Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Author: Gillian McGoldrick

  • In a major shift, Gov. Josh Shapiro restricts data center development in Pennsylvania

    In a major shift, Gov. Josh Shapiro restricts data center development in Pennsylvania

    HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a sweeping executive order on Tuesday dramatically restricting data center development in Pennsylvania, marking a major shift from his initial embrace of the increasingly unpopular projects.

    Shapiro, a first-term Democrat running for reelection and a rumored 2028 presidential contender, had been an early champion of data center development in the state, including a $20 billion commitment from Amazon to build at least two data centers in Bucks and Luzerne Counties.

    Now he is taking a hard-line stance against the burgeoning data center industry he once courted, as proposed projects draw increasing bipartisan backlash across Pennsylvania.

    How Josh Shapiro’s early embrace of data centers is testing his high popularity in Pennsylvania

    The far-reaching executive order does not include a moratorium on data center development. However, the order requires local approval for projects to receive state permits, which in effect may block many developments from moving forward.

    Shapiro used his executive powers Tuesday to push through his previously proposed Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development standards, which were initially pitched as voluntary incentives for data center developers to receive tax breaks, but failed to receive support from the GOP-controlled state Senate. All projects will be required to follow GRID’s environmental, economic, and transparency requirements in order to move forward.

    “I have no other choice than but to take this executive action to protect the good people of Pennsylvania from these predatory developers and from these projects that would negatively impact our communities,” Shapiro said after signing the order.

    Shapiro’s order also:

    • Removes all data center developments, including those by Amazon, from the fast-track permitting program, and no data centers will be considered for the program moving forward.
    • Requires data center projects to sign legally binding agreements to certain transparency and environmental requirements in GRID, such as water conservation standards and early and transparent public notification of proposed projects ahead of key local approvals. Companies must follow GRID guidelines to access the state’s existing sales tax break for data centers.
    • Prohibits any state agency from signing a nondisclosure agreement related to a data center project.
    • Instructs the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to publish a publicly accessible map of current permitting information for all proposed data center projects.
    • Mandates that the projects bring their own electricity generation and pay all costs associated with increased energy usage.
    • Requires a community-benefit agreement that includes promises to hire and train local employees, as well as developer investments in schools or infrastructure.
    • Underscores Pennsylvania’s unique state constitutional rights to clean air, pure water, and environmental preservation — a focus of many residents who oppose data center projects.

    ‘On notice’

    Pennsylvania has become a top target for data center projects, due to its key placement near some of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, its energy production potential, and its vast rural areas.

    But data centers have become increasingly unpopular in the year since Shapiro championed the Amazon deal as one promising that the future of artificial intelligence “is going to run right here through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

    In a June poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 76% of registered Pennsylvania voters said they would oppose a data center in their communities. Only 24% of voters said they approve how Shapiro is handling data centers in Pennsylvania, including 40% of Democrats — a drop from his 51% overall favorability in the same poll.

    His past support for data centers emerged as a potential liability to his reelection campaign and his 2028 prospects.

    A yard sign protests the proposed data center on New Elm Street near the Closed Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill photographed on Thursday, June 4, 2026 in Conshohocken, Pa.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Shapiro delivered remarks in Harrisburg before signing the order, touching on his visit to Archbald, a rural town in Northeastern Pennsylvania set for widespread data center development. The governor also outlined his opposition to controversial projects in Shapiro’s home county, Montgomery County, that he had recently denounced.

    “Archbald and Montco are just two examples of dozens of communities being overrun and overwhelmed by developers who don’t give a damn about us and think they can have their way,” Shapiro said. “Today, I’m formally putting them on notice.”

    Shapiro took specific issue with the more than 100 speculative projects across the state, which include some from real estate developers who are seeking building approvals without determining or disclosing the company for which they would be storing the data.

    The Data Center Coalition — the leading data center group representing Amazon, Microsoft, and other top developers — said in a statement that distinguishing between real, company-led projects and proposals is important and that rules should not be “changed midstream” for “verified and responsible data center projects.”

    “Companies have made plans, communities have prepared for economic opportunities, and workers are ready to build the next generation of digital infrastructure right here in Pennsylvania,” said Dan Diorio, the executive vice president for state policy and government affairs at the Data Center Coalition.

    Diorio previously told The Inquirer that Shapiro’s GRID standards were “extensive” compared with the 37 other states that offer sales tax exemptions.

    Shapiro’s administration appeared prepared to face legal challenges from the deep pockets of the data center industry or property developers. The order includes a severability clause, something not traditionally used in executive orders, that says if any parts of the order are “held to be invalid,” the rest of the order still stands.

    Shapiro has previously said his position on data centers has evolved. But his order Tuesday is perhaps his most dramatic shift: He has gone from consulting Amazon and the data center industry on his GRID principles earlier this year to pulling the tech giant and others from the state’s fast-track permitting program and requiring community-benefits agreements for the projects to move forward.

    Pa. state lawmakers found common ground on this data center policy — but still couldn’t reach a deal
    Gov. Josh Shapiro signs an executive order restricting data centers in Pennsylvania during a ceremony in the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Tuesday August 18, 2026.Kalim A. Bhatti / For The Inquirer

    The Amazon projects currently underway in Pennsylvania have already passed through the first phase of permitting, and will be required like all other projects to follow the requirements moving forward, a spokesperson for Shapiro said.

    An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

    There are six data center projects under construction in Pennsylvania, and 10 have received at least one state-level permit approval, Shapiro’s office previously told The Inquirer.

    Shapiro and the General Assembly have been under pressure by anti-data center activists to enact guardrails on the massive projects, with many arguing that Pennsylvania moved too quickly and sacrificed the state’s safety in favor of Big Tech. Pennsylvania lawmakers nearly unanimously supported ending the sales tax exemption for the projects, but failed to implement a measure during the spring legislative session.

    At the news conference Tuesday, Shapiro invited representatives from the Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors — the main group representing the local governments at the forefront of pushing for data center restrictions — in addition to advocacy groups including the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project and the National Resources Defense Council. The groups praised Shapiro’s plan.

    Though Shapiro’s order was widely lauded by Democratic state lawmakers and environmental groups, it was met with criticism from some of his detractors, including his Republican challenger for governor in November, Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

    Garrity’s first TV ad featured Shapiro’s support for data centers, and on Tuesday she said in a statement that Shapiro is “trying to gaslight the people of Pennsylvania into not believing what they’ve seen with their own eyes for the past 13 months.” (Garrity’s position on data centers has also changed since the June 2025 announcement, which she lauded at the time; she has since said Pennsylvania needs to put a “pause” on all data center development.)

    Megan McDonough, the state director for advocacy organization Food and Water Watch, said in a statement that “Shapiro knows that he’s been acting out of accordance with what Pennsylvanians actually need,” but that the order falls short.

    “Shapiro is feeling our heat because Pennsylvanians have made it impossible for him to ignore us,” she said. “The only solution to addressing AI data centers’ many woes is by placing a mandatory moratorium on all new data center development.”

  • Why Pennsylvania quietly repealed its 1929 midwifery law — and is now getting sued for it

    Why Pennsylvania quietly repealed its 1929 midwifery law — and is now getting sued for it

    HARRISBURG — Hidden deep in more than 600 pages of state budget documents, Pennsylvania lawmakers last month quietly repealed an unenforced 1929 law that allowed traditional midwives, the main group of midwives delivering home births, to practice.

    Now, traditional midwives — who differ from midwives usually found in hospitals, are not medically trained, and often serve religious minorities like the Amish — are worried they have no legal standing to work in Pennsylvania and are challenging the repeal and a new law in state court.

    The 1929 law had been on the books for nearly a century, asking traditional midwives to submit a paper application and a $10 fee to get a state certificate. But it had not been enforced for decades, and Pennsylvania, which has one of the highest rates of home births in the nation, was counted as one of 13 states that did not regulate the practice at all.

    Meanwhile, other forms of midwifery — such as nurse midwives and certified midwives, who are medically trained and are formally affiliated with a doctor or health system — are highly regulated by the state and its medical board. But these affiliations often prevent nurse midwives and certified midwives from offering home births, as the health systems see them as possible risks for medical malpractice lawsuits.

    The practice of traditional midwifery dates back to the Old Testament and has lived on through centuries of community knowledge and traditions. It can include Amish and Mennonite midwives, who are limited in the amount of education they are allowed to receive, as well as other unlicensed midwives who say they take only low-risk pregnancies.

    Some Pennsylvania traditional midwives say their practice is more necessary than ever, citing the United States’ maternal mortality and morbidity rate and cesarean section rates that outpace most of the rest of the Western world. They see their work as more holistic and personal than the American medical system, offering more personalized care to the new parent and baby for weeks after birth, as well as an answer to maternity care deserts as more hospitals and birth centers close.

    Medically trained midwives and physicians, who receive licenses from the state, argue the practice of traditional midwifery is potentially unsafe for mothers and babies, and requires little to no oversight in comparison to their medical training and licensure.

    A new law, and legal uncertainty

    There is no state law regulating home births — which are chosen by a variety of families for different reasons, from Amish who have religious beliefs about delivering at home to Black and brown women who have felt underserved or discriminated against by the modern healthcare system. But if traditional midwives — the primary group delivering babies in home births — cannot practice, some argue, home births will become inaccessible.

    The legal fight over midwifery began earlier this year, when the General Assembly approved changes to a separate law to include another class of midwife: certified midwives, who have all the same education training as nurse midwives except the nursing degree. To receive a certification from the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine, nurse midwives and certified midwives must provide proof of education and a collaborative agreement with a physician or medical institution.

    The law, the Midwife Modernization Act, was written to protect traditional midwives’ ability to practice, its author, Sen. Rosemary Brown (R., Monroe), said in a statement.

    Kate McHugh, a nurse midwife who has worked for a decade with lawmakers on updates to midwife regulations, said stakeholders approached traditional midwives during earlier iterations of the bill to see how they would like to be regulated. The different groups of traditional midwives could not agree, so the nurse midwives and certified midwives moved forward on their own.

    But the changes to Pennsylvania’s laws created a legal gray area, some midwives argued in a lawsuit filed last month.

    An anonymous group of two traditional midwives, a nurse midwife, and an Amish man whose family utilizes traditional midwifery filed a lawsuit in a state appellate court, challenging Brown’s law as unclear about their ability to practice, and asking the state to enforce the 1929 law already on the books.

    After the lawsuit was filed, legislators repealed the 1929 law as part of an overall state budget deal, creating more uncertainty for traditional midwives, according to their amended filing. Some lawmakers said they did not know they had voted to repeal the law, as the state budget is drafted in closed-door meetings among top leaders and fast-tracked through the legislative process with little time for rank-and-file members to review what they are voting on.

    The law was repealed as part of a request by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, according to a source briefed on budget conversations. The administration works closely on legal matters with Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office, which is defending the state in the case. Shapiro’s office declined to comment.

    “It’s not fair the way [the budget] is done,” said Rep. Dave Zimmerman (R., Lancaster), who said he unknowingly voted in support of the bill that repealed the 1929 law in an omnibus bill. “It concerns me a little bit that we repeal something in the fiscal code rather than right up front where it’s transparent.”

    “You have people in the Amish and Mennonite community that this is what they do. We have midwives that have been doing this for 30 and 40 years, They’re probably as good as anyone else doing it, certified or not,” Zimmerman added.

    The lawsuit

    The group of traditional midwives filed the lawsuit anonymously out of fear of retribution from the state for continuing to practice, said the group’s attorney, Jonathan Goldman, of the Goldman Law Team, based in Fort Washington. The midwives spoke with The Inquirer on the condition of anonymity for the same reason.

    One of the midwives, who serves south-central Pennsylvania with a largely Amish and Mennonite clientele, said she has delivered 1,600 home births over 38 years. She had practiced traditional midwifery in other states, before similar certifications were required there. At one point, she said, she was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for continuing to practice home births in New York.

    Unlike medically trained nurse midwives and certified midwives, traditional midwives are prohibited from practicing medicine, which could mean dispensing medication or conducting medical procedures as simple as stitches. They have historically been investigated by state boards of medicine if this is called into question, making the group even more distrustful of state oversight.

    One of the anonymous traditional midwives, who has delivered an estimated 600 births around eastern parts of Pennsylvania, said her clients are often religious and want traditional models of care, such as no lab work and one ultrasound — a very hands-off approach compared to the highly surveilled pregnancies in modern medicine.

    The midwife, who delivered four of her 10 children in the hospital before finding an interest in home births, said her faith as a born-again Christian drew her to the “completely different model of care” that does not rely on pharmaceuticals, with a comfortable home setting and few restrictions like in a hospital.

    “In the hospital, it’s a fractured system. There are several midwives and physicians, you never know who you’re going to get, who is going to be on call,” said the midwife, who works with Amish and Mennonite populations in south-central Pennsylvania. “We are the community midwives. We know the secrets, we know the stories, we know what kind of care works. We know the family intimately. And it improves outcomes because knowing them intimately and emotionally allows us to provide that kind of specialized care.”

    Sunday’s office, defending the state in the suit, said in a July 24 filing that the midwives’ claims are a “misreading and misunderstanding of the current law,” and that traditional midwives “can continue to practice as lay midwives without certificates.” Sunday’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

    The case is scheduled for a preliminary injunction hearing to block the law from going into effect on Wednesday, where Brown and other lawmakers may be called to testify and a judge is expected to rule whether current laws prevent traditional midwives from practicing.

    Outside the medical system’s framework

    Obstetricians in hospitals and birth centers routinely work with certified midwives, who have an advanced degree in midwifery, and nurse midwives, who have a nursing degree in addition to specialized midwifery training.

    “As an OB-GYN physician, I absolutely respect somebody’s right to make a medically informed decision about how they take care of themselves in their pregnancy, and who they request assistance from in birth, and where they give birth to their babies,” said Holly Cummings, an OB-GYN in Philadelphia and chair of the Pennsylvania section of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a leading physician organization. “But I do also believe a hospital or an accredited birth center is the safest place to give birth. I don’t think in the U.S. in 2026 we can currently safely, uniformly support home birth.”

    ACOG does not support traditional midwives, who can also be known as lay midwives.

    But traditional midwives maintain they should be able to continue their work outside the medical system’s framework, citing it as a religious tradition and safe practice, and hope the judge rules in their favor.

    “Pennsylvania has a rich history of midwifery,” said the midwife listed in the lawsuit who serves parts of eastern Pennsylvania. “We have some of the highest home-birth numbers in the country. … It would be sad to see Pennsylvania not acknowledge the heritage in midwifery that we have here.”

    Staff writer Sarah Gantz contributed to this article.

  • Gov. Josh Shapiro’s admin consulted with Amazon and data centers on his marquee protections, records show

    Gov. Josh Shapiro’s admin consulted with Amazon and data centers on his marquee protections, records show

    Gov. Josh Shapiro spent months preparing a set of standards he promised would “hold data center developers accountable.”

    But behind the scenes, top Shapiro administration aides were drafting the framework with the input of Amazon and the powerful data center lobby and sharing early drafts with company officials before making them public, records show.

    The emails, first reported by climate change media outlet HeatMap earlier this year and obtained by an anti-data center activist in Montour County through the state’s open records law, show a cozy relationship between Shapiro’s administration and data center developers. But they also show the role the technology giants played in influencing the final version of Shapiro’s guardrails — though that influence only went so far.

    Shapiro in May introduced the initiative as the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development, or GRID, which are a set of transparency and environmental standards data center developers would need to meet to access state tax breaks and other incentives Shapiro asked the General Assembly to write into law. The Democratic-controlled state House approved these standards, but it’s stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate, as legislators struggle to find common ground on one of the most hot-button issues facing them today.

    A spokesperson for Shapiro said the administration consulted numerous stakeholders as part of the drafting of the policies, including the Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and more. Data center development is supported by many building trade unions across the state, which are likely to benefit from the major projects.

    Environmental groups broadly support Shapiro’s proposal and want stronger regulations on data center projects. Some groups want to ensure the provisions are mandatory, instead of voluntary, as Shapiro proposed.

    “As finalized, the Governor’s GRID standards set firm guardrails to protect Pennsylvania communities and hold data center developers accountable to strict standards requiring them to take additional action to ensure Pennsylvania communities benefit — and are not harmed — by these projects,” said Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s press secretary, in a statement.

    Shapiro, a Democrat seeking reelection this year and a possible 2028 presidential contender, has remained data-center friendly and emphasized that Pennsylvania should play a core role in the “battle for AI supremacy.”

    But he has sharpened his rhetoric in recent months, citing his own personal evolution on the issue, as public opinion has also shifted with roughly 76% of Pennsylvanians across party lines opposing the projects.

    “Too many of these projects have been shrouded in secrecy, with local communities left in the dark about who is coming in and what they’re building,” Shapiro said in his budget address in February.

    Yet as other states like New York have put moratoriums on data center development, Shapiro has chosen to fast-track permits and support tax breaks to incentivize the massive projects, though he now believes they should meet certain voluntary standards.

    Amazon has already committed to a $20 billion investment in Pennsylvania — the biggest investment in state history — to build two data center campuses in Luzerne and Bucks counties and will access the state’s sales tax exemption for data centers as approved by the General Assembly in 2021.

    The Data Center Coalition — the powerful industry group made up of data center developers like Amazon, Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Microsoft — shared feedback on several drafts of Shapiro’s GRID principles and approved of most of its measures. But the industry still has “some significant concerns” with the voluntary program, including its clean energy provisions requiring certain percentages of its power to be from low- or zero-carbon sources.

    Dan Diorio, the Data Center Coalition’s executive vice president of state policy and government affairs, described the proposed GRID program’s requirements to access tax breaks as “extensive” compared to the 37 other states that offer sales tax exemptions.

    “We look forward to continuing to work with the legislature and the governor’s office on outlining what would ensure Pennsylvania remains a strong and competitive data center market,” Diorio said.

    Fengqi You, an energy systems engineering professor at Cornell University and data center expert, said it’s best practice for governments to consult all stakeholders, including industry leaders. But data center developers and local communities have opposing viewpoints that must be balanced, he said.

    “The right model, in my view, is to consult widely all the stakeholders, decide independently, and disclose transparently,” You said. “The standards are only as strong as the conditions and the consequences.”

    But some of the conditions should not be voluntary incentives, like Shapiro proposed, You said. This has been echoed by some environmental and anti-data center groups, which argue that the provisions don’t go far enough if compliance is ultimately voluntary for the tech giants.

    “It’s a useful starting point, but the incentive conditions should not substitute a minimum public protection for all,” You said. “If a company is receiving a tax exemption, then the state should have every reason to attach some very strong public interest conditions.”

    ‘Not ban or discourage data centers’

    Ahead of Shapiro announcing his plans for GRID as part of the state budget address, Shapiro administration officials went further in their efforts to reassure companies like Amazon, which they’ve courted for years, records show.

    In a Feb. 3 email, Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger wrote to Amazon Web Services staff that Shapiro would not “ban or even discourage data centers” and that “this new approach will not look back at projects or agreements already in place.”

    Other emails, sent in March by Sam Robinson, a deputy chief of staff to Shapiro, request that Amazon and the Data Center Coalition submit their feedback and mark up drafts. Shapiro’s administration declined to share those earlier feedback drafts.

    Legislators in Pennsylvania’s split General Assembly did not write Shapiro’s GRID proposal into law as part of this year’s $50.8 billion budget deal, and only enacted one new data center requirement despite near-unanimous support to repeal tax breaks for the projects. Shapiro now says he’s “considering all executive actions” he can do without the legislature.

    Colby Wesner, a pediatrician in Montour County, received troves of emails from top Shapiro administration officials, top Amazon staff, and more as part of several Right-to-Know Law requests he submitted to find out more about a now-blocked project near his home.

    “It’s a really insincere attempt,” Wesner said of the GRID principles. “It’s a public relations stunt.”

    Now that Shapiro is considering acting on his own, Wesner said he wants to know whether Shapiro will add restrictions or continue to welcome the projects into Pennsylvania.

    “Maybe he is listening to constituents and an executive action will demonstrate that he is listening to citizens,” Wesner added. “If it is, then great for him. But to date, everything he has done has been pro-data center industry.”

    Amazon , for its part, declined to comment on its role in the drafting of the GRID principles, which, if approved, would not apply to their ongoing projects. Becky Ford, a principal for global infrastructure expansion at Amazon Web Services, replied to Robinson on March 18 that they “look forward to providing feedback.”

    “We’re committed to being good neighbors in the communities where we build and operate, and will continue working with state and local leaders to invest responsibly and to keep creating good jobs across the Commonwealth,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

  • ICE formally withdraws plans to build two Pennsylvania detention centers, Gov. Josh Shapiro says

    ICE formally withdraws plans to build two Pennsylvania detention centers, Gov. Josh Shapiro says

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has formally reversed its plans to establish two ICE detention centers in Pennsylvania that were intended to hold up to 9,000 immigrants, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday.

    The decision, which comes amid opposition from the state and from local communities, marks the end of efforts to convert warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, as the Trump administration works to offload some sites that were intended to support its mass-deportation agenda.

    Shapiro, a first-term Democrat seeking reelection this year, told DHS officials in February he would “aggressively pursue every option to prevent these facilities from opening,” and his administration later denied permits to update local water and sewage systems to handle thousands of additional people.

    On Wednesday, Shapiro praised the federal decision and credited his administration’s work to block the facilities.

    “From the beginning, I’ve been clear that these warehouses should not be used as ICE detention centers because they are not suitable for people and converting them to detention centers would have posed serious risks to the health, safety, and infrastructure of the surrounding communities,” he said.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro on July 21.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Two sites had been purchased in Pennsylvania ― one in Upper Bern Township, in northern Berks County, and another in Tremont Township, in Schuylkill County, where the plan for a former Big Lots discount store warehouse drew the ire of residents. Both plans faced steep opposition from top officials like Shapiro and from local community activists.

    ICE confirmed its plans to withdraw its permit requests in a filing Wednesday to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, as well as in a July 13 letter from DHS Assistant Director James Ingalsbe.

    News emerged earlier this year that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to spend more than $38 billion to buy warehouses and retrofit them as detention centers that would hold tens of thousands of immigrants. Those two dozen properties, including the two in Pennsylvania, would be located across the country, with some holding as many as 10,000 detainees.

    In Pennsylvania, the Berks County project would have held 1,500 detainees, while the Schuylkill County one would have held 7,500.

    An expanded ability to confine immigrants was central to Trump’s plan to deport as many as 1 million people a year. The additional space was necessary to help ICE respond to White House demands for greater numbers of arrests.

    As of July 11, ICE held 65,765 people in detention, up from 60,311 in April, but below the record high of 70,766 set in January, according to Syracuse University professor Austin Kocher, who studies immigration data.

    During Trump’s first year in office, the government fell short of his million-deportation goal, removing 622,000 people through mid-December, fewer than the 778,000 deportations carried out in President Joe Biden’s final fiscal year, according to the American Immigration Council in Washington.

    While some around the country saw the conversion of empty warehouses as a chance for new jobs, others were opposed over humanitarian concerns, the impact on water and sewerage use, and the potential loss of tax revenue.

    Earlier this summer, it appeared likely that the plans in Pennsylvania were being discarded.

    The New York Times reported in June that ICE planned to offload its two properties in Pennsylvania and a third in New Jersey, which were purchased for more than $336 million. Those were among seven warehouses across the nation that would be sold or handed off to other federal agencies, according to the Times.

    The same month, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) said that detention-warehouse plans would not go forward in Tremont and Upper Bern Townships and that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had “recognized the negative impacts these facilities would have in Pennsylvania.”

  • The SEPTA special prosecutor in Philly is set to expire this year. Will state lawmakers extend it into Larry Krasner’s third term?

    The SEPTA special prosecutor in Philly is set to expire this year. Will state lawmakers extend it into Larry Krasner’s third term?

    The special prosecutor for crimes on or near SEPTA property will be funded through the end of the year as part of the newly approved state budget, Pennsylvania lawmakers said this week.

    After that, the office’s fate is uncertain.

    The controversial position is set to expire in December. It was championed by GOP lawmakers in Harrisburg, who for years have tried to limit Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s powers and contended that the position was necessary because Krasner failed to prosecute crimes on the state’s largest transit system.

    Legislators set aside another full year of funding for the office — $1.2 million — but haven’t agreed whether they will extend it further into Krasner’s third term, which began in January.

    Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana), the top Republican leader in Pennsylvania’s split legislature, where Democrats narrowly control the state House and Republicans lead the state Senate, said Democratic leaders repeatedly rejected GOP efforts to extend the position as part of the closed-door budget talks.

    Krasner’s office has strongly opposed the law that created the special prosecutor position, calling it a “shocking usurpation of power” that unconstitutionally singled out Philadelphia and stripped an elected officials’ authority.

    He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

    The post has also faced opposition from Philadelphia-area lawmakers who say the effort is an affront to city voters who have reelected Krasner, a progressive prosecutor, three times.

    “This is nothing more than voter suppression and an attempt to circumvent some of the extremely popular criminal justice reforms under this DA,” said Sen. Nikil Saval (D., Philadelphia), who chairs the city’s Senate delegation to Harrisburg.

    Pittman, by contrast, said extending the special prosecutor is a critical component for Senate Republicans to agree to a new long-term funding source for SEPTA, which is approaching another fiscal cliff that could cause service disruptions when the state’s current short-term fix runs out next year.

    Asked about the future of the special prosecutor’s office, House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) said at Shapiro’s budget signing earlier this week that he hadn’t “given it much thought.”

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, a Republican who is tasked with overseeing the office, has lauded the special prosecutor’s work so far.

    He said his office supports extending the position, calling it a “force multiplier” that has been effective in combating violent crimes against both SEPTA employees and riders.

    “Our caseload reflects a range of very serious conduct — including murder and aggravated assaults — and we have secured results through convictions,” he said.

    In one example of that effort, the special prosecutor will oversee the case of a 22-year-old woman charged with simple assault after authorities said she pepper-sprayed and punched a conservative social media influencer during a viral confrontation on a SEPTA bus.

    While legislators approved the special prosecutor’s office in 2023, it has been mired in legal challenges from the district attorney’s office in years since and did not begin taking on cases until last year.

    Some House Democrats supported creating the role in 2023, as part of a state budget deal with the Senate GOP and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was critical of Krasner when he served as attorney general.

    Saval said Democrats shouldn’t use the position as a bargaining chip again.

    “House Democrats who voted to suppress the will of Philadelphians should be ashamed of themselves, and should not support other attempts to do so,” Saval added. “This has nothing to do with the essential task at hand, which is to secure funding for mass transit.”

    A spokesperson for Bradford said the House needs to “take a critical look” at whether the SEPTA special prosecutor is necessary. She noted SEPTA’s success in reducing crime and the size of its police force, but said the money used to fund the position may be better spent to reduce fare evasion by replacing gates to full-length ones that cost $40,000 each.

    The funding was approved in the 2026-27 fiscal year budget “in the case of reauthorization,” and would be used to wind down the office, said Beth Rementer, Bradford’s spokesperson. Any unused funds would be returned to the general fund, she said.

    A spokesperson for Shapiro declined to comment on the prosecutor role, but said Senate Republicans “need to do their jobs” to find a long-term funding solution for mass transit.

    The office

    The office is overseen by Special Prosecutor Michael Untermeyer, a former deputy attorney general and real estate investor who ran against Krasner in the 2017 primary.

    Untermeyer did not respond to a request for comment.

    The single lawyer employed by his office is investigating about 15 cases, including charges of homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery, according to a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office. That figure does not include cases the special prosecutor is considering taking on or are still under investigation, the spokesperson said.

    Lawmakers could still choose to extend the position as part of their fall legislative session. It is among the several time-sensitive issues before the General Assembly ahead of the November election, in which Democrats hope to flip control of the state Senate for the first time in decades.

    Krasner’s office has challenged the special prosecutor role from the beginning. His office filed a lawsuit in 2024 in an attempt to nullify the law, but was rebuffed by a 4-3 Commonwealth Court ruling that said legislators had not violated the state constitution in creating the post.

    The office then appealed to the state Supreme Court, which has yet to decide the matter. As the high court heard oral arguments in the case last year, justices cited the Pennsylvania Constitution when suggesting that the legislature had been free to pass such a law, even if it interfered with the duties of an elected county official.

    And lawyers for the attorney general’s office argued that the special prosecutor role did not strip Krasner’s power, but rather offered additional powers to a prosecutor appointed by the attorney general to handle cases involving crimes in and around SEPTA property.

  • Here’s what’s in — and not in — Pennsylvania’s $50.8 billion state budget

    Here’s what’s in — and not in — Pennsylvania’s $50.8 billion state budget

    HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s new $50.8 billion state budget was sprawled across more than 600 pages of legislation and signed into law on Sunday. New data center regulations, education funding, and more were approved in the wide-ranging spending package.

    But some of the most pressing issues facing the General Assembly were noticeably absent from the final deal, as Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers in the split legislature were unable to reach a compromise — or did not want to touch the contentious issues until after they are up for election in November, sidelining some of Shapiro’s top budget priorities.

    Here’s a look at what is in — and what was left out of — the 2026-27 Pennsylvania state budget.

    Pa. lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro have approved a $50.8 billion state budget, delaying action on key issues

    In: Education funding increases

    Pennsylvania took another jump toward filling a multibillion-dollar funding gap between wealthy and poor school districts, after a court found that the state’s old system of funding education was unconstitutional. Since 2024, when the state first implemented new adequacy and tax equity formulas in efforts to fill the $4.5 billion “adequacy gap,” lawmakers have put nearly $1.9 billion toward funding lower-income districts, with plans to fill it by 2032.

    “It keeps our promise to our school districts,” said State Rep. Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia), who serves on the powerful appropriations committee responsible for allocating state dollars, in remarks on the House floor Sunday.

    The latest installment of adequacy and tax equity payments — $565 million — will largely go to low-income districts that already have high property taxes. The Philadelphia School District, Pennsylvania’s largest district and the only one in the state that is unable to raise its own revenue, will get $136 million of that funding increase.

    Out: Revenue generators

    Shapiro proposed generating new revenue streams to help the state fix its multibillion-dollar structural deficit in his last four budget addresses. But the ways he wants to raise that cash have drawn resistance from Senate Republicans, who argue they are not policies that will improve the state’s economic standing — or cannot reach agreement within their caucus on how to address the issues.

    Shapiro this year did not get the hefty minimum wage increase he asked for, seeking to raise the hourly rate from $7.25 to $15 — and counting on the higher wage for $80 million in higher income tax revenues. Nor was he able to get the General Assembly, where Democrats control the House and Republicans lead the Senate, to approve adult-use cannabis, which his office estimated would bring in $729.4 million in its first year, largely through licensing. (House Democrats have approved plans for a minimum wage increase and recreational marijuana legalization, but the Senate has not voted on the bills.)

    Could recreational marijuana really bring $1.3 billion in revenue to Pa. over five years? Here’s how other states are faring.
    Screen shows skill games and cannabis regulation and reform as Gov. Josh Shapiro makes his annual budget proposal in the state House chamber in Harrisburg Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Shapiro, in his February budget proposal, also called on the General Assembly to regulate and tax skill games at the same rate as casinos, a move that he has estimated could generate nearly $800 million in revenue in its first year. But any regulation of skill games — slot machine look-alikes that the state Supreme Court ruled last month are a form of gambling — was left out of the budget.

    Lawmakers have until October to decide whether skill games will be taxed and regulated, under a grace period in the high court’s ruling. Otherwise, the devices found in many corner stores, gas stations, and bars will become illegal gambling machines. The issue has been the target of more than $8 million in lobbying and $9 million in campaign spending in Harrisburg, mostly funded by one company.

    How ‘skill games’ exploded across Pennsylvania — and sparked a multimillion-dollar political fight
    State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) during a press conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    “We can act within the 120 days; we can act after the 120 days,” Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said Sunday. “But the choice is now quite simple. These machines are illegal, and in less than 120 days, they will be leaving the marketplace.”

    In: Data center reporting requirements

    Data centers — which are seeing a boom in Pennsylvania as artificial intelligence usage increases and communities push back on where the centers are being built — will be required to submit information about their energy and water usage.

    Beginning next summer, data centers in the state with a peak energy demand greater than 10 megawatts will be required to submit information annually to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

    Outlined as part of this year’s fiscal code, those reports will be publicly accessible. Data centers that do not submit information about their resource usage will be fined $10,000 a day.

    A yard sign protests the proposed data center on New Elm Street near the Closed Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill photographed on Thursday, June 4, 2026 in Conshohocken, Pa.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Out: Data center regulations

    A data center regulation bill, which would have limited state benefits for data center developers and was championed by Shapiro, was not included in the final budget deal. The governor called for limiting a sales and use tax exemption and expediting permitting to projects that comply with a set of transparency and environmental standards.

    And several other data center regulation efforts that have received bipartisan support in recent weeks were also absent from the final spending package.

    Those included efforts to repeal the sales tax exemption afforded to data center developers and attempts to enact a local or statewide moratorium on new data center development.

    Both chambers passed language repealing the tax exemption and advanced differing bills to freeze development. One Democratic-sponsored bill would have given municipalities the option to implement a 180-day moratorium on new centers. The other, a Republican-sponsored measure, would allow for local moratoriums of up to 18 months.

    In: Compromise

    Compromise was the word of the day around the Capitol on Sunday, when the legislature swiftly passed the more than 600-page budget deal hashed out behind closed doors by Shapiro, Pittman, and House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) and passed with bipartisan support in both chambers.

    The legislative leaders and Shapiro emphasized that they did not get exactly what they wanted in the budget, as a symptom of dealing with divided government. And leaders were proud to have reached the deal less than two weeks after their July 1 deadline, rather than the nearly five months it took to hash out an agreement last year.

    House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) speaks on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Lawmakers had agreed to work over the weekend to hurriedly approve the budget deal, with members of the Senate coming in on Saturday night to begin advancing parts of the budget deal and the House joining them Sunday afternoon. By 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Shapiro had signed it.

    Among the inspirations for the weekend of productivity, Bradford said: making it to the MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia, for which he had tickets.

    Out: Typical budget math

    Leaders returned to some old accounting maneuvers to address the state’s multibillion-dollar structural deficit and avoid pulling from the state’s emergency savings account.

    They spent down unused and underused dedicated funds, and rolled some of the state’s Medicaid payments totaling $1.3 billion to the next fiscal year, a move lawmakers typically resorted to before the state saw an influx of federal dollars during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Without those delayed payments, the state budget would total closer to $52.1 billion, and several GOP members criticized the total as being disingenuous.

    In: Cost-of-living bumps for pensioned workers

    More than 80,000 retired public-sector employees will receive a cost-of-living adjustment to their pensions, something advocates have sought for years.

    More than 80,000 Pa. retired teachers, police officers, and firefighters will get a pension bump — some for the first time in decades

    Public school teachers and other state employees who retired before July 1, 2002, will receive a tiered monthly payment based on the date of their retirement. Similarly, police officers and firefighters who retired more than five years ago will receive monthly payments ranging from $50 to $300, depending on how long they have been retired.

    Lawmakers from both parties had called for the cost-of-living increase.

    In: Closing Philly’s sales tax loophole

    Legislators also agreed to close a loophole that allowed online sellers to avoid paying Philadelphia’s local 2% sales tax on purchases made in the city.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker had asked the General Assembly to close it as part of her own city budget pitch in a move estimated to bring an additional $1.5 million to Philadelphia.

    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is cheered by members of Philadelphia City Council at conclusion of her budget address, Thursday, March 12, 2026.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Out: Banning cell phones in schools

    Twenty-nine states have bell-to-bell cell phone bans. This year, Pennsylvania will not join them, despite the passage of two separate phone ban bills — one in each chamber of the legislature.

    In: Mandatory recess for students K-5

    Recess is now law in Pennsylvania.

    Another education policy change championed by Shapiro, a mandatory, 30-minute recess for students in kindergarten through fifth grade was established in this year’s budget as a way to improve learning outcomes.

    Out: Addressing looming problems — with looming deadlines

    Several Pennsylvania funding issues that have gone years without being addressed were left out of the latest budget, some with more pressing deadlines than others.

    Lawmakers did not address a need for mass transit funding — which led to last year’s bitter budget stalemate among legislators — but are expected to identify a long-term funding stream for the transit agencies next year when a two-year fail-safe runs out.

    Public transit is in trouble all across Pennsylvania, including in GOP districts
    Senator Nikil Saval, speaks at a press conference calling for more SEPTA funding from the state at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, June 26, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Other local governments and service providers said their needs are more pressing.

    The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania released an urgent plea after the state budget was signed, noting that counties still have not received the critical mental health funding they need, or a surcharge increase used to fund 911 call systems. Home-health service providers also continued their calls for increased state funding they say is needed, as the industry faces serious staffing issues due to low state reimbursement rates.

    Pennsylvania’s home care industry is in crisis, with low pay and unfilled shifts driving it toward collapse

    In: More funding for rape crisis centers

    Rape crisis centers got a much-needed funding increase, from $12 million to just over $24 million.

    Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center had to lay off its employees and rely on volunteer work during last year’s monthslong state budget impasse.

    Republican and Democratic lawmakers championed the organizations in this budget, making it the largest single-year increase for the critical services in state history, according to the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect.

    “Today marks a turning point for survivors and rape crisis centers across Pennsylvania,” said Joyce Lukima, the organization’s coalition director, in a news release.

    Ethan Young is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association.

  • Pa. lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro have approved a $50.8 billion state budget, delaying action on key issues

    Pa. lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro have approved a $50.8 billion state budget, delaying action on key issues

    HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a $50.8 billion state budget on Sunday following the rushed passage of the overall deal by the General Assembly that lawmakers said helps address the state’s affordability crisis but delays action on some of the most significant issues before the legislature.

    The agreement, which was due at the beginning of the month, marks an improvement from last year’s nearly five-month budget impasse in the split legislature that required school districts, counties, and social service providers to take out expensive loans or close altogether.

    “We managed, as the [vote count] indicates, to find compromise without compromising our core values,” Shapiro said during a news conference Sunday evening, before signing his fourth budget as Pennsylvania’s governor.

    The deal was hashed out over weeks in closed-door meetings among top leaders and includes new transparency requirements for data centers, publicly funded housing projects, and public transit agencies. Lawmakers also agreed to a long-sought cost-of-living adjustment totaling approximately $168 million per year for some Pennsylvania retired teachers, police officers, and firefighters — some of whom have not seen an increase to their monthly pension payments in more than 20 years.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro, flanked by fellow state Democrats, signs the 2026-27 Pennsylvania state budget in Harrisburg, Pa. on Sunday, July 12, 2026.Gillian McGoldrick / Staff

    More education funding, data center requirements

    Pennsylvania will have invested nearly $2 billion in new school funding through its adequacy and tax equity formulas since 2024. That’s when lawmakers first employed the new calculations to close a $4 billion “adequacy gap” after a landmark court ruling that found the state was illegally underfunding students in low-income districts. This year’s installment of adequacy funding topped $565 million, as part of an effort to prevent districts from having to raise property taxes on already low-income residents. The additional investment sends $136 million more this year to the School District of Philadelphia.

    Legislative leaders failed to agree in the final budget on other issues that have seen broad support in both chambers, such as repealing a sales tax exemption for data center projects, allowing local moratoriums on data center projects, or banning cell phones in K-12 schools. They may revisit the issues during the fall legislative session.

    Instead, they approved a new reporting requirement that will force data centers to submit annual reports detailing their water and energy usage. The companies will face a $10,000-a-day fine for failing to submit their reports.

    The General Assembly also voted to close a sales-tax loophole that allowed online sellers to avoid paying Philadelphia’s local 2% sales tax on items sold in the city. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker had requested that the loophole be closed as part of her own budget pitch in a move estimated to bring an additional $1.5 million to the city.

    No decision on skill games

    But the budget does not address some of the most pressing issues before the General Assembly, including whether to tax and regulate skill games or allow the more than 70,000 gambling machines in Pennsylvania bars, corner stores and fraternal organizations to become illegal come October. The state has until then to decide how to approach the machines after the state’s Supreme Court last month determined that skill games, which have for years operated in a legal gray area, are slot machines and should be regulated as such. They also punted on finding a long-term funding solution to fund mass transit until next year, when a two-year fail-safe runs out.

    How ‘skill games’ exploded across Pennsylvania — and sparked a multimillion-dollar political fight
    The state House chamber as Gov. Josh Shapiro makes his annual budget proposal in Harrisburg Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Shapiro, a first-term Democrat facing reelection this year, proposed a $53.3 budget in February that for a fourth time emphasized top Democratic initiatives such as raising the state minimum wage to $15 per hour or legalizing recreational marijuana. He also proposed other initiatives, such as a $1 billion critical infrastructure fund to help the state drive out public dollars to build more housing and energy generation, which did not see funding in the final budget deal.

    State Sen. Nikil Saval (D., Philadelphia) was among the two Democrats who opposed the state budget, in part because it did not make the ambitious investments needed to address the state’s limited affordable housing stock.

    “We cannot defer at this moment,” added Saval, the chair of the Philadelphia delegation in the Senate, in his floor remarks before the vote.

    Lawmakers also declined to create any new generators of revenue for Pennsylvania, and deferred addressing the state’s multibillion dollar structural deficit until future years.

    ‘Met in the middle’

    The overall deal passed with bipartisan support in the GOP-controlled Senate, 44-6, and in the House, where Democrats hold a narrow majority, 167-35.

    “We have met in the middle,” said Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana). “I am proud of this product, despite what some naysayers may say.”

    The 2026-27 budget, which is a 1.4% increase in spending over the prior fiscal year, has no widespread tax increases. It also largely relies on accounting maneuvers like spending down unused or underused dedicated funds to address the structural deficit instead of pulling from the state’s emergency savings account.

    One of the accounting moves to balance Pennsylvania’s budget includes delaying two months of payments totaling $1.3 billion to insurance companies that fulfill the state’s ballooning Medicaid programs until the next fiscal year. Without those delayed payments, the budget would total closer to $52.1 billion.

    Several GOP House members opposed the budget, arguing it is unbalanced and only postpones tax increases to future years if spending isn’t cut.

    State Rep. Brad Roae (R., Crawford), called the final budget a “fake number.” State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa (R., Fayette) called it “voodoo math.” And State Rep. Marc Anderson (R., York) said the state was “cooking the books.”

    But broadly, both Democratic and Republican members called the budget a reasonable compromise, acknowledging that they will have additional work to do in the fall legislative session and during next year’s budget negotiations to balance the state’s finances. During speeches on the Senate floor, several Republican senators quoted The Rolling Stones’ song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” emphasizing the second half of the refrain: “You might find you get what you need.”

    State Rep. Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia) also turned to music to represent his position on the budget deal, paraphrasing Anthony Hamilton’s “Do You Feel Me” as a response to his constituents’ concerns about affordability by sending more state dollars to school districts to help them avoid property tax increases and raising monthly pension payments for retirees.

    “I am glad to stand today to support it, to let the people of Pennsylvania know, baby, the message is getting through,” Harris added.

    Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association Intern Ethan Young contributed to this article.

  • Top Pennsylvania leaders have reached a $50.8 billion state budget deal, sources say

    Top Pennsylvania leaders have reached a $50.8 billion state budget deal, sources say

    HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top legislative leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro have reached a $50.8 billion budget deal, more than a week after a new state budget was due at the start of the fiscal year, according to two sources briefed on the closed-door conversations.

    Details of the contents of the overall budget deal were not immediately available on Saturday, as lawmakers are expected to begin reviewing the bills in the coming days and a final budget is expected to reach Shapiro’s desk by early next week. The state Senate was scheduled to advance parts of the budget on Saturday evening, and the House was scheduled to do the same on Sunday afternoon.

    Though the deal comes more than a week past due, the agreement on the state budget framework among Pennsylvania’s Democratic-controlled House, Republican-led Senate, and Democratic governor marks an improvement from last year’s nearly five-month budget impasse that required school districts, counties, and social service providers to take out expensive loans or close altogether.

    But budget negotiations were less contentious this year, with several major issues taken off the table, including whether the state will tax and regulate skill games, whether the state should create additional school choice programs for students in low-income school districts, and how Pennsylvania will fund mass transit when a two-year fail-safe runs out next year.

    Half of the state Senate and all 203 state representatives are up for reelection this year, and many are eager to approve a state budget and return to their districts to campaign. Many of the more contentious issues before the legislators appear to have been kicked to the General Assembly’s fall legislative session or will resurface in budget talks next year, when lawmakers are not scheduled to face voters. Shapiro, too, is up for reelection this year; his Republican challenger is State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

    Pennsylvania’s budget deal was crafted largely in secret over weeks of closed-door meetings involving top legislative staff and leaders including Shapiro, House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery), and Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana).

    The overall budget deal presented to the General Assembly will feature a state spending plan, in addition to some policy changes as part of horse-trading of legislative priorities by top leaders.

    One major policy change that appeared to be advancing as part of the overall deal on Saturday evening is a bill to allow local municipalities to pass ordinances placing a moratorium on data center development for no longer than 18 months. That bill, Senate Bill 1345, sponsored by Sen. Jarret Coleman (R., Bucks/Lehigh), was scheduled for a committee vote Saturday evening, when amendments to the bill were possible.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro arrives on the state House chamber to make his annual budget proposal in Harrisburg Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Shapiro hinted that a deal was near on Thursday at a news conference in Altoona, saying, “You’re going to see a lot of activity in the Capitol this weekend.”

    “We’ve been working hard, really hard, to bring both sides together, to bring together Democrats and Republicans, and I think you’re going to see a result that benefits the good people of Pennsylvania really soon,” Shapiro added.

    It was not immediately clear how legislative leaders and Shapiro agreed to fill the state’s billion-dollar structural deficit without creating any new revenue streams as part of the 2026-27 fiscal year budget. Even if lawmakers did not increase spending this year — which they are expected to do — the state would need to make up $1.2 billion to balance the budget.

    The deal’s 1.4% increase over last year’s $50.1 billion budget does not allow much room for new spending, unless other existing programs have been cut.

    In new spending, the deal appeared to include an increase to the state’s funding for public education through its adequacy and tax equity formulas, which were designed by lawmakers in 2024 to close a $4 billion “adequacy gap” following a landmark court ruling that found Pennsylvania was illegally underfunding students in low-income districts.

    “If the adequacy number was not agreed to, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” said State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Philadelphia), who is the minority chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, on Friday evening. “I think the adequacy number will be consistent with what the governor proposed.”

    Shapiro proposed a $53.2 billion budget in February, which included a $565 million increase to adequacy funding for public schools. He also included new potential revenue generators from taxing and regulating skill games, legalizing recreational marijuana, and increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. None of these potential revenue generators appeared to make it into the final deal.

    How ‘skill games’ exploded across Pennsylvania — and sparked a multimillion-dollar political fight
    Screens shows skill games and cannabis regulation and reform as Gov. Josh Shapiro makes his annual budget proposal in the state House chamber in Harrisburg Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    The state is on track to bring in $48.9 billion this year in revenue, according to the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office’s latest projections. Pennsylvania also maintains a $7.7 billion Rainy Day Fund that Senate Republicans have tried to prevent the state from tapping into. It is unclear whether lawmakers will agree to access some of the reserve dollars as many Pennsylvanians face an affordability crisis. Tapping into the Rainy Day Fund requires a two-thirds majority vote by both chambers.

    The state budget topped $50 billion for the first time last year and has increased by 25% — approximately $10 billion — over a five-year period.

    Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association intern Ethan Young contributed to this article.

  • Delco man arrested after antisemitic tirade and threats against Gov. Josh Shapiro, state police say

    Delco man arrested after antisemitic tirade and threats against Gov. Josh Shapiro, state police say

    A Delaware County man was charged Wednesday after allegedly making threats against Gov. Josh Shapiro during a visit to a state representative’s office, including a threat to “burn down … [Shapiro’s] mansion with him in it,” Pennsylvania State Police said.

    Police said the threats occurred when Richard John Franklin, 65, of Brookhaven, visited State Rep. Leanne Krueger’s legislative office in Brookhaven alongside his brother on Tuesday to dispute and request help with an unanticipated and unpaid tax bill totaling $19, according to the criminal complaint. When a staffer tried to assist Franklin in completing a form to waive the taxes, Franklin “became irate and crumbled up the paper,” police said.

    Franklin then began making threats the staffer believed were “threatening, harassing, and antisemitic in nature,” according to the complaint, including: “I guess I’ll pay that Jew. That Jew needs the money more than me” and “I’d like to burn down his [expletive] mansion with him in it.” Police said Franklin repeatedly referred to Shapiro as a “‘Jew’ multiple times in a negative manner.”

    State law enforcement officers charged Franklin with felony levels of terroristic threats and ethnic intimidation, in addition to lower-level charges of harassment and disorderly conduct.

    Shapiro, a Democrat who is among the most prominent Jewish officials in the country, has faced multiple threats of violence since becoming Pennsylvania’s top executive. In April 2025, a man broke into the state-owned governor’s mansion on the first night of Passover with a hammer and set several firebombs inside while Shapiro and his family were sleeping in a different part of the residence. The man, Cody Balmer, later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

    The arson at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion erupted within minutes. The impact lingers.
    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pauses during a news conference at the governor’s official residence discussing the alleged arson that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa.AP Photo/Marc Levy

    Early Wednesday, investigators from the state police political violence threat unit visited Franklin at his Brookhaven home, where he provided conflicting accounts of what occurred at Krueger’s office before ultimately admitting to “calling the Governor a ‘Jew’ in a negative manner” and added that his “brother told him he should not have made the statement,” according to the criminal complaint. Franklin denied making any threats toward Shapiro, but admitted to referring to the previous arson attempt at the governor’s residence during the outburst, police said.

    State police said they arrested Franklin without incident.

    Franklin’s brother, who witnessed the events at Krueger’s office, disputed the state police account and said his brother never threatened the governor.

    Leroy Franklin, 72, of Chester, said his brother visited the state representative’s office seeking information about a tax bill he had received, despite paying his state taxes through an accountant this year.

    After the brothers spoke to a staffer who did not have answers for them, Richard Franklin became upset and raised his voice, Leroy Franklin said.

    In a phone interview Wednesday, Leroy Franklin recalled his younger brother saying something to the effect of: “I’ve been on disability for 15 years, but I guess the state needs my money more than I do.”

    The two were together at Krueger’s office the entire time, Leroy Franklin said, adding that he did not hear his brother use an antisemitic slur. He also disputed that his brother threatened arson.

    “Anybody who said he did is lying,” Leroy Franklin said.

    Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, Leroy Franklin said, he received a call from his younger brother. Richard Franklin told him that police were at his apartment and he was not sure where they were going to take him, Leroy Franklin recounted.

    When the two spoke on the phone again later that morning, Leroy Franklin said, he learned police were taking his brother to jail.

    “I don’t know what the heck anyone is talking about,” Leroy Franklin said Wednesday. “This is a bit extreme, to put it mildly.”

    Richard Franklin was being held at the Delaware County prison with bail set at $100,000, according to court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 16, according to court documents. A lawyer for Franklin was not listed on court records.

    Franklin is a registered Democrat, Pennsylvania voting records show. He has no prior convictions in Pennsylvania.

    Shapiro’s office referred requests for comment about the incident to state police.

    In a statement Wednesday, State Police Sgt. Logan Brouse said the agency “takes threats against the lives of public officials seriously,” noting the state police political violence threat unit was created “to address the growing amount of ideologically motivated violence against elected officials.”

    Man arrested after making ‘hit list’ threats against 20 Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers, police say

    The unit was created in May, after a Lebanon County man allegedly posted a “hit list” to social media targeting 20 state Democratic lawmakers. Adam Berryhill, 42, was arrested on May 6, after he was connected to an X account that posted a potential plan to attack the legislators. Some of the lawmakers named on the list said they had not been alerted to the threats against them, prompting state police leaders to update their communication protocols and create the investigations unit.

    Krueger (D., Delaware) referred a request for comment to a spokesperson for House Democrats.

    Nicole Reigelman, a spokesperson for House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), said in a statement that threats of political violence are becoming commonplace, “and every incident must be treated with the seriousness it deserves.”

    “Healthy democracies depend on robust debate and respectful disagreement — not threats, intimidation, or violence,“ Reigelman added. ”Political violence has no place in our communities, and Pennsylvanians must unite in condemning it whenever and wherever it occurs.”

  • Pa. officials mourn the death of former State Sen. Shirley Kitchen, who represented North Philly for 20 years

    Pa. officials mourn the death of former State Sen. Shirley Kitchen, who represented North Philly for 20 years

    Pennsylvania elected officials are mourning the death of former State Sen. Shirley Kitchen, the second Black woman to serve in the state Senate and a champion for progressive issues who represented parts of North Philadelphia for more than two decades. She died Saturday at 79. A cause of death was not immediately clear.

    Kitchen represented the 3rd Senatorial District, composed of parts of North Philadelphia, for 20 years. She is remembered by her former colleagues as a pillar and matriarch of her community who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of low-income people, even after she retired.

    “She did so many things for so many people. Now that I’m old enough to appreciate it, I’m not quite sure how she did it — and she did it with such force,” said State Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D., Philadelphia), who served alongside Kitchen in the Senate and had known her for decades. Kitchen was elected to the state Senate in 1996 and served five terms before retiring in 2016.

    Her former colleagues, some through tears, credited many of Pennsylvania’s recent criminal justice reforms as being born under Kitchen’s leadership, with her early legislative proposals paving the way for their passage years later. For example, Kitchen authored early drafts of what is now known as the Clean Slate Act, which automatically seals some nonviolent convictions after 10 years, hiding them from most employer and landlord background checks. She first introduced similar legislation in Harrisburg years earlier and it failed. In 2018, two years after Kitchen retired, the Clean Slate Act became law in Pennsylvania and was heralded as a first-in-the-nation model for criminal justice reform.

    Elected officials across the city shared their condolences, remembering Kitchen as an advocate who cared deeply for her community.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in a social media post on Sunday recalled Kitchen as “fighting for people who often had no one else to fight for them,” and as a trailblazer for Black women in politics.

    “Shirley Kitchen cared about working people, and she cared about Philadelphia,” said Parker, the city’s first Black female mayor and a former state representative.

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement that Kitchen “never forgot who she was fighting for,” dedicating her life to making people’s lives better.

    State Rep. Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), Pennsylvania’s first Black female speaker of the House, wrote in a social media post that Kitchen was “a mentor and her service in the state House and Senate inspired me greatly.”

    Williams added that Kitchen also sought to elevate other Black politicians, like himself, to elected office — and laid the groundwork for much of the city’s current political progressivism.

    “The reality is that a lot of the infrastructure that helps them, Shirley had everything to do with it, and more,” Williams said, noting her advocacy and experience during the Civil Rights Movement. “I would hope the progressives in this generation would tip their hat to a generation that really created the progressive movement.”

    State Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia) had known Kitchen since he was a child, and said she helped him see the power a Senate seat has in improving the lives of his neighbors. When she decided to retire, Kitchen encouraged Street, who was on her staff at the time, to run to fill the vacancy in the 3rd District following her fifth and final term in the state Senate.

    Williams and Street recalled Kitchen as a fair but demanding mentor.

    “If she told you to do something, you better do it,” Williams said, with a laugh.

    For Street, Kitchen “didn’t limit her advice. She had opinions about everything in my life, including when my wife was right and I needed to listen to her.”

    Street said he spoke with Kitchen weekly, and Williams said he remained in touch with her as recently as last month. She often had ideas or issues she wanted the senators to take up. Street spoke with her last week about a forthcoming Registered Community Organization meeting that she was leading about a new proposed development nearby, emblematic of her continued involvement in her community.

    Prior to her election to the state Senate, Kitchen was involved in the National Welfare Rights Movement, which was a progressive advocacy group for the dignified treatment of women and children, largely led by Black women, during the 1960s and 1970s, Williams said.

    Kitchen served as the minority chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee, in which she often leaned on her social work experience to inform her legislative proposals.

    A Democrat in a time where Republicans controlled the state legislature, she served her entire tenure in the minority party, but was still able to garner bipartisan support for some of her legislative proposals.

    “This image of her being an urban Black woman from Philadelphia would limit her ability to get stuff done in the Senate just wasn’t true,” Williams added. “She could analyze people and figure out what way to approach them with exceptional skill.”

    Born in 1946 in Augusta, Ga., Kitchen attended the Philadelphia School District and graduated from Antioch University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in human services, according to her Senate Library biography. She went on to work for former Philadelphia Mayor John Street, Sharif Street’s father, before she was elected to the state House in a special election in 1987. After she lost reelection to the seat in 1989, Kitchen returned to Harrisburg a decade later after her election to represent the 3rd Senatorial District.

    “She was a transformational figure that loved her community and understood that the purpose of those of us holding elected power is to be able to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve, in a way that they can feel and see,” Sharif Street added.

    Funeral services will be announced in the coming days, he said.

    Senator Shirley Kitchen in the audience during speeches in honor of the historical marker that was unveiled at Sullivan Progress Plaza September 14, 2016. The plaza was the first black-owned and operating shopping center in America. Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.Margo Reed/ Staff Photographer