Housing shortages and rising rents are a national problem, and the process for building more housing, especially affordable housing, is only one of many barriers.
In Pennsylvania, rents have increased mainly in the southeast and central parts of the state. As The Center Square previously reported, a report from pro-housing group Up for Growth estimated Pennsylvania has underproduced 98,000 units of housing. Statewide, rents increased by 14% from 2020 to 2021.
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The critical midterm election is in less than 70 days, but it can’t come soon enough for Keystone State families being crushed under the weight of failed Democrat policies. Reckless spending by Democrats in Washington has driven us into a recession and burdensome policies by Tom Wolf, John Fetterman, and Josh Shapiro have left Pennsylvania with high unemployment and shuttered small businesses. As State Treasurer, I know the importance of fiscal responsibility. I oversee an office of more than 300 employees and am tasked with protecting more than $150 billion in state assets. As a Pennsylvanian living in Joe Biden’s economy, I know firsthand the consequences of reckless spending and see the painful impact on every town in the commonwealth.
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A major newspaper in Pennsylvania questioned Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s ability to serve in the Senate in a Tuesday editorial after he declined another debate with Dr. Mehmet Oz.
“Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman has not fully recovered from the serious stroke he suffered in May,” the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said. “His campaign has acknowledged his obvious struggles with ‘auditory processing’ and speech, but the persistence of those struggles has contrasted with the campaign’s rosier predictions of a return to the rigors of campaigning, including debating his opponent, Mehmet Oz.”
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As Pennsylvania higher education institutions face a shortage of students, their former students will disproportionately benefit from student loan forgiveness.
A research brief from the Independent Fiscal Office estimates that almost 2 million Pennsylvania borrowers hold $69 billion student loan debt, and $21 billion would be forgiven. Another $1.8 billion would be forgiven through the expansion of the income-driven repayment program.
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Advocates say a bipartisan effort to seal criminal records for low-level felonies would give more people second chances and boost the Pennsylvania economy.
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss House Bill 1826, which would expand the Clean Slate Act by automatically sealing some low-level felonies.
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A new report questions the narrative of a “teacher shortage” in Pennsylvania, pointing out significant declines in student enrollments even as public school employment has risen.
“Since 2000, Pennsylvania public school enrollment has dropped 6.6% (120,000 fewer students); but public schools have added 20,000 more employees (8.7% growth), including nearly 40% growth among administrators,” the Commonwealth Foundation noted in its Back to School Education Trends report.
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The Republican National Committee announced Friday that it is leading a lawsuit against Pennsylvania over ballot curing in the 2022 elections.
The other plaintiffs are the National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Pennsylvania GOP and several state voters.
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In an extraordinary legal strike two months before mid-term elections, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor on Thursday sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat-run Jan. 6 committee in federal court, alleging it failed to follow its own rules and does not have the legal authority to compel him to testify.
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Pennsylvania Democrat Senate nominee John Fetterman says he won’t debate GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz citing his stroke recovery and calling the planned event a “farce.”
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Pennsylvania authorities contentiously combined voter registration and mail-in ballot applications into one document this month, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the latest in a series of disputed election-related policies.
The state’s Department of State issued an updated form Aug. 19 allowing citizens to register to vote and request a mail-in ballot, which had previously required multiple forms, The Federalist reported. Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary for Elections and Commissions Jonathan Marks said this was intended “to simplify the process,” but many county elections officials argued the change occurred without warning and demonstrated a continuing lack of respect for them, according to the Inquirer.
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Pennsylvania has some of the highest rates of drug overdoses in the nation, and a program to distribute anti-overdose medication has hit a new milestone.
The Wolf administration announced that its mail-based naloxone program has filled 10,000 requests for naloxone, which helps reverse overdoses.
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The effect of inflation on Pennsylvania’s agricultural sector has been to exacerbate already-existing problems, driving up costs and squeezing business owners.
Since March, the monthly consumer price index in Pennsylvania has averaged 8.4%. Large amounts of federal spending, along with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have meant rising prices from raw materials to food and consumer goods.
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A national trend of criticism aimed at district attorneys in major cities has sparked a feud in Philadelphia between the DA and state Republicans.
In August, a House committee investigating Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a subpoena to his office. Krasner told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he will not comply and called the investigation “illegal” and “anti-democratic.”
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Pennsylvania has a new law that bans “scholarship displacement,” a practice where universities reduce financial aid to students when they receive an outside scholarship.
University officials said they already do not displace outside scholarships unless required to do so by law. However, critics do not believe them.
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Delaware’s trio in Congress want answers about service delays within the U.S. Postal Service.
The letter asks what action plan and solutions have been enacted pertaining to continual service delays and disruptions with mail in the region. It asks for answers by Tuesday.
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City pension rules and details can make for dull reading, but a recent auditor general’s report shows the costs of a mistake.
A compliance audit of the Waynesburg Borough Police Pension Plan form, in southwest Pennsylvania, that covered 2017-21 noted that an error led to a $75,000 overpayment, which must be repaid to the state with interest.
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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the 2019 law expanding the state’s mail-in voting was constitutional, overruling Republicans who argued no-excuse absentee voting should be outlawed.
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Teachers unions, public school officials and the Pennsylvania’s Department of Education say the state has a teacher shortage.
Data analyzed by The Center Square, however, shows there has been an increase in the number of teachers against a dropping enrollment. Still, the communications director for the Pennsylvania Department of Education explained how shortages do remain.
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Gov. Tom Wolf is term-limited and not running for reelection, and it may be for the best. Only five governors in the country are less popular.
That’s according to the latest Morning Consult survey, which looked at governors’ popularity across the nation.
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Tucked into the Pennsylvania budget is a provision for a child care tax credit, funded with almost $25 million. The credit, however, might not be the best way to help families struggling with child care costs.
As WESA in Pittsburgh detailed, the tax credit refunds up to 30% of child care expenses that a worker claims on their federal income tax return. Filers can claim up to $3,000 for expenses with one dependent or up to $6,000 if they have two or more dependents.
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Health care service agencies, which supply nursing homes and others with temporary staff, could deal with more oversight and regulation if a bill continues to advance in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Price ceilings that would have capped what staffing agencies could charge, however, were removed from the legislation.
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Days after several Pennsylvania Senate Democrats proposed legislation to codify the recently overturned Roe v. Wade decision, one senator is spearheading a more expansive measure to enshrine abortion and various sexual rights in the Pennsylvania Constitution.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Doylestown) issued a memorandum to colleagues on Tuesday asking them to cosponsor his amendment. It would codify not only the 1973 Roe ruling that forbade states from prohibiting abortion but also the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision disallowing bans on gay marriage. Other “privacy”-related rights Santarsiero wishes to write into the state Constitution include those identified in the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut ruling, which disallowed contraception bans, and in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision, which barred sodomy laws.
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The future of abortion in Pennsylvania is an open question, as current state law protects it but both parties would like to change the law.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
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Comparing urban areas across America, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have struggled to recover since the pandemic, showing lackluster economic performance with job levels still below pre-pandemic times.
That performance puts Pennsylvania’s two biggest cities about average in America, according to an analysis from the Brookings Institution on urban economic recovery since COVID-19.
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A new law in Pennsylvania makes it easier for foreign nurses to get certified in the state, expanding the potential pool of health-care workers as the state confronts a nursing shortage.
Act 22 updates nursing license requirements by allowing the State Board of Nursing to approve graduates of international nursing programs to sit for the registered nursing examination. So long as the education they received outside the United States meets the state board’s standards, graduates can get licensed much quicker than before.
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Pennsylvania’s above-estimate tax revenues have been a boon for its public education system – per-pupil spending hit an all-time high, according to an analysis from the Commonwealth Foundation.
In 2020-21, school district spending per student reached $19,900, new data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education noted.
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While Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled General Assembly has been at odds with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on spending and budget priorities, both parties have shown bipartisan cooperation for billions in energy-related federal funds.
Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, along with Wolf, issued a letter lending their support for a hydrogen hub in the state that would “modernize our industrial and manufacturing base with less carbon intensive forms of energy,” according to the letter.
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College 529 savings plans are a common way to offer families tax breaks for higher education, but their benefits get heavily concentrated among the well-off.
The plans also may not be the best way to save money for the future, due to their high management fees.
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Recent state audits have called attention to some Pennsylvania school districts’ lackadaisical controls that have made auditing how tens of millions of dollars were spent impossible.
The audits do not suggest any illegal activity, but poor compliance measures can hide how taxpayer dollars are being wasted or improperly spent.
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Fentanyl dominates Pennsylvania and has surpassed heroin as the major opioid in the commonwealth, posing greater health risks to those who use it and creating a bigger problem for law enforcement.
That’s according to a new report from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office warning the public of rising overdose deaths and the threat opioids pose to public health.
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A far-left gun control group based in Arizona Thursday endorsed Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor, who is also the state’s Democrat nominee for Governor in this year’s election.
“For years, @JohnFetterman has been a powerful voice for Pennsylvanians who have lost their lives to gun violence, and I have no doubt that he will continue this fight in the Senate. I am proud to back Lt. Gov. Fetterman in his bid for US Senate,” Gabrielle Giffords said in a Thursday tweet.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin are moving their states in opposite directions.
Gov. Youngkin is focused on lowering the cost of living and improving Virginia’s appeal as a place to do business. Boeing’s recent announcement that it is moving from Illinois to Virginia is an example of his efforts. Youngkin’s aggressive pro-jobs push led CNBC to call Virginia the No. 1 state in the country for business.
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The owner of a Pennsylvania drug and alcohol treatment facility has pleaded guilty to a Medicaid fraud case that netted his organization $12 million over three years in an illegal kickback scheme.
The attorney general’s office announced the plea of Dr. Lloyd Reid, the owner of Southwest Nu-Stop Philadelphia Inc., which came about from a joint investigation of the office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage is spurring action in the General Assembly to pass reforms and simplify its certification process for educators.
A proposed bill, SB224, would assist out-of-state teachers’ certification to teach in Pennsylvania. So long as a teacher completed a state-approved teaching program elsewhere, they would be eligible for a comparable certification in Pennsylvania. It would provide for reciprocity with other states, making it easier for teachers who move to Pennsylvania to start teaching.
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Job quit rates have been up since the pandemic, but Pennsylvania lags behind the national average. While that may look like stability and satisfaction with one’s job, it’s a sign of a lack of opportunity for workers in the commonwealth.
An analysis by WalletHub found that Pennsylvania had one of the lowest quit rates in the nation – it ranked 47th. In the last month, Pennsylvania’s resignation rate was 2.1%, with an average rate of 2.24% in the last year.
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Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, covered a Bristol, Pennsylvania, town hall held by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Senate GOP candidate endorsed by President Donald J. Trump, where the heart surgeon and former TV star addresses questions about his dual citizenship with Turkey.
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Drug overdose deaths were at a record-high in America in 2021, surpassing 2020’s by 15%.
Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 107,622 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021, with the majority of those deaths connected to synthetic opioids.
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The Pittsburgh metro area’s economy has yet to recover from the pandemic, its effects still hurting job numbers.
The Pittsburgh area, which includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties, is still missing 53,800 jobs that it had in March 2019, a 5.1% decline, according to an analysis from the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy.
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Speaking at a rally in Greensburg, Pa., former President Donald Trump touted his endorsement of Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.
“I just think he’s gonna win. He’s a great gentleman. I’ve known him so long,” Trump said of Oz.
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Since 2015, when Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf issued a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on state forest and state park lands, the administration argued it was “striking the right balance” between economic and environmental concerns.
However, Wolf’s executive order didn’t stop all new leases on publicly owned acreage.
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Action in the General Assembly was not enough to stop the publication of regulations to enter Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, but legal action could stop it in the future.
If legal action doesn’t halt Pennsylvania’s entry into RGGI, the outcome of the gubernatorial election could determine whether the Commonwealth stays in the multi-state compact or leaves it by executive order.
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Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed radio talk show host John Fredericks ‘The Godzilla of Truth’ about how his show is different from other shows just after he hosted an April town meeting with Pennsylvania GOP hopeful, Dr. Mehmet Oz.
‘A lot of my competitors go in a studio, they bring them the paper, somebody brings them a hot chocolate with whipped cream on it. Then they have a coach there, they have a studio, it’s all comfortable, air-conditioned,’ Fredericks said.
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Though a majority of states allow nurse practitioners full authority to deliver care, Pennsylvania still requires oversight from a physician. A bill in the legislature could change it though, but it’s unclear if it will advance through the General Assembly soon.
The legislation, SB25, sponsored by Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, would update state requirements for nurses and would remove a requirement for nurse practitioners to have a collaborative agreement with a physician for them to practice and write prescriptions.
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Internal polling shows Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz surging past rival David McCormick by 10 points, according to sources close to the candidate’s campaign not authorized to talk to the press.
McCormick, a former hedge-fund executive and former undersecretary of the Treasury under George W. Bush, spent several weeks as the frontrunner in the Republican primary that will be decided on May 17, but recent public polls showed Oz quickly closing that gap.
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Before the pandemic hit, Pennsylvania’s economy had been steadily growing for a decade – but not its population. The population loss has both political and economic consequences.
Federally, Pennsylvania’s influence will lag. The state lost a Congressional district thanks to net emigration from the state. The future of economic growth, too, may fall off as natives and would-be migrants from other states look to growing areas of the South and West.
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Pennsylvania and other states will split about $11 billion to fund Acid Mine Land reclamation, and a proposed congressional bill would allow that money to fund treatment projects for Acid Mine Drainage, which affects rivers and waterways.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, introduced the STREAM Act which expands how states can use AML funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act. States would be able to approve projects to treat drainage that contaminates waterways and has long-term impacts, in addition to reclaiming formerly mined land.
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Live from Virginia Friday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host Fredericks welcomed US Senate Candidate for Pennsylvania, Dr. Oz to the show to discuss his opposition and natural energy in the state.
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Telehealth in Pennsylvania continues to make strides as temporary waivers approved during COVID-19 are made permanent.
A previous bill introduced by Rep. Jeff Wheeland, R-Lycoming, would align state and federal guidance on home health care. The latest one, HB2419, introduced by Rep. Tina Pickett, R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna, would allow psychiatrists to offer mental health services virtually like they do with in-person services.
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Small businesses worry about the power of larger corporations in the marketplace, but they’re also unhappy with the subsidies and tax breaks big businesses get from the government.
A survey of independent small businesses published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance showed that small businesses perceive a business climate that favors bigger companies. A majority of respondents were retailers, and businesses had an average size of 15 employees.
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A proposed bill would require Pennsylvania employers to provide all employees with paid sick leave, going beyond current federal requirements.
HB2439, introduced as the Health Family Healthy Workplaces Act, was introduced by Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware.
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