Tom Fontaine stories, Page 2
Shapiro joins states in legal action against Trump’s National Guard deployments
Pennsylvania has joined nearly two dozen states in taking legal action in an attempt to stop President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to U.S. cities. The multistate amicus brief argues that the deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon was “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic,” according to Gov. Josh...
Fetterman breaks with Dems on reining in Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats; approval rating up among Republicans
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman went against the Democratic grain again. Fetterman on Wednesday was the lone Democrat in the Senate to vote against a measure to prevent President Donald Trump from using military force against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean without congressional authorization. Even with the support of two...
Treasury defends proposal to put Trump on $1 coin
The Treasury Department is defending a proposal to mint a $1 coin with images of President Trump to help celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday, citing a bill signed into law by Trump during the last week of his first administration. “(Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) is honored to exercise the authorities...
Pittsburgh native Larry Hailsham Jr. named executive director of Pa. Democratic Party
Pittsburgh native Larry Hailsham Jr., a top aide to Gov. Josh Shapiro, has been named executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. State Democrats also announced this week that Shapiro donated $250,000 to the party as it gears up for pivotal elections in November and next year. Hailsham was appointed...
Fetterman breaks with Democrats to support stopgap spending bill
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the U.S. Senate blocked a stopgap spending bill that would fund the government through late November. The proposal needed support from 60 senators to end a filibuster and advance to a final vote, but it fell short Wednesday with just 55...
Pa. Senate Republicans look to forgive interest on state loans to help counties, Head Starts
Republican leaders in the state Senate said Tuesday they plan to introduce legislation to forgive the interest payments on Treasury loans designed to help county governments and Head Start providers weather Pennsylvania’s budget impasse. “They should not be penalized because of what is happening here in Harrisburg,” state Senate President...
As Pa. budget impasse drags on, proposals aim to prevent future ones
The failure of Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass a budget for the fiscal year that began nearly three months ago is inspiring several pieces of legislation aimed at preventing such impasses in the future. In the House, a bill from state Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Murrysville, would suspend paychecks for the governor,...
Pa. budget impasse nears 3 months as schools, counties and others feel the pain
Pennsylvania is one of just three states that has yet to adopt a complete budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to an analysis by the National Association of School Budget Officers. In North Carolina, lawmakers passed a stopgap “mini budget” over the summer to keep the government running while...
Fetterman, McCormick call for end to political violence, extreme rhetoric
U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick condemned political violence and extreme rhetoric during a joint appearance Tuesday on Fox News’ “Special Report.” The senators said their joint appearance was an attempt to turn down the political temperature following last week’s assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. “I feel like...
Shapiro calls for ‘universal condemnation’ of political violence during Pittsburgh summit
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Gov. Tom Corbett, politicians from different political parties and parts of the state, appeared together at Tuesday’s Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Downtown Pittsburgh to condemn political violence less than a week after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. “Political violence is particularly...
Shapiro to speak about political violence at Pittsburgh summit
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is scheduled to speak about political violence at Tuesday’s Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Downtown Pittsburgh, less than a week after a gunman assassinated conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Shapiro, a Jewish Democrat, survived a violent attack in April. He and his family had been sleeping inside...
Experts warn of ‘spiral’ if U.S. doesn’t address worst political violence in over a half-century
Several leading authorities on political violence say they are concerned about what happens next in America following the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The experts say this latest era of political violence is the nation’s worst since the turbulent 1960s. Without a unified, full-throated repudiation of the violence from...
PRT weighs whether to use money for transit projects to plug budget hole
Pittsburgh Regional Transit said Monday it hasn’t decided whether it will request permission from the state to temporarily shift money intended for capital improvements to help cover operating expenses. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration approved a request from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to use up to $394 million earmarked for...
Shapiro approves $394M funding shift to prevent SEPTA cuts
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has approved a request from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to use up to $394 million earmarked for capital improvements to help the deficit-plagued transit agency cover operating costs. Shapiro’s office said in a news release Monday that the move would prevent service cuts at the...
White House pans Shapiro for questioning National Guard deployments
The White House dismissed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s opposition to President Trump potentially deploying National Guard troops to Philadelphia to fight crime, touting the results of the deployments elsewhere. “Another wannabe presidential candidate is desperate to get into the news cycle by attacking the president’s highly successful operations to drive...
Shapiro says Pa. prepared should Trump decide to send National Guard to Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state has been preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump could deploy the National Guard to Philadelphia ever since the White House sent troops to Los Angeles in June — a move that a federal judge ruled Tuesday was illegal. “Ever since the...
Fetterman, McCormick call on Pa. universities to combat antisemitism
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators are calling on five of the state’s universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, to ensure that Jewish organizations on their campuses are “equipped to protect the students they serve.” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said their request comes on the heels of...
Pa. Dems celebrate Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement — then ask for donations
What do Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have in common? Not much. But that isn’t stopping the Pennsylvania Democratic Party from trying to capitalize on the celebrity engagement of Swift and Kelce, announced Tuesday, to solicit campaign donations. “We’re sure you’ve already heard the news, but...
No funding deal in sight as transit cuts take effect in Philadelphia region
Many commuters and students in the Philadelphia region woke earlier than usual Monday and scrambled to avoid being late as they navigated newly imposed service cuts by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority. It remains unknown how long the pain might continue in Pennsylvania’s southeastern corner, as lawmakers remain apart on...
Justice Department releases first batch of Epstein files to House committee
The Justice Department on Friday afternoon released the first batch of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation to the House Oversight Committee. The Republican-controlled Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for the files early this month. The move to do so was initiated by U.S. Rep. Summer...
Debate swirls around Trump’s call to end unrestricted mail-in voting
Nearly one in five Pennsylvanians who voted for Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election cast their ballots by mail, and the GOP spent millions to promote mail-in voting in the run-up to the election. Now, President Trump says he wants to end the practice of allowing people to vote...
Oklahoma to screen would-be teachers from N.Y., Calif. to keep ‘leftist propaganda’ out of schools
For now, Pennsylvanians looking to land a teaching job in Oklahoma won’t have to take a test designed to weed out “woke indoctrinators” seeking classroom work in the conservative Sooner State. Oklahoma soon will begin administering what Ryan Walters, the state’s elected superintendent of public instruction, calls the “America First”...
Pa. Senate leaders look to skill games tax as transit funding debate continues
The highest-ranking Republican in the state Senate described the looming service cuts and fare hikes at Pennsylvania’s largest transit agency as a “manufactured crisis” that doesn’t need to happen. “This is (the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) wanting exactly what they want and holding everyone hostage,” said Senate President Pro Tempore...
GOP plans to address budget impasse, transit shot down in Democratic-led House committees
A pair of committees in the Democrat-led state House on Wednesday shot down proposals from the GOP-controlled state Senate to end Pennsylvania’s budget impasse and address funding problems at the state’s transit agencies. Now, with the budget impasse standing at 44 days and Pennsylvania’s largest transit agency preparing to begin...
GOP-controlled Pa. Senate advances budget, transit plans
The Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate advanced proposals Tuesday to end the state’s budget impasse and address funding problems at transit agencies for the next two years. Both proposals passed along party lines, with all of the chamber’s 27 Republicans voting in favor and the 22 Democrats present opposing. For the measures...
