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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Spotlight PA: End Of Federal Stimulus Money Will Push Some PA Municipalities Off A Fiscal Cliff, Shapiro Administration Fears

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Powerful Interests Poured $18 Million Into Top PA Lawmakers’ Campaign Coffers

-- TribLive Editorial: PA Should Guard Against The Power Of Lobbying Money

-- PA Capital-Star: Shapiro Announces $5 Million RCAP Grant To A Muslim Group For Community Center In Philadelphia

-- Post-Gazette: Gov. Shapiro Demands President Rescind $13 Million In Funding Cuts Affecting PA Food Banks, Farmers

-- LancasterOnline Editorial: Lancaster County Dairy Farmers Need Certainty, Not The Chaos Of President’s Shifting Tariffs Policy

-- WITF: Gov. Shapiro Supports Bhutanese Refugees In Face Of Federal ICE Arrests

-- PennLive: Central PA Bhutanese Detainees Moved To NJ, Told They Would Be Flown To An Unknown Destination In 72 Hours 

-- Post-Gazette: Gov. Shapiro Calls President’s Tariffs ‘Dumbest Economic Decision’ He’s Ever Seen By A President

-- Inquirer: Republicans Garrity-Mastrianao For Governor In 2026?

-- Budget 2025

-- Spotlight PA: Private Funding Created 100s Of New Child Care Spots In York County, But That Funding Is Ending

-- PA House/Senate

-- PoliticsPA Analysis: What The Democratic Victory In Lancaster County State Senate Race Means [‘It’s Time For Common Sense, Kindness And Transparency’ ‘We Are Watching Our Values Be Denigrated In Washington’]

-- AP: Democrats Take Hope From Upset Win In Republican-Leaning Lancaster County State Senate District

-- The Center Square: Democrats Flip Reliably Red State State Senate Seat

-- LancasterOnline: ‘Shock And Disbelief’: Democrats’ Victory In State Senate Race Stuns Lancaster County

-- TribLive: Democrat Wins Big In PA House Race Positioning Dems To Reclaim Majority

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Republican Says He Came Up ‘A Little Short’ In PA State Senate Race In Lancaster, Dems Keep PA House Control

-- LancasterOnline: Democrat Narrowly Edges Republican In PA State Senate Race; Some Votes Still To Be Counted

-- PoliticsPA: Stunner In Lancaster As Democrat Defeats Republican In State Senate Race

-- TribLive Editorial: Is Swing State PA Swinging Even More In Some Areas? [Democrat Wins State Senate Race In Lancaster County]

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Powerful Interests Poured $18 Million Into Top PA Lawmakers’ Campaign Coffers

-- TribLive Editorial: PA Should Guard Against The Power Of Lobbying Money

-- Politics PA: PA Republican Rep. Mackenzie Proposes Eliminating All Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Programs At PA Colleges, Universities

-- York Dispatch: York County Republican Lawmakers Back Host Of Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills In Legislature

-- PennLive: PA House Passes Bill Hiking Child Labor Fines Over Republican Opposition 

-- Tribune-Democrat: Republican Opposition Grew In PA House Against Doubling Fines Against Child Labor Law Violators  [PDF of Article] 

-- US Senate/House

-- WESA: Democratic Cong. Deluzio: ‘Era Of The Spineless Democratic Party Must End’ To Take On President, Deliver For Voters

-- MCall: Republican Cong. Mackenzie Talks About His First 100 Days In Office

-- Financial Times: Fetterman Warns ‘Extreme’ Progressives Risk Alienating Americans 

-- Post-Gazette: Voter Discontent Hits Home As Fetterman And McCormick Face Calls For More Accessibility

-- TribLive: Fetterman, McCormick To Hold Event In Downtown Pittsburgh, Drawing Criticism From Some On Left

-- Post-Gazette: McCormick, Fetterman Joint Book Event Comes As Constituents Press For Town Halls

-- TribLive: Pittsburgh Event Featuring PA US Senators McCormick, Fetterman Postponed

-- WESA: Collaboration Or Combat?  How Fetterman & Lamb Take Different Democratic Approaches To President

-- Inquirer: Republican US Sen. McCormick Defended DOGE, President And Called Signal Chat A Mistake In First Tele-Town Hall

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Telephone Town Hall Has 9,000+ To Talk To Republican Cong. Bresnahan

-- Statewide Offices

-- PennLive Editorial: PA’s New Republican Attorney General Is Not Afraid To Talk About Tough Issues, Including Diversity And Immigration

-- AG Sunday Announces 11 Arrests By Allegheny County Gun Violence Task For For Illegal ‘Straw Purchase,’ Firearms Trafficking

-- 2025 Elections

-- TribLive: Democrat Wins Big In PA House Race Positioning Dems To Reclaim Majority

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Republican Says He Came Up ‘A Little Short’ In PA State Senate Race In Lancaster, Dems Keep PA House Control

-- LancasterOnline: Democrat Narrowly Edges Republican In PA State Senate Race; Some Votes Still To Be Counted

-- PoliticsPA: Stunner In Lancaster As Democrat Defeats Republican In State Senate Race

-- Elections

-- PA Capital-Star: Top PA Elections Official: No State On Its Own Can Replace Federal Election Cybersecurity Resources Eliminated By President

-- Inquirer: PA Experts Say President’s Order On Elections Is Dangerous, Unlikely To Take Effect

-- TribLive/Spotlight PA: 4 Ways PA Could Fix Its Campaign Finance Laws To Reduce the Power Of Money In Politics

-- Impacts Of President’s Policies

-- TribLive: Western PA Car Dealers Preparing For Bumpy Ride When President’s Tariffs Kick In

-- TribLive Editorial: Driving Home The Impact Of Auto Tariffs

-- Tribune-Democrat: Area Educators React To Possible Dismantling Of US Education Dept.: ‘There’s A Lot At Stake’

-- PA Capital-Star: President’s Plan To Dismantle Federal Education Dept. Threatens Classroom Funding In PA

-- MCall: ‘Prepare For The Worst, Hope For The Best’: Lehigh Valley Schools Confront Possible Federal Education Cuts 

- Erie Times: Erie’s Social Security Office Might Soon Require More In-Person Visits; What To Know

-- Inquirer: How Will Switch To All-Digital Social Security Payments Affect Pennsylvanians?

-- PennLive/WPost: Social Security Staffer Says People Could Miss Payments ‘For Months’ After President’s Changes 

-- WHYY: President’s Executive Order May Wipe Out Community Development Financing In Philly And Beyond

-- Scranton Times: School Districts, NE PA Food Bank Concerned About USDA Food Programs Ending 

-- Inquirer: PA Food Banks Facing Millions In Federal Funding Cuts As They Fear Increased Need 

-- Post-Gazette: Gov. Shapiro Demands President Rescind $13 Million In Funding Cuts Affecting PA Food Banks, Farmers

-- LancasterOnline Editorial: Lancaster County Dairy Farmers Need Certainty, Not The Chaos Of President’s Shifting Tariffs Policy

-- Inquirer: PA Dairy Farms Produce A Billion Gallons Of Milk A Year; As Tariff Wars Rage, The Cows Could Be Stuck In The Middle [Exported $364 Million In Dairy Products]

-- MCall: Federal Aid Cuts Will Put Lehigh Valley Residents At Risk Of Hunger, Homelessness - By J. Marc Rittle,Bethlehem Housing Authority

-- TribLive Editorial: How Can Housing Be A Priority If Federal HUD Makes Cuts?

-- PA Capital-Star: Pennsylvania’s Nursing Homes Will Not Survive Without Medicaid

-- Scranton Times: Disabilities Community ‘Concerned’ By Proposed Federal Cuts, Changing Landscape

-- Post-Gazette: CMU President Responds To Federal Higher Ed Shake-Ups In Letter

-- Post-Gazette: What Federal Probes Could Mean For Carnegie Mellon University: High Enrollment Of Chinese Students; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Policies

-- AP: Federal Health Officials Are Pulling Back $11.4 Billion In COVID Funding For State, Local Health Organizations Saying It Will No Longer Respond To A ‘Non-Existent Pandemic’

-- Post-Gazette: As CDC Looks To Take Back $11.4 Billion In COVID Funding, County, State Health Departments Assess Impact 

-- Post-Gazette: CMU President Responds To Federal Higher Ed Shake-Ups In Letter

-- WHYY: Penn Faculty Ordered To Halt $175 Million In Federal Research Funding As Federal Upheaval Deepens

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Gutting The National Endowment For The Arts Would Be A Huge Setback For Pittsburgh 

-- Reuters: President’s Funding Cuts Ripple Through Rural America  [USDA Cuts Impact West Virginia] 

-- Post-Gazette: As CDC Looks To Take Back $11.4 Billion In COVID Funding, County, State Health Departments Assess Impact 

-- NYT: Health & Human Services Cuts $12 Billion In Federal Grants To States To Track Infectious Diseases, Mental Health Services, Addiction Treatment, Other Urgent Health Issues  

-- AP: Federal Dept. Of Health & Human Services Will Cut 10,000 Jobs As Part Of Major Restructuring Plan [10,000 Already Took Early Retirements]

-- New Federal Administration

-- MCall Guest Essay - Bill White: President Ruining The Idea Of America As An Exceptional Place

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Americans May Reject President’s Chaos Sooner Than You Think - By Mark Singel

-- York Dispatch Editorial: Are PA’s Supporters Of The President Getting What They Wanted?

-- WHYY: Chester County Protesters Join Global Demonstration Against Tesla, Musk

-- Financial Times: US Tells European Companies To Comply With President’s Anti-Diversity Executive Order 

-- CBSNews: Stock Market Suffers 758 Point Wipeout Over Inflation, Tariff Fears Friday 

-- National Politics

-- PA Capital-Star: Bob Casey Calls Current Moment A ‘Time Of Real Peril’ As He Urges Democrats To Fight 

-- Inquirer: Bob Casey Is Back And Wants Democrats To Talk About How Republicans Are ‘Screwing’ The Middle Class

-- Miscellaneous State/Harrisburg Politics

-- TribLive/Spotlight PA: 4 Ways PA Could Fix Its Campaign Finance Laws To Reduce the Power Of Money In Politics

-- Citizens Voice: League Of Women Voters Hosts Annual Gathering In Luzerne County, But Republicans Didn’t Attend

-- Inquirer: Fmr PA Rep. Marie Lederer Dies At 97

-- PA Energy Politics

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $3.15  Ohio- $3.00  PA- $3.26

-- DEP Reports ZERO Shale Gas, ZERO Conventional Wells Drilled Week Ending March 21 

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Down 1 to 14, After Being The Same For 14 Weeks 

-- PUC Launches Review Of Electric Grid Impacts From Data Center Growth, Sets April 24 Hearing  [PaEN]  

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Public Utility Commission Sets Hearing On A.I. Data Centers’ Impacts On Electricity Grid

-- PJM Interconnection Reliability Initiative Attracts 94 Applications For 26.6 GW Of New Electric Generation Capacity; Reviews To Be Completed By 2026; List Of Projects Not Available Now  [PaEN] 

-- Reuters: US Army Corps To Narrow List Of Emergency Energy Projects By Next Week

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Prices Climb 3% On Record LNG Gas Flows, Lower Daily Output 

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Prices Climb 2% On Decline In Daily Output, Record LNG Gas Flows

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Slips As Ample LNG Gas Flows Help Ease Storage Worries

-- Financial Times: President’s ‘Chaos’ Threatens US Oil, Gas Output, Say Shale Executives

-- Bloomberg: Shale Oil, Gas Bosses Slam President’s Tariffs In Anonymous Survey 

-- Reuters Commentary: Welcome To The Age Of Big Oil/Gas Managed Decline; Price Outlook Reducing Capital Investment

-- Gas Explosions

-- DEP: Conventional Well Owner Has 2nd Well Explosion, Fire In A Week In Westmoreland County  [PaEN]

-- Three Mile Island Restart

-- PennLive: What’s The Status Of Reopening Undamaged Unit At Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant? 

-- Guest Essay: March 28, 1979 At 3:53 a.m. Cascading Failures Combined To Produce The Worst Nuclear Power Accident In US History At Three Mile Island - By James M. Seif, Former Administrative Assistant to Gov. Dick Thornburgh  [PaEN] 

-- WNEP: Three Mile Island Restart Firm Constellation Energy Releases Statement On Anniversary Of Nuclear Accident

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Anti-Nuke Activists Use 46th Anniversary Of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Accident To Protest Restart 

-- Post-Gazette: Anti-Nuke Activists Use 46th Anniversary Of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Accident To Protest Restart

-- Flooding

-- TribLive: Hempfield Twp. Couple Say Goodbye To Home Prone To Repeated Flooding, With Help From Township, State And Feds In Westmoreland County 

-- Train Derailments

-- AP: Trial Will Determine Who Will Pay $600 Million Settlement In Disastrous Norfolk Southern Train Derailment 

-- Education

-- TribLive: 200+ Students Gather For Anti-Hate Summit At Acrisure Stadium

-- York Dispatch: York County Republican Lawmakers Back Host Of Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills In Legislature

-- Politics PA: PA Republican Rep. Mackenzie Proposes Eliminating All Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Programs At PA Colleges, Universities

-- Spotlight PA: Private Funding Created 100s Of New Child Care Spots In York County, But That Funding Is Ending

-- TribLive Editorial: International Students Contribute To Pittsburgh And Pennsylvania

-- Tribune-Democrat: Area Educators React To Possible Dismantling Of US Education Dept.: ‘There’s A Lot At Stake’

-- PA Capital-Star: President’s Plan To Dismantle Federal Education Dept. Threatens Classroom Funding In PA

-- TribLive: Pittsburgh College Students Fear Federal ICE Could Hit Campuses After String Of National Arrests

-- Post-Gazette: CMU President Responds To Federal Higher Ed Shake-Ups In Letter

-- Post-Gazette: What Federal Probes Could Mean For Carnegie Mellon University: High Enrollment Of Chinese Students; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Policies

-- WHYY: Penn Faculty Ordered To Halt $175 Million In Federal Research Funding As Federal Upheaval Deepens

-- Health Care

-- Erie Times: First Measles Cases Confirmed In Erie County Since 1991

-- Inquirer: Bucks County Resident Diagnosed With Measles After Visit To Texas

-- TribLive: COVID Pandemic Led To Radical, Lasting Changes In Health Care Industry

-- TribLive: COVID Spurred Both Public Health Advances, Science Skepticism

-- PennLive: Five Years On, The COVID Imprint Lingers: Lives Transformed, A World Reshaped

-- TribLive Editorial: COVID Anniversary Finds A Fractured Nation Less Prepared For Future Outbreaks

-- PA Capital-Star: Pennsylvania’s Nursing Homes Will Not Survive Without Medicaid

-- Scranton Times: Disabilities Community ‘Concerned’ By Proposed Federal Cuts, Changing Landscape

-- AP: Federal Health Officials Are Pulling Back $11.4 Billion In COVID Funding For State, Local Health Organizations Saying It Will No Longer Respond To A ‘Non-Existent Pandemic’

-- Post-Gazette: As CDC Looks To Take Back $11.4 Billion In COVID Funding, County, State Health Departments Assess Impact 

-- NYT: Health & Human Services Cuts $12 Billion In Federal Grants To States To Track Infectious Diseases, Mental Health Services, Addiction Treatment, Other Urgent Health Issues  

-- AP: Federal Dept. Of Health & Human Services Will Cut 10,000 Jobs As Part Of Major Restructuring Plan [10,000 Already Took Early Retirements]

-- Law Enforcement

-- PennLive: PA House Passes Bill Hiking Child Labor Fines Over Republican Opposition 

-- Tribune-Democrat: Republican Opposition Grew In PA House Against Doubling Fines Against Child Labor Law Violators  [PDF of Article] 

-- AG Sunday Announces 11 Arrests By Allegheny County Gun Violence Task For For Illegal ‘Straw Purchase,’ Firearms Trafficking

-- WESA: PA Spending On Public Defenders Is ‘Unjust,’ Say Advocates In Harrisburg Protest

-- PennLive: Thousands Of Immigrant Children In PA Abandoned Because Of President’s Policies: Advocates

-- Erie Times: PA Senate Proposal Requires State, County Prosecutors To Notify Federal ICE About Undocumented Migrants

-- TribLive: Pittsburgh College Students Fear Federal ICE Could Hit Campuses After String Of National Arrests

-- PennLive: Federal ICE Deports At Least 4 Bhutanese Men Who Had Settled In PA

-- PennLive: Central PA Bhutanese Detainees Moved To NJ, Told They Would Be Flown To An Unknown Destination In 72 Hours 

-- WITF: Gov. Shapiro Supports Bhutanese Refugees In Face Of Federal ICE Arrests

-- The Economy

-- Spotlight PA: End Of Federal Stimulus Money Will Push Some PA Municipalities Off A Fiscal Cliff, Shapiro Administration Fears

-- State Reduces Workers Compensation Costs For Business 8.67%

-- Dept. Of Labor & Industry Reports February Unemployment At 3.8%, Unchanged From January

-- Post-Gazette: Gov. Shapiro Calls President’s Tariffs ‘Dumbest Economic Decision’ He’s Ever Seen By A President

-- The Economist: President’s Endless Trade Threats Come At Growing Cost; Evidence Of Harm To America’s Economy Builds

-- Post-Gazette: Nippon Ups Proposed Investment In US Steel As It Tries To Sway President On Deal

[Posted: March 30, 2025]