Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
A School Choice Revival in Pennsylvania
A bill to create school vouchers for Pennsylvania students is getting another chance at life after Democrats killed it last year. The state Senate Education Committee voted 8-3 last week to advance the legislation, teeing it up for budget negotiations. Will Gov. Josh Shapiro fold again?
Last year the Democratic Governor announced his support for the scholarships, then vetoed them in the budget when House Democrats balked. The scholarships, worth several thousand dollars each, would let low-income students in poorly performing public schools switch to a private school. The funds—which would have their own appropriation, not taken from public schools—could also be used for ”school-related
fees” and special education services.
But Gov. Shapiro’s veto message left room to revive them, and he repeated that in his budget address in February. The scholarships are “something I support and consider to be unfinished business,” and “we’ve left room for the House and Senate to find common ground on this,” he said.
Left’s “Sue-Till-Green” Strategy Comes to PA
When climate activists use the term “environmental justice,” they mean it literally. Rather than legislating and passing laws (as is customary in a constitutional republic), they’ve turned to the courts to fight their quixotic battles.
Pennsylvania is no stranger to litigating climate-related policies.
The Keystone State’s history with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), for example, has been nothing but litigious. The legal battle began when Governor Tom Wolf unconstitutionally entered Pennsylvania into the multistate compact. A Commonwealth Court ruled that Wolf’s executive order constituted an illegal tax, but Wolf’s successor, Governor Josh Shapiro, appealed the decision, prolonging the legal limbo.
Shapiro's Boondoggle in the Budget?
Gov. Josh Shapiro brought his budget-promoting roadshow to the Delaware Valley Thursday, talking up increased spending on mass transit. What he didn’t discuss is the growing gap between rising costs and declining ridership.
The Democratic governor has been going around the state drumming up support for his $48.3 billion proposed 2024-25 budget.
On Thursday, Shapiro jumped on the SEPTA train at Rydal Station in Abington and rode to Langhorne Station in Bucks County to focus attention on his call for $282.8 million in additional spending on public transit. He was joined by PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll, SEPTA CEO Leslie Richards, and Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson, along with local legislators.
Shapiro argues millions of state residents take public transit to work, school, or travel. He says public transit availability also helps employers recruit workers, connect with clients, and makes the state economically competitive.
PA Budget May Not Be on Time...Again
State Senate Appropriations Chair Scott Martin on Monday echoed his past reservations about Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal for next year and made no promise that lawmakers would bring the budget in on time.
Martin, the Martic Township Republican who holds significant sway over the state’s budget bills, said at the monthly Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon that he and his caucus take issue with Shapiro’s pitch to use $3 billion of the state’s fiscal reserves to fund aspects of his $48.3 billion proposal, which would reduce reserves from $14 billion to $11 billion.
That spending path, Martin has said, could drain the state’s stockpile in just a few years.
Check out our latest podcast, Disunion: The Government Union Report to see how public-sector unions are holding Pennsylvania back Listen here.
