Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
Shapiro tied to unofficial voter registration website secretly harvesting user data, mailers show.
Gov. Josh Shapiro allowed his signature to be used on mailers guiding people to request mail-in ballots through Vote.pa — a URL that closely resembles the official state voter registration website of vote.pa.gov but which also surreptitiously collects user
data for political campaign purposes.
The new revelation underscores the deep extent to which Pennsylvania Democrats and left-of-center organizations have invested in the website that one Republican state representative called an “obvious attempt to steal information from voters or potential voters.”
Vote.pa is owned and managed by Commonwealth Communications, a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit managed by JJ Abbott. Abbott has a long resume in Democratic politics, including a stint as press secretary for former Governor Tom Wolf. Aside from managing Vote.pa, Commonwealth Communications sponsors various political messaging that supports Democrats and left-of-center causes.
Can PA Even Afford This?
The energy landscape in Pennsylvania is rich. We’ve taken advantage of our huge coal and natural gas resources for more than a century. More recently, prolific gas production has ensured low heating and power generation costs in Pennsylvania for years. But the transition to a ‘green’ economy could stop this progress with clean coal and gas-fired generation, and could mean giving up our natural gas appliances too.
The energy industry in Pennsylvania has served us well. Pennsylvania homes and businesses enjoy energy low prices and good energy jobs. But now this is being threatened with bad science and misguided politicians.
PA Lawmakers Push to Plant Green Energy Windmills in Lake Erie
Residents along Lake Erie may one day soon see wind turbines rising above the water surface.
This, after the state House OK’d a plan to permit land leases in the central and western regions of the lake. While supporters say the development plans avoid ecological and economic disruptions, critics beg to differ.
“If this bill is proposed for environmental stewardship, it’s anything but,” said Rep. Jake Banta, R-Waterford, during floor debate Tuesday.
Tell Governor Shapiro we need lower energy prices, not more green energy schemes! Send a message here.
