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania budget negotiations take a holiday – Washington Examiner

Published

3 days ago

July 4, 2024

Pennsylvania budget negotiations take a holiday – Washington Examiner

(The Center Square) – The state capitol fell quiet Wednesday after lawmakers left town for the Fourth of July, intent on hammering out a budget deal over the weekend – maybe.

The holiday break means the plan could be a week or more overdue. Still, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said discussions remain “engaged,” “productive” and “cordial.”

“But I will also say that details matter, words on paper matter, and as we always say, unless everything’s agreed to, nothing’s agreed to,” he said.

The tongue-in-cheek remark rings true every budget season, though the contention of last year’s talks seems absent, for now.

“One thing we all learned a little bit last year, myself included, is to try to figure out a better way to navigate this process,” Pittman said. “We really are committed to the notion that divided government shouldn’t be dysfunctional government.”

Education priorities elude compromise, Pittman said. As does human services spending. In the former, a constitutional mandate to equalize school district funding looms large over negotiations.

A revised formula passed the House in June, though it has yet to be considered in the Senate. Pittman said “some hard realities are setting in” about the new calculations.

“As I’ve said before, there are 500 school districts in this commonwealth,” he said. “Every single one of them has a different sense of what is fair.”

Critics of the revised formula say it hurts nearly two-thirds of school districts and should be scrapped entirely. Supporters laud the multi-billion dollar plan as long overdue.

In the end, it will be up to House Democratic leaders, Senate Republican leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro to meet in the middle. Pittman said he’s confident that can still happen before the lapse impacts state services.

The House gaveled out until Friday at 3 p.m., while the Senate isn’t scheduled to reconvene until 3 p.m. Saturday.

In the meantime, Pittman said, staffers will work “around the clock” to finalize a deal, and the chamber can be ready to come back “at a moment’s notice.”

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania flood insurance task force releases final report

Published

7 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

Pennsylvania flood insurance task force releases final report

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Pennsylvania

Calif. Gov. Newsom, local officials rally for Biden in Doylestown

Published

14 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Press Room

Calif. Gov. Newsom, local officials rally for Biden in Doylestown

Ahead of the speech, rally-goers were met outside the venue by dozens of former President Donald Trump’s supporters waving flags and hoisting signs in support of the Republican candidate.

Lisa Leedom and James R. Leedom, Levittown residents, said they support Trump and want to see him limit government overreach and lower taxes.

James Leedom said he wants to see Trump support an effort to restart the Keystone XL Pipeline Project to lower gas prices and reduce inflation.

“People can’t afford to eat. They can’t afford to do anything,” he said.

Ed Sheppard, chair of communications for the Doylestown Republican Committee, said the counter-rally “grew organically” once Trump’s supporters heard about the Democratic rally.

Sheppard said local Republicans are hoping to make a difference nationally with the local elections in Bucks County and Pennsylvania.

Ed Sheppard, chair of communications for the Doylestown Republican Committee, said the Trump rally “grew organically” after they heard Gov. Newsom was visiting Bucks County. (Emily Neil/WHYY)

“Pennsylvania’s going to decide the White House, the Senate and the House, and Bucks County is going to decide Pennsylvania,” he said, highlighting the House race between incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz as well as the U.S. Senate race between Republican challenger Dave McCormick and incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, in addition to the presidential match between Biden and Trump.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the entire ticket,” Sheppard said. “People are fed up with Democratic policies, and after that debate a lot of independents feel lied to by Democrats about the state of their president, so they’re really gravitating towards us who are being honest about our state of minds.”

If there’s a point of consensus on both sides, it’s that Bucks County voters will play a decisive role in November’s elections. Philly’s collar counties are crucial to win Pennsylvania, a historic swing state, and Bucks County has been a particularly close race in past elections. In 2020, Biden won the county with 51.7% of the vote to Trump’s 47.3%. The 2016 presidential election was even closer: Hillary Clinton barely edged out Trump with 48.4% of the vote compared to 47.8% of the vote for Trump.

“We need to buck up, Bucks County,” Newsom told the crowd. The governor said that it was a “choice election” between “daylight and darkness.”

“If Donald Trump succeeds, God help us, we will roll back the last half century,” he said. “It’s America in reverse. They want to bring us back to a pre-1960s world and you are the front lines of that opposition. You are the folks that can make sure that does not happen. Voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, not just access to abortion, access to contraception, all of those things are on the ballot, Bucks County, and we are counting on you. America’s counting on you.”

WHYY News reporter Carmen Russell-Sluchansky contributed reporting.

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania presidential ad spending may break records – Washington Examiner

Published

21 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Press Room

Pennsylvania presidential ad spending may break records – Washington Examiner

(The Center Square) — Political advertising in Pennsylvania for the 2024 presidential election is predicted to reach $360 million, the highest level in the nation.

Overall spending, including down-ballot races, is projected to be $800 million, the 3rd-highest in the nation.

This is according to The Political Projections Report, which was released on Monday by advertisement tracking company AdImpact.

Swing states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina will play especially critical roles in the presidential election, the report found.

“With spending centralized in a handful of swing states that will ultimately decide the election, we expect the general to see $2.16B, a 17% increase over 2020.”

Pennsylvania will also likely see record levels of spending on both Senate and down-ballot races as well.

“With Democrats on the defensive this fall, spending will overwhelmingly occur in several key battleground states: Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Maryland, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” the report found.

All of these numbers are significantly higher than in past election cycles.

The report anticipates a 19% growth in overall advertising in the upcoming election cycle over the 2020 election season, with spending through June 30th already “pacing $529M ahead of the 2020 cycle.”

This comes as political advertising just begins to enter what AdImpact calls the “true spending season,” which runs from July 1 through Election Day.

Nationwide political advertising spending will likely reach a record high $10.69 billion, making it the “most expensive on record.”

The $10.69 billion was a revision from its earlier-predicted number of $10.2 billion.

Pennsylvania also saw an upward revision of $62 million from the past report, giving it the 5th-largest increase.

Much of the spending comes from political interest groups like Planned Parenthood, who are particularly motivated to spend in states with ballot initiatives dealing with abortion, marijuana, or other issues.

According to AdImpact, if Pennsylvania decides to take up an initiative on one of those issues, there’s a “strong indication” that “it will see an influx of additional expenditures.”

Elyse Apel is an apprentice reporter with The Center Square, covering Georgia and North Carolina. She is a 2024 graduate of Hillsdale College.

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