News
Pa. House Speaker Mike Turzai will reintroduce Down syndrome abortion ban bill
Pennsylvania’s state House Speaker has fired the first shots of 2019’s culture war, saying he plans to reintroduce a controversial bill that would ban abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome, even though critics say the legislation is practically unenforceable and most likely unconstitutional. Rep. Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican, sponsored a similar […]
Treasurer Joe Torsella: Pa’s Rainy Day Fund is ‘nothing to write home about’ but at least it has one again
Pennsylvania’s top financial officer says he’s committed to helping the Commonwealth build up its emergency savings account and that he wants to “continue doing great things” with his office. Right now, the $22.5 million balance sitting in Pennsylvania’s Rainy Day Fund, the account that’s supposed to serve as a hedge against future downturns, is “nothing […]
Wolf panned Corbett’s education policies, but inherited his charter review board without complaint: report
Gov. Tom Wolf ran for the state’s top spot in 2014 promising to improve education across the Commonwealth, but he’s had a light touch on charter school regulation during his first term in office. Wolf hasn’t made a single appointment to the state’s Charter Schools Appeal Board, according to a report in The Notebook, a […]
Pa. voters will be working overtime in busy 2019 special election season | Analysis
We run down the off-year campaign cycle that doesn't feel like one.
Lehigh County lawmaker blasts lack of Latino enrollment in Pa’s state-owned universities
An Allentown lawmaker whose district is majority Latino laced into the head of Pennsylvania’s state university system Tuesday, saying it’s “shameful” that new Latino enrollment has dropped, even as the system schools have touted their recruiting efforts. State Rep. Peter Schweyer, a Democrat, told Daniel Greenstein, the new chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, […]
Pennsylvania congressman warns of ‘radical’ and ‘socialist’ infiltration in fundraising pitch
Fresh off a successful re-election bid, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-11th District, is making a play for voters’ wallets by asking them to help him fight socialism. “We have self proclaimed Socialists serving in the Pennsylvania State House and in Congress,” Smucker wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday. “Socialist ideas are no longer just in […]
This is what hate and extremism looked like in Pennsylvania last year | The Numbers Racket
Welcome to The Numbers Racket, an occasional Capital-Star feature offering deep, but user-friendly, dives into some important data.
Iraq War vet announces Republican candidacy for Tom Marino’s 12th Congressional District seat
A decorated Iraq War veteran said Tuesday that she’ll seek the Republican nomination for ex-U.S. Tom Marino’s 12th Congressional District seat. Stacy Garrity, of Athens, Pa., in Bradford County, served three deployments in the Middle East, winning two Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit, her campaign said in a statement. She retired from the […]
On the agenda for Pennsylvania’s DSA-backed freshmen: small steps toward a larger progressive vision
Elizabeth Fiedler may be new to Harrisburg, but she’s well aware of the math equation that powers Pennsylvania’s capital. In the 253-member General Assembly, Republicans outnumber Democrats 110-91 in the House and 26-21 in the Senate. That fact makes it hard for any Democrat to get a bill passed without wide bipartisan support — let […]
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman offers ‘safe space’ for opinions on legalizing marijuana
It was the opening night of a listening tour that will take Gov. Tom Wolf's No. 2 all over Pennsylvania.
Could this be the year Pennsylvania lawmakers ban LGBTQ discrimination?
The legislation, nicknamed the Fairness Act, has never been brought up for a vote. This year could be different.
Suburban Philly lawmaker’s bill would require schools to teach students about dating violence
A Montgomery County lawmaker is hoping the second time’s the charm on bill that would require Pennsylvania high schools to teach “dating violence” education to their students. In a ‘Dear Colleague’ memo sent out late last week, Rep. Thomas P. Murt, a Republican from Hatboro, cited Centers for Disease Control data showing that “approximately 10 percent […]