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Last week’s email reported the reasons why two of the state senate’s progressives voted against the budget. For Katie Muth, a big issue was the lack of new revenue from various sources, such as skill games, and combined reporting. For Nikil Saval, avoiding significant reform on data centers was a top priority. On the conservative side, Jarrett Coleman, who hugs the edges of the senate’s political right, was initially mum on why he voted “Nay” on the budget. In recent days

The good news for many school districts and non-profits is that the 2026/27 budget for Pennsylvania was only 12 days late this year. That means that organizations that are reliant on state funding will not need to worry about taking out heavy interest loans to meet payroll and other expenses. It seems that the biggest winner of the additional 1.4% increase in the budget over last year is in the line item for public education. Underfunded school districts will receive thei

For the fifth straight year, the General Assembly has failed to pass a state budget by its Constitutional deadline of June 30. To recap, Governor Josh Shapiro proposed a $53.3 billion budget in February. The PA House authorized that sum in April. The state senate, however, has not made any proposals or taken any votes since then. They are currently on summer break until the end of September. One of the refrains that we continue to hear from the Republican dominated st

The end of the fiscal year is upon us and, although we still have no state budget, the last few weeks in Harrisburg have been interesting relationships, as the following topics suggest. Public Transportation and Skill Games New money for public transportation was not a part of the budget that the state house passed in April. However, a ruling delivered recently by the State Supreme Court has revived hopes for renewed resources for SEPTA and other transit companies around t

Over the past few months, the proliferation of data centers has angered residents across the commonwealth, regardless of their political hue. Although many people believe these facilities have a reason to exist, they don’t want to subsidize the developers and investors in these projects through a rise in their electricity and water rates. The actions of the Democratic controlled Pennsylvania House appear to be much more in alignment with public sentiment than their counterpa

There are political activities galore throughout the Delaware Valley. You can rally against the machine tomorrow - Friday - at the Flourtown Shopping Center from 4 – 5 pm. On Saturday, you can get an early start to celebrate Juneteenth in Pottstown. You can join a banner contingent in Kennett Square on Sunday, and every Monday at 11 am you can protest ICE at their headquarters. Also, a number of Indivisible groups are urging their members to call their U.S. senators to

Last week the Inquirer reported that the campaign of U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s federal PAC, which has been sending mailers that say his Democratic opponent - Bob Harvie – acts like a “king”. Ouch! The Fitzpatrick campaign has also been promoting ads through a group called “Fire Bob Harvie”, which has a presence on social media. It is unclear what the purpose of these ads is. It appe

While Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s recent trip to Greenland to “make friends” for the United States was certainly a lesson in awkward diplomacy; it has also, by contrast, highlighted the disparities between Greenland’s fully funded Health Care system and our own. When the administration in Washington announced Landry’s help in sending a hospital ship bound for Greenland to provide “humanitarian assistance for people in need of medical care”, the blowback was immediate.