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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Pennsylvania Society To Honor David L. Cohen During Annual Dinner In New York City - By Patricia D. Wellenbach, PA Society President 

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Post-Gazette: Shapiro Joins Lawsuit Against President’s HUD Cutting $100 Million In Federal Funding For PA To Address Homelessness

-- Budget 2025 (Almost 2026)

-- TribLive: How Pennsylvania Broke Through 135 Days Of State Budget Gridlock

-- PA Capital-Star: Emergency Management Disaster Aid Scores Increase In State Funding To Offset Loss Of Federal Support

-- Post-Gazette: New 5-Year Outlook On PA State Budget Shows Lots Of Red Ink

-- Altoona Mirror/CapitolWire: PA Fiscal Crisis Looming As State On Pace To Have $5.84 Billion Deficit

-- US Senate/House

-- Inquirer: President Renews Call To Jail PA, Other Democratic Members Of Congress After They Tell Troops They Have The Right To ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’

-- TribLive: FBI Wants To Question Democratic PA Cong. Deluzio, Other Lawmakers Who Made Video Advising Military Service Members Of The Law On Refusing Illegal Orders

-- PA Capital-Star: John Fetterman Is An Unusual Politician, But His Rise Reflects A Recent Trend

-- Post-Gazette: Fetterman’s Fundraising, Small-Dollar Donations Drop In 2025 Amid Clashes With Democrats

-- Statewide Offices

-- Attorney General Sunday Joins Coalition Objecting To Federal Moratorium On State Regulation, Policing Of Artificial Intelligence  

-- 2026 Elections

-- City & State PA: PA Political Party Chairs Focusing On 2026

-- 2020 Election

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Man Accused Of Double Voting In 2020 Election Said President’s Pardon Applies To Him

-- Elections

-- AP: Big Changes To Federal Agency Charged With Securing Election [PA Relying On Its Own Resources]

-- Protesting The President

-- Attorney General Sunday Joins Coalition Objecting To Federal Moratorium On State Regulation, Policing Of Artificial Intelligence  

-- Altoona Mirror: Blair County ‘Lights For Liberty’ Group Vigil Puts Federal ICE ‘Inhumane Treatment’ Practices In Focus

-- Inquirer: Faith Communities Showing Up At Federal ICE Office In Philadelphia For 40 Weeks Of Prayer And Protest

-- PA Impacts Of President’s Policies

-- AP: Big Changes To Federal Agency Charged With Securing Election [PA Relying On Its Own Resources]

-- Post-Gazette: Shapiro Joins Lawsuit Against President’s HUD Cutting $100 Million In Federal Funding For PA To Address Homelessness

-- Financial Times: Bethlehem, PA - ‘Scraping For Crumbs:’ Americans Squeezed By Affordability Crisis  [PDF of Article]   

-- Morning Call Guest Essay: PA Residents Would Benefit From Congress Extending Health Care Tax Credits To Lower Cost Of Health Insurance - By Todd Shamash, President & CEO Of Capital Blue Cross

-- The Guardian: How President Derailed Coal Country’s Clean Energy Revival: ‘Deeply Demoralizing’

-- PA Capital-Star: Emergency Management Disaster Aid Scores Increase In State Funding To Offset Loss Of Federal Support

-- Altoona Mirror Editorial: Associated Press Is Standing For Your Right To Speak Freely In Case Against White House

-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: President’s EPA Again Reverses Course On Coke [Coal] Oven Rule For Toxic Air Pollution, Granting 2-Year Waivers To Comply

-- AP: President’s EPA Moves To Abandoned Rule That Sets Tough Standards For Deadly Soot Pollution 

-- Clean Air Task Force: EPA Asks Court To Strike Down Fine Particulate Air Pollution Standard Threatening Public Health, Undermining Obligation In Federal Clean Air Act

-- EPA Extends Deadline For Compliance Of Coal Waste Surface Impoundments By 3 Years To 2031 

-- Morning Call Guest Essay: President’s Administration Putting National Parks In Peril - By John Plonski, National Parks Volunteer, Former Executive Deputy DCNR 

-- New Federal Administration

-- Inquirer: President Renews Call To Jail PA, Other Democratic Members Of Congress After They Tell Troops They Have The Right To ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’

-- TribLive: FBI Wants To Question Democratic PA Cong. Deluzio, Other Lawmakers Who Made Video Advising Military Service Members Of The Law On Refusing Illegal Orders

-- Miscellaneous State/Harrisburg Politics

-- TribLive/Spotlight PA: ‘Skill’ Gambling Games Avoid Regulation Again In PA As Gambling Lobby War Intensifies

-- WITF: Public Officials Cheer, Watchdogs Fume Over PA Supreme Court Softening Key Public Access Law

-- A.I. /Data Centers

-- In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - December 1  [PaEN]

-- PJM Market Monitor Files Complaint With FERC Saying PJM Is Proposing To Allow A.I. Data Centers To Connect To Grid That It Cannot Reliably Serve, Will Require Blackouts To Maintain Service  [PaEN]

-- PUC Chairman Highlights 'Extraordinary Challenges' Pennsylvania Families Are Facing This Winter With Energy Bills And His Appreciation For Groups Providing Assistance  [PaEN]

-- International/National Impacts On PA Natural Gas

-- AAA Average Gasoline Prices: National- $3.01  Ohio- $2.68   PA- $3.22

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs - 18 - Same As Last Week

-- PJM Market Monitor Files Complaint With FERC Saying PJM Is Proposing To Allow A.I. Data Centers To Connect To Grid That It Cannot Reliably Serve, Will Require Blackouts To Maintain Service  [PaEN]

-- PUC Invites Comments On Model Tariff For Connecting A.I. Data Center To The Grid

-- In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - December 1  [PaEN]

-- PUC Chairman Highlights 'Extraordinary Challenges' Pennsylvania Families Are Facing This Winter With Energy Bills And His Appreciation For Groups Providing Assistance  [PaEN]

-- TribLive: Why Your Electric Bill Is Rising This Winter And How To Prepare [A.I. Data Center Demand, Rising Natural Gas Costs]

-- PUC: Most PA Electric Utility Consumers To See 3.7% To 10.6% Increase In Electricity Prices During The Next 3 Months Starting Dec. 1  [PaEN] 

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Electricity Costs Set To Rise In Most Of PA Next Month Due To A.I. Data Center Demands, Backlog Of New Generation Sources [Duquesne Light: Customers Facing ‘Astronomically Higher Bills’]

-- Utility Dive: US EIA: Residential Electricity Prices Continue Rise, Up 7.4% In September; Natural Gas Up 47.4%; No One Sees A Near-Term Solution

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Federal Red Tape Is Strangling Pennsylvania Natural Gas Energy Boom - By Joseph Pitts, Former PA Member Of Congress 

-- Flooding

-- PA Capital-Star: Emergency Management Disaster Aid Scores Increase In State Funding To Offset Loss Of Federal Support

-- Inquirer: Philly Area’s Most Flood-Prone Waterways Mapped

-- Clairton Coke [Coal] Works Explosion

-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: President’s EPA Again Reverses Course On Coke [Coal] Oven Rule For Toxic Air Pollution, Granting 2-Year Waivers To Comply

-- Gas Explosions

-- TribLive: 2 Years After Rustic Ridge Natural Gas Explosion That Left 6 People Dead, Lot Could See New Home Built Next Year In Allegheny County 

-- Education

-- PA Capital-Star: Carnegie Mellon University Seeks World’s ‘Best and Brightest’ But Visa Woes Anti-China Rhetoric Have Some ‘Freaked Out’

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Pittsburgh Schools’ Biggest Deficit Isn’t In Money, But In Trust

-- TribLive Editorial: School Funding, Private Cyber Charter School Oversight Are State-Created Problems

-- TribLive Editorial: Crushing College Debt Isn’t Smart

-- Health Care

-- Spotlight PA: What PA’s Budget Does For Rural Hospitals, Communities

-- TribLive: Vaccination Rates In Schools Cause Concern For Parents, Medical Professionals

-- Morning Call Guest Essay: PA Residents Would Benefit From Congress Extending Health Care Tax Credits To Lower Cost Of Health Insurance - By Todd Shamash, President & CEO Of Capital Blue Cross

-- Law Enforcement

-- Inquirer: White State Trooper Who Served ON Shapiro’s Security Team Sues State Police Alleging Racial Discrimination

-- Altoona Mirror: Blair County ‘Lights For Liberty’ Group Vigil Puts Federal ICE ‘Inhumane Treatment’ Practices In Focus

-- Inquirer: Faith Communities Showing Up At Federal ICE Office In Philadelphia For 40 Weeks Of Prayer And Protest

-- The Economy

-- Financial Times: Bethlehem, PA - ‘Scraping For Crumbs:’ Americans Squeezed By Affordability Crisis  [PDF of Article]   

-- WNEP: HBO’s ‘TASK’ TV Program Secures $49.8 Million PA State Tax Credit For PA Production

[Posted: November 30, 2025]