Pennsylvania category, Page 90
How Pennsylvania keeps its voter rolls clean and updated
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s voter rolls have been a frequent target of conservative politicians who believe the...
Bills limiting LGBTQ instruction, trans athletes pass Pennsylvania Senate
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Senate approved legislation Wednesday that Republicans say will restrict sexually explicit content and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools, mirroring partisan fights playing out in statehouses around the country. The bills passed nearly along party lines, and Democrats warned that Gov....
Penn State approves sale, ground lease of Penn Stater hotel, Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State’s two hotels near University Park — including the iconic Nittany Lion Inn — are poised to be sold to a third party this fall and will remain in operation, based on a resolution passed unanimously Wednesday morning by the board of trustees. Scholar Hotel Group, which opened a...
Pa. school district fires teacher who put tape reading ‘I have nothing nice to say’ on a student’s face
PHILADELPHIA — The Coatesville Area School District has fired a middle school teacher who put a piece of tape reading “I have nothing nice to say” on a student’s face last month — an action the district described as humiliating to the child, but that the teacher defended as an...
Fight over 2020 election records lands in Pennsylvania court
HARRISBURG — A county judge in Williamsport has to decide whether to force officials to provide voter-by-voter electronic election records after the state Office of Open Records ruled Pennsylvania law makes them confidential. Heather Honey, who heads the Lebanon, Pa.-based firm Haystack Investigations, sought in October a digital copy of...
Pennsylvania House targets colleges’ fetal research in bill
HARRISBURG — A proposal to require Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities to promise they are not conducting research or experiments with fetal tissue from elective abortions was added to a state budget bill by House Republicans on Monday. The chamber voted 108-92, with three Republicans crossing party lines, for the amendment...
Conflicting reports, gaps in data obscure true number of Pa. law enforcement agencies
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. Spotlight PA’s weeklong trip down a reporting rabbit hole began with a simple question: How many law enforcement agencies are in...
Abortion decision will lead some to question Supreme Court legitimacy, experts say
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the 50-year precedent that was Roe v. Wade and roll back abortion rights in this country could cause many Americans to question the court’s legitimacy, legal experts and constitutional scholars said Friday. The scholars said nothing has changed in American jurisprudence to lead...
Supreme Court abortion decision places higher stakes on Pa. election, experts say
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade places even higher stakes on Pennsylvania’s November election, particularly the race for governor, observers say. Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University, said the right of women to choose to have an abortion in Pennsylvania “quite literally hangs...
John Fettterman lands major endorsement from National Education Association
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman landed a key endorsement on Wednesday from the National Education Association with the “strong support” of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. “John Fetterman is a proven leader on education issues in Pennsylvania,” Rich Askey, president of the PSEA, the state’s largest teachers’ union, said...
Lawmaker wants Penn State to report location, condition of Joe Paterno statue
Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Butler/Beaver/Lawrence) is attempting to force Penn State University to provide information regarding the location and condition of the Joe Paterno statue by tying it as an amendment to Senate Bill 1283, which would provide the school’s funding for the fiscal year. Bernstine, who is a Penn State...
The Pennsylvania primary election set voter turnout records. Here’s what else the data show
The 2022 Pennsylvania primary election — finally filed away in the history books after a recount — wasn’t just a wild political saga. It also set voter turnout records. More Democrats and Republicans voted than in any midterm election primary in the last 25 years. Who those voters are, where...
Bills on poll watchers, earlier presidential primary advance in Pa.
HARRISBURG — Proposals to hold Pennsylvania’s presidential primaries in March rather than April and to permit poll watchers to operate outside the counties where they live were advanced Wednesday by a divided House State Government Committee. Both bills had already passed the state Senate and were approved for consideration by...
Statewide Pa. police hiring database hindered by loopholes, lack of enforcement
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 Pennsylvania database of police personnel records lauded as a national model is riddled with loopholes that raise serious...
Pa. GOP lawmakers block assault-style gun ban for those under 21
HARRISBURG — State House Republicans blocked a proposal to prevent those ages 18 to 21 from possessing assault-style rifles on Tuesday by completely changing the bill into a constitutional amendment to allow anyone to carry concealed guns. It was the second week in a row that Republicans in the Judiciary...
Pa. House eyes expanding who can bring sexual misconduct complaints against lawmakers
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 — Pennsylvania House leaders are quietly negotiating a deal to close a loophole in the chamber’s rules that protects lawmakers...
Pa. House approves bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips
HARRISBURG — Test strips to help drug users identify fentanyl and other potentially deadly chemicals would no longer be classified as illegal paraphernalia under a bill passed unanimously by the Pennsylvania House on Monday. The legislation to amend the state’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act can help reduct...
Unlikely duo: John Fetterman, Josh Shapiro aim for united front
HARRISBURG — One candidate is unabashedly blunt, willing to embrace progressive positions, doing little to build rapport with party leaders and dominating rooms with a 6-foot-8-inch frame. The other crafts a more moderate image, a deliberate public speaker who became a congressional aide out of college and has carefully cultivated...
The bipartisan push to cut corporate taxes in Pennsylvania, explained
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 — Amid budget negotiations, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative Republicans are weighing a major tax cut on Pennsylvania corporations....
1 firefighter dead after Philadelphia building collapse
PHILADELPHIA — One firefighter has died after being trapped in a building that caught fire in Philadelphia and then collapsed early Saturday, fire officials said. The fallen firefighter was not immediately identified, but Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said he was a 27-year department veteran. “It’s going to be a...
Pennsylvania unemployment rate lowest in nearly 3 years
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point, down to 4.6% in May, according to figures provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. It’s the lowest unemployment rate in Pennsylvania since Oct. 2019, months before the pandemic began. In contrast, the U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged over...
Mastriano proposal would allow school employees to be armed; Pa. teachers union pushes back
A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to allow K-12 school employees to carry firearms in classrooms in an effort to prevent mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers. The proposal by Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, would let employees with a concealed carry permit...
Pa. Senate votes to block charter school regulations from taking effect
The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday passed a concurrent resolution that would block Gov. Tom Wolf’s regulatory changes to the state’s charter school law from taking effect. By a 30-20 near party-line vote, the chamber approved the House-passed disapproval resolution which now goes to the governor who is expected to veto...
Pa. state university system adopts enrollment-based formula for distributing state dollars
The stakes over state investment in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education got higher on Wednesday with the approval of a new enrollment-driven formula for allocating dollars to the system’s soon-to-be 10 universities. The system’s governing board on Wednesday unanimously voted to implement a funding distribution formula that at the...
Poll: Fetterman leads Oz in Senate race; Shapiro and Mastriano locked in gubernatorial battle
Polling released Tuesday shows Democrat John Fetterman with an early advantage over Republican Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s high-profile U.S. Senate race, while Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Doug Mastriano are locked in a tight race for governor. The Suffolk University/USA Today poll is the first major polling on the general...
