Top 10 Stories: Harrisburg/PA Politics Reported By Local News Media Last Week

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: Gov. Shapiro Viewed Favorable 3 Months Into His Term: Poll

-- Erie Times: New Poll: Who Are Most Popular/Unpopular State Officials In PA?

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: New Poll: Despite Economic Pessimism, Hope Abounds In PA

-- PA Senate/House

-- PA Capital-Star: With Democratic PA House Majority, Advocates Hopeful Progressive Policy Goals Will Become Law

-- TribLive Editorial: Campaign Finance Reform Is Part Of Election Security

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: Could PA Legislature Expel Members For ‘Disorderly’ Floor Behavior Like Tennessee

-- TribLive Editorial: PA Legislature Should See Tennessee Expulsions As Cautionary Tale

-- U.S. Senate/House

-- The Center Square: OH. PA Congressional Lawmakers Want Commitment National Institutes Of Environmental Health To Help Respond To Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: PA’s U.S. Senators Leading The Way In Holding The Rail Industry Accountable

-- TribLive: Fetterman Says Severe Depression Made Him ‘Indifferent’ To Living

-- May Primary Election

-- Spotlight PA: PA Supreme Court Candidates With Party Backing Show Fundraising Advantage

-- PA Capital-Star: 4 PA Appellate Court Positions Are On The Primary Ballot; Meet The Candidates

-- PA Capital-Star: From Voter Registration To Mail-In Ballot Requests, What To Know Ahead Of May 16 Primary

-- UnionProgress.com: Legal Wrangling Delays Mail-In Ballots In Allegheny County

-- Election Reforms

-- Spotlight PA: Supporters Hope PA’s New Legislature Will Embrace Open Primaries, Big Hurdle Remains

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Closed Minds Prevent Open Primaries

-- TribLive Editorial: Campaign Finance Reform Is Part Of Election Security

-- Post-Gazette/PennLive - Charles Thompson: PA Gets Targeted For Voter Education Efforts By Bipartisan Advocacy Group

-- Post-Gazette/PennLive: New PA Political Action Committee Aims To Sell Mail-In Voting To Skeptical Republicans

-- Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- City & State PA: Norfolk Southern Spent Millions On Lobbying And Political Donations In Harrisburg/Washington, D.C., Will It Pay Off?

-- The Center Square: OH. PA Congressional Lawmakers Want Commitment National Institutes Of Environmental Health To Help Respond To Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: PA’s U.S. Senators Leading The Way In Holding The Rail Industry Accountable

-- PennWest University California To Host April 13 In-Person/Online Program Ask The Expert: Environmental Disasters On Norfolk Southern Train Derailment  [PaEN]

-- FracTracker Alliance StoryMap Explores Environmental, Community Impacts Of Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Train Derailment One Of Many Environmental Disaster In PA [Abandoned Oil/Gas Wells, PFAS, Lack Of Resources To Enforce Laws]

-- TribLive: Norfolk Southern Train Derails In Pittsburgh Carrying Empty Steel Cars

-- USA Today: Families Weigh Future After Toxic Train Derailment: ‘I Don’t Want To Leave Them Behind’

-- WPost: Federal Regulators Called On Railroads To Review ‘Train Makeup’ Amid Rising Derailments Of Long Trains

-- Bucks County/Delaware River Chemical Spill

-- Courier Times: Trinseo, The Company Behind The Bucks County Chemical Spill, Here’s What We Know

-- WHYY: Philly Water Dept. Confirms Water Continues To Test Clean After Bucks County Chemical Spill

-- WHYY: Chemical Spill Prompts Review Of How Climate Change Could Threaten Philly’s Drinking Water

-- PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- PJM This Week Sends Penalty Assessments Of Up To $2 Billion To Electric Generators That Failed To Perform During December’s Winter Storm Elliot; Natural Gas Power Plants Had 63% Of Outages  [PaEN]

-- Utility Dive: Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant Owner Nautilus Power Seeks FERC Protection From PJM Nonperformance Penalties During Winter Storm Elliot

-- Utility Dive: Four More Power Plant Owners Seek FERC Protection From PJM Nonperformance Penalties For Winter Storm Elliott

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: Congressional Republican Bill Aimed At Lowering Energy Costs Will Do Anything But That, Here’s Why - Clean Air Council 

-- PUC Reminds Consumers Of April 11 Hearing On Proposed 8.9% UGI Electric’s Rate Increase

-- York Daily Record: Columbia Gas Wants To Decrease Its Gas Rates

-- Marcellus Drilling News: $2 Natural Gas Price Is Temporary, Just Like $10 Gas Was

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs - No Change From Last Week: 24

-- Reuters: Why U.S. Natural Gas Output Keeps Rising Creating Surplus As Prices Sink, Some Producers Have Cut Drilling To Stave Off Further Convulsions

-- Marcellus Drilling News/S&PGlobal: Chesapeake Energy CEO Says 20-25% Of U.S. Natural Gas Production Will Be Exported

-- Reuters: U.S. LNG Natural Gas Exports Back On Rising Track, Reached Record In March

-- EnergyWire: LNG Natural Gas Industry Urges U.S. To Prioritize Gas Exports

-- PA’s Role In Assault On U.S. Capitol

-- MCall: Berks County Man Charged With Crimes Related To Assault On U.S. Capitol

-- WITF: Berks County Man Charged With Crimes Related To Assault On U.S. Capitol

-- Scranton Times: Woman Charged With Crimes Related To Assault On U.S. Capitol Reflects On Being ‘Brainwashed’ By Ex-President

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Even His Most Loyal Supporters Will Face Fatigue With Ex-President - By Mark Singel

-- PA/Harrisburg Politics Potpourri

-- Erie Times: New Poll: Who Are Most Popular/Unpopular State Officials In PA?

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: New Poll: Despite Economic Pessimism, Hope Abounds In PA

-- City & State PA: Norfolk Southern Spent Millions On Lobbying And Political Donations In Harrisburg/Washington, D.C., Will It Pay Off?

-- PennLive - John Baer: As Religion, Patriotism And Tolerance Decline, Think Public Policy Gets Better?

-- PA Capital-Star: Florida Governor Makes Pitch To PA Conservatives

-- City & State PA: Fmr Gov. Corbett Calls For ‘Hyper-Localized’ Dialogue On Democracy, Civics

-- Courier Times: PA Lawmakers Join Conservative Effort To Amend The U.S. Constitution

-- Budget 2023

-- The Center Square: State Budget Talks Halftime - Spend Money To Make Money

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Pennsylvania’s Tax System ‘Punishes’ Working Class Data Shows

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Shapiro’s Proposed PA State Police Fund Saves Road Dollars But Raises Accountability Concerns

-- Dept. Of Revenue Reports March State Revenues $499.4 Million Over Its Estimates - 8.8%; Up $1.1 Billion For Fiscal Year

-- Independent Fiscal Office: March State Revenues $494.1 Million Above IFO Estimate -8.9%; Up $2.1 Billion For Fiscal Year 

-- COVID Pandemic/Health

-- Spotlight PA: Dept. Of Human Services Faces Shortage Of Workers As Health Coverage For Thousands Is On The Line

-- Post-Gazette: Millions Of Pennsylvanians Must Renew Medicaid Benefits After 3 Years Of Federal Protection During Pandemic

-- School Districts/Higher Education

-- Spotlight PA: Almost 40 Elementary Schools Closed In Northcentral PA In Past Decade, Here’s Why [Spoiler - Not Enough Students]

-- Law Enforcement

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Shapiro’s Proposed PA State Police Fund Saves Road Dollars But Raises Accountability Concerns

-- The Economy

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Pennsylvania’s Tax System ‘Punishes’ Working Class Data Shows

-- Post-Gazette: Report: Allegheny County Loses 50,000 Jobs In 5 Years, More Than Any In PA

-- Other

-- Post-Gazette - Salena Zito: Major Corporations And Institutions May Be Hostile, But Religion In America Stays Alive

-- MCall: Neo-Nazi Fliers Being Distributed On Trains In Philadelphia

[Posted: April 9, 2023]