Politics Election category, Page 154
Pennsylvania governor backs off $100M private schools program in budget stalemate
HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday backed off his insistence on money for a new private-school funding program after it became a sticking point in a budget stalemate between Pennsylvania’s politically divided Legislature. Shapiro’s shift in position came as state government plowed through its fifth day without full...
Exonerated member of ‘Central Park Five’ wins primary, nearly assuring seat on NYC Council
NEW YORK — Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated “Central Park Five,” has won the Democratic primary, all but assuring him a seat on the New York City Council. It’s an improbable feat for a political novice who was wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned as a teenager for the rape...
Any progress made toward settling Pa.’s state budget dispute? It’s hard to tell
Pennsylvania enters the Fourth of July holiday with a budget agreement still a work in progress — if there is even any progress. The state Capitol was a near-ghost town on Monday, the third day of the new fiscal year. Neither spokeswomen for the Democratic-controlled House nor Republican-controlled Senate offered...
Arkansas governor names state GOP chairman, former federal prosecutor to Supreme Court seat
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday named state Republican Party chairman and former federal prosecutor Cody Hiland to the Arkansas Supreme Court, giving it a conservative majority as justices prepare to take up a challenge to her education overhaul. Hiland was appointed to fill the vacancy...
What’s ‘Bidenomics’? The president hopes a dubious nation embraces his ideas
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has long struggled to neatly summarize his sprawling economic vision. It’s been hard for voters to digest the mix of roads-and-bridges spending, tax hikes on big companies, tax credits for parents, tax breaks for renewable energy, grants to build computer chip factories, insulin price caps...
Moms for Liberty’s focus on school races nationwide sets up political clash with teachers unions
PHILADELPHIA — Moms for Liberty, a “parental rights” group that has sought to take over school boards in multiple states, is looking to expand those efforts across the country and to other education posts in 2024 and beyond. The effort is setting up for a clash with teachers unions and...
In 370 days, Supreme Court conservatives dash decades of abortion and affirmative action precedents
WASHINGTON — Overturning Roe v. Wade and eliminating affirmative action in higher education had been leading goals of the conservative legal movement for decades. In a span of 370 days, a Supreme Court reshaped by three justices nominated by President Donald Trump made both a reality. Last June, the court...
Georgia launches Medicaid expansion in closely watched test of work requirements
ATLANTA — Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you. But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive...
Cuban boy castaway Elián González becomes a lawmaker
HAVANA — Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States. Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress with...
DeSantis signs controversial ‘radioactive roads’ bill lobbied by fertilizer giant Mosaic
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill that will allow the Florida Department of Transportation to study the use of phosphogypsum, a mildly radioactive byproduct of the phosphate manufacturing process, in road construction. The measure — dubbed the “radioactive roads” bill by critics — was lobbied by Tampa-based...
Changing their tune? Pennsylvania lawmakers consider replacing the state’s official song
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania may soon be changing its tune. A proposal to establish a new state song got a positive vote Thursday in the House of Representatives, although there was some discord. The resolution to establish an independent commission to review the history, solicit suggestions from the public and make...
Pennsylvania budget agreement is elusive as fiscal-year deadline nears
HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania’s politically divided Legislature appeared on track Thursday to start the state’s fiscal year without a spending plan in place, with closed-door talks yielding optimism from Republicans, but discontent from Democrats. For Shapiro, getting his first budget across the finish line is perhaps the...
What is Bidenomics? President embraces moniker as campaign theme
Forty years ago, we had Reaganomics. Today, we’re hearing more and more about Bidenomics, a moniker that brands President Joe Biden’s efforts to grow the economy and jobs and fight inflation. Biden is leaning into the name as an early campaign theme of his reelection bid. But what exactly is...
What to Watch: Pennsylvania budget talks near deadline, and get contentious
HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is trying to wrap up his first budget by the start of the new fiscal year, as he works to balance Pennsylvania’s politically divided Legislature in perhaps the biggest test yet of his political skills under the Capitol dome. The last few days have...
Pennsylvania Senate advances bill to overhaul probation system
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that is designed to reduce the number of people on probation and in jail, by limiting the length of probation and preventing people from being sent back to jail for minor violations. The bill passed on a 45-4 vote and now...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will no longer speak at Moms for Liberty summit in Philly
PHILADELPHIA — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democratic presidential candidate known for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, will no longer speak at the Moms for Liberty summit this week in Philadelphia. The campaign for Kennedy, who had been announced as a speaker a week earlier, “told us his schedule changed and...
Marc Fogel Act seeks transparency in wrongful detainment designations for Americans
A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania congressmen on Tuesday introduced the Marc Fogel Act, a bill named for an Oakmont teacher who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana. The lawmakers said the legislation would require the State Department to be...
Supreme Court rejects GOP claim that state lawmakers have full power over electionsVideo
WASHINGTON — In another surprise ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday firmly rejected a Republican claim that the Constitution gives state lawmakers full and unchecked power over the elections of members of Congress and the president in their state. The so-called independent state legislature theory had alarmed Democrats and threatened...
Trump target Al Schmidt gets crucial approval as he moves closer to becoming Pa.’s top election official
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Al Schmidt, the former Philadelphia city commissioner who made national headlines in 2020 for rebuking then-President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, is one step closer to officially becoming Pennsylvania’s...
Pennsylvania House votes to extend I-95 disaster proclamation until next June
A resolution that would extend to next June Gov. Josh Shapiro’s emergency disaster declaration issued in the response to the collapse of a bridge on I-95 in Philadelphia passed the state House of Representatives. The proposed extension, approved by a bipartisan 165-38 vote, would allow PennDOT to continue to be...
Supreme Court dismisses case in which Democratic lawmakers sued over Trump hotel lease
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case it had planned to hear about limits on lawsuits filed by members of Congress against the federal government, in a dispute that involved the former Trump International Hotel in Washington. The justices threw out a federal appeals court ruling that...
In post-Roe era, House Republicans begin quiet push for new restrictions on abortion access
WASHINGTON — When the Supreme Court issued its abortion ruling last June overturning Roe v. Wade, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said “our work is far from done.” He didn’t say what might come next. A year later later, McCarthy is the speaker, Republicans are in the majority and the...
Safety, oversight concerns raised as Pa. lawmakers pursue billions for hydrogen hubs
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate is weighing a measure that would give state regulators, rather than federal ones, the power to...
Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro affirms support for funding private school vouchers amid budget push
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A coalition with wealthy backers is pushing Pennsylvania lawmakers to use public dollars to create tuition vouchers so K-12...
House Republicans push off Biden impeachment bid for now as hard-right clamors for action
WASHINGTON — Eager to impeach President Joe Biden, hard-right House Republicans forced a vote Thursday that sent the matter to congressional committees in a clear demonstration of the challenge that Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces in controlling the majority party. The ability of a single lawmaker in the 435-member House to...
