Republicans contended that such tax cuts would improve household budgets and stoke the economy in a state that desperately needs to step up its growth and appeal to keep pace with faster-growing states.

Shapiro’s administration expects to have $14 billion in reserve by the end of June, and what to do with it has been the subject of debate in Harrisburg.

In a statement, Shapiro didn’t say whether he supports it, but did welcome a conversation about what to with the state’s surplus.

“With this proposal, Senate Republican Leaders are coming to the table and acknowledging that we must invest in Pennsylvania’s future,” his office said.

Democrats sought to attach tax breaks for the lowest earners — rejected by Republicans — and criticized the bill as lacking transparency, having emerged barely 24 hours before the vote.

They also said it lacks any help for public schools, considering last year’s court decision that found Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools violates the constitutional rights of students in poorer districts.

Sen. Sharif Street, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said that attracting companies and new residents is about more than tax rates. People want a good quality of life, like good public schools and safe communities, and cutting taxes doesn’t help Pennsylvania improve its poor track record on funding schools and public safety, Street said.

“It will not attract growth to Pennsylvania, it will not attract jobs and it is a failed strategy,” Street said during floor debate.

The Senate GOP’s tax legislation would reduce the personal income tax rate from 3.07% back to the 2.8% level where it was before lawmakers in 2003 raised it to fill a deficit amid a foundering economy.

The bill also would eliminate the 4.4% gross receipts tax on the profits of private electric utilities, a tax that dates back to the 1800s and and is passed through to commercial and residential electric customers.

Shapiro’s $48.3 billion budget proposal, released in February, envisioned a $3 billion increase in spending, or about 7%, while leaning on Pennsylvania’s flush reserves to help underwrite it.

Shapiro’s plan would send billions more for underfunded public schools, public transit, services for the intellectually disabled, higher education and major industrial and high-tech projects to invigorate a slow-growing economy.

To balance, the proposal would shrink the state’s cash reserve from $14 billion to $11 billion. It has the backing of top Democratic lawmakers, but it has yet to see a vote in either chamber.

Republicans say that Shapiro’s spending plan puts the state on a path to drain the surplus within a few years and require a tax increase, given the state’s slower-growing tax collections.

The surplus began accumulating during the COVID-19 pandemic, when billions in federal aid covered some bills the state would normally pay and rising inflation pushed up tax collections on income and sales.

Casey, long a staunch supporter of Israel, has criticized acts of antisemitism on campuses and pointed to legislation he sponsored as a way to make sure the Education Department takes action.

“Students of course have the right to peacefully protest, but when it crosses the line either into violence or discrimination, then we have an obligation to step in and stop that conduct,” Casey said Thursday as he urged colleagues to pass his bill.

Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who is Jewish and facing reelection, said she was “horrified” by displays of antisemitism on campuses and, like Casey, called for the department to hold schools accountable.

In California, U.S. Rep Adam Schiff, the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat, took aim at the Columbia demonstration and said “antisemitic and hateful rhetoric is being loudly and proudly displayed.” Accused by Garvey of being “incredibly silent” on the protests, Schiff, who is Jewish, voted for a House bill similar to Casey’s and released a statement that condemned violence and the “explicit, repeated targeting and intimidation of Jewish students.”

Republicans elsewhere contended statements by Democrats were equivocating and inadequate.

Republicans called out Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, after he told an Axios reporter last week that he was “not going to talk about the politics of that. People always have the right to speak out and should.”

His Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno, charged that Brown had “wholeheartedly endorsed these vile and violent antisemitic demonstrations.”

Later, at a news conference, Brown gave more expansive comments. “Students want to make their voices heard, they need to do it in a way that’s nonviolent, they need to do it in a way that doesn’t spew hatred, and laws need to be enforced,” he said.

In Michigan, which has a relatively significant Muslim population, Biden’s handling of the war is expected to factor heavily into the presidential and Senate races.

Rogers, a favorite for the GOP nomination, thanked New York City police for confronting protesters and “standing up to protect Jewish students at Columbia from the visceral hatred we’ve witnessed from Hamas sympathizers on their campus.”

Republicans argued that U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the front-runner for the Democratic nominationfor Senate, had not spoken out strongly against protests at Columbia, her alma mater, and that she took five days after they began to say anything at all.

Slotkin, who is Jewish, said in an April 22 statement — the most recent wave of demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 — that “the use of intimidation, antisemitic signs or slogans, or harassment, is unacceptable.”

It was, she suggested, a complicated topic.

“I would rather be thoughtful and take more time than have a knee-jerk answer for any issue,” Slotkin said in an interview. “But especially this one.”

PENNSYLVANIA – We all think our state deserves to be the best – but do the stats match our hometown pride?

U.S. News & World just ranked all 50 states in its 2024 “Best State Rankings,” and the Delaware Valley’s rankings may surprise you.

Evaluated by crime and corrections, economy, education, health care, and more; here’s how Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware fared:

Pennsylvania

The No. 40 spot goes to Pennsylvania! 

• 16th in Crime and Corrections
• 41st in Economy
• 39th in Education
• 11th in Health Care

“Pennsylvania has been one of the nation’s most important industrial centers for coal, steel and railroads, especially before World War II. The state is today among the country’s largest producers of canned fruit and vegetable-specialty products, chocolate and cocoa products, potato chips and pretzels, and is home to the “Snack Food Capital of the World.”

New Jersey

The Garden State earned the top ranking in the Delaware Valley at No. 14:

• 5th in Crime and Corrections
• 24th in Economy
• 4th in Education
• 4th in Health Care

“The home of native musical legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston, New Jersey is known for more than producing popular hit-makers. It has world-class universities, leading technology and biological science firms and one fast turnpike.”

Delaware 

Drop a couple of spots, and you’ll find Delaware at No. 21:

• 32nd in Crime and Corrections
• 21st in Economy
• 33rd in Education
• 9th in Health Care

“Known as the First State, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution in 1787. Delaware, which hugs the Atlantic coast, runs only 96 miles long and 39 miles wide and has just three counties: New Castle, Kent and Sussex.”

Top 10 Best States

1. Utah
2. New Hampshire
3. Nebraska
4. Minnesota
5. Idaho
6. Iowa
7. Vermont
8. Washington
9. Florida
10. Massachusetts