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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Inquirer: With Canada And Mexico As PA’s Top Trade Partners, Gov. Shapiro Says President’s Tariff Plan ‘Makes No Sense;’ Only Means Higher Prices For Pennsylvanians; Why Did He Do It?

-- Post-Gazette: Shapiro, Fetterman Responses To President Spotlight Political Differences, Challenges For Democrats

-- Gov. Shapiro Signs Executive Order To Fill Critical Public Service Vacancies In PA By Recruiting Talented, Experienced Federal Employees, Streamlining Hiring Process

-- TribLive: Employees Cut By Feds Could Get PA, Allegheny County Jobs

-- PA Capital-Star: Shapiro Signs Executive Order Aimed At Attracting Federal Employees

-- Budget 2025

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Budget To Be Forged During Apparent ‘Historic’ Shift In Federal-State Relationship

-- Dept. Of Revenue Reports February Tax Collections $44 Million (1.6%) More Than Anticipated; Up $104.3 Million (0.4%) For Fiscal Year

-- Independent Fiscal Office February Tax Revenue $74 million (2.6%) Over IFO Estimates: $144 million (0.5%) Over Estimates For Fiscal Year

--  Wall Street Journal: 2nd Federal Judge Blocks President’s Funding Freeze Indefinitely Saying Cutting Off Funds To State Governments ‘Fundamentally Undermines’ Democracy

-- PA House/Senate

-- Inquirer: PA House Democrats May Be On Board With Voter ID Expansion, If Part Of Larger Election Reforms, House Speaker Says

-- Post-Gazette: Republicans Slam Shapiro On Taxpayer-Funded Communications Work, Plane Use  [General Assembly Fails To Ban Gifts To Legislators Since 1681]

-- TribLive: State Lawmakers Hope Pressure, Even Legislation, Can Keep Penn State’s New Kensington  Branch Campus Off The Chopping Block

-- US Senate/House

-- NBCNews: Republicans Advised To Avoid In-Person Town Halls After Confrontations Over Layoffs, Cuts Go Viral

-- PennLive: Democrats Issue Rebuke Of President: ‘A Disaster For PA’ - Cuts, Firings, Tariffs

-- Post-Gazette: Shapiro, Fetterman Responses To President Spotlight Political Differences, Challenges For Democrats

-- TribLive: Fetterman Calls Out Democrats For ‘Unhinged Petulance’ During President’s Address

-- TribLive: PA Democrat Cong. Deluzio Urges Fellow Democrats To Support ‘Smart Tariffs’  

-- Statewide Offices

-- The Center Square: State Treasurer Talks Long-Term Fiscal Outlook

-- 2025 Elections

-- PA Capital-Star: With 3 Seats On The Ballot, PA Supreme Court Race May Be ‘A Different Animal’

-- Elections

-- Inquirer: PA House Democrats May Be On Board With Voter ID Expansion, If Part Of Larger Election Reforms, House Speaker Says

-- Spotlight PA: Election Changes Needed As PA Counties Struggle With Outdated Rules, Top State Election Official Says

-- Dept. Of State Beings Implementing Modern, Streamlined Elections Management System To Keep PA Elections Safe, Secure; Joining Bipartisan Group Of States

-- TribLive/AP: PA To Spend $10 Million On New Voter Registration System

-- Impacts Of President’s Policies

-- AP: President Changes Course And Delays Some Tariffs On Mexico And Canada

-- AP: Canada’s Tariffs To Remain Despite President Postponing Tariffs On Many Impacts From Canada For A Month

-- Beaver Times: President’s Tariffs On Imports Could Cost Pennsylvania $5.3 Billion  

-- American Gas Association: President’s Tariffs On Canadian Natural Gas Will Cost US Consumers At Least $1.1 Billion A Year 

-- Inquirer: With Canada And Mexico As PA’s Top Trade Partners, Gov. Shapiro Says President’s Tariff Plan ‘Makes No Sense;’ Only Means Higher Prices For Pennsylvanians; Why Did He Do It?

-- PA Capital-Star: Tobyhanna Army Depot Employees Worried About DOGE Cuts At The Biggest Employer In NE PA 

-- TribLive: Western PA Braces For Sticker Shock As Tariffs Bring Uncertainty For Consumers, Businesses

-- Post-Gazette: Uncertainty Rises Around Pittsburgh As President’s Tariffs Spark Fears Of Global Trade War; Eos Battery Plant; Consol Energy; Gasoline Prices

-- KDKA: Pittsburgh Grocer Braces For Price Increases Amid US Tariffs: ‘There’s Nothing We Can Do’

-- York Dispatch: Tariffs, Especially On Canadian Goods, Will Have Profound Effect In York, Official Says 

-- WNEP: How President’s Tariffs Will Affect Northeast PA; Steel Company; Electrical Distribution Co.; Others 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh Merchants Grapple With Rising Costs Amid Shifting Tariff Landscape

-- MCall: Lehigh Valley Company Sanctioned By China In Retaliation For Tariffs

-- Financial Times: President’s Tariffs Will Bring ‘Nothing But Pain’ To Rural America, Farmers Say 

-- AP: President Plans To Cut 80,000 Employees From Veterans Affairs, According To Internal Memo [VA has 19,389 Employees In PA]

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: DOGE Cuts To Veterans Administration Deserve Particular Scrutiny

-- TribLive: Western PA Veterans Weigh In On President's Plan To Cut 80,000 Jobs At Veterans Administration:  ‘It Is Shameful’  

-- PennLive: DOGE Cutting Harrisburg-Area USDA Farm, Rural Development, USGS Water Research Center, Other Offices After Pushing Employees Out 

-- PASA Sustainable Agriculture Starting Employee Furlough Due To Continuing Federal Funding Freeze  [PaEN] 

-- Lancaster Farming: Farmers Feel Loss Of Climate Project Funding After Freezes 

-- WITF/StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: Farmers Lose Climate Assistance As President Freezes, Cuts Funding 

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal: Advocates Urge Congress To Keep Funding Chesapeake Bay Cleanup 

-- TribLive: Uncertainty Swirling For University Researchers Impacted By Proposed NIH Cuts

-- WITF: Church World Service Lancaster Refugee Program Still Without Federal Funding

-- Warren Times: Local Refugee Programs Upset With Termination Of Resettlement Agreements

-- TribLive Editorial: President’s Decisions Have Real Impacts On Real People 

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial: President Takes The Dumbest Tariff Plunge - Tariffs Will Increase The Cost Of An SUV By $9,000, A Pickup Truck By $8,000; Is This How The New Republican Party Plans On Helping Working-Class Voters?

-- TribLive/AP: US Tariffs On Canada, Mexico Take Effect; As China Takes Aim At US Farm Exports

-- Erie Times: Ontario Premier Retaliates For President’s Tariffs By Imposing 25% Surcharge On Electricity Supplied To New York, Michigan, Minnesota And Is Prepared To Shut Off Electricity Completely 

-- WTAE: 3 Federal Buildings In Western PA Up For Potential Sale As President Plans To Shrink Federal Government

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: 3 Federal Buildings In Luzerne County Among 440 Listed For Potential Sale

-- US General Services Administration: List Of Federal Buildings, Properties Potentially For Sale 

-- TribLive: 3 Western PA Federal Building Listed, Then Removed, To Be Closed Or Sold

-- Citizens Voice: Feds ID Local Social Security Buildings For Sale, Then List Disappears

-- WNEP/AP: List Of Hundreds Of Federal Buildings Targeted For Potential Sale Deleted  

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Communities Deserve Better Than Disorganized Potential Sale Of Federal Buildings 

-- TribLive: Uncertainty Swirling For University Researchers Impacted By Proposed NIH Cuts

-- Post-Gazette: Citing Federal Cuts, Pitt And CMU Pull Out Of Hosting Scientific Writers Conference

-- NBCNews: Republicans Advised To Avoid In-Person Town Halls After Confrontations Over Layoffs, Cuts Go Viral

--  Wall Street Journal: 2nd Federal Judge Blocks President’s Funding Freeze Indefinitely Saying Cutting Off Funds To State Governments ‘Fundamentally Undermines’ Democracy

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial: President Invokes A Law That Doesn’t Give Him Power To Impose Sweeping Tariffs, Someone Should Sue

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial: President’s Tariffs Whack President’s Voters; What Happened To Republican Concern For Working Class?

-- AP: President’s Erratic Trade Policies Are Baffling Businesses, Threatening Investment And Economic Growth

-- The Economist: President’s Economic Delusions Are Already Hurting America; President And Reality Are Drifting Apart

-- The Guardian: President Declares Administration ‘Just Getting Started’ In Address To Congress

-- New Federal Administration

-- Post-Gazette: Shapiro, Fetterman Responses To President Spotlight Political Differences, Challenges For Democrats

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Communities Deserve Better Than Disorganized Potential Sale Of Federal Buildings 

-- Post-Gazette/AP: President May Exclude Government Spending From GDP, Obscuring Impact Of DOGE Cuts

-- Reuters: US Treasury Says It Will Not Enforce Anti-Money Laundering Law

-- Reuters: President Loosens Enforcement Of US Law Banning Bribery Of Foreign Officials

-- The Guardian: President Declares Administration ‘Just Getting Started’ In Address To Congress

-- National Politics

-- NBCNews: Republicans Advised To Avoid In-Person Town Halls After Confrontations Over Layoffs, Cuts Go Viral

-- Inquirer: Newtown Square Grandfather Takes Out Full Page Ad In New York Times Pleading With President To Resign For The Sake Of His 2 Granddaughters

-- PennLive - John Baer: What To Make Of President’s ‘Rally’ To Congress; A Divisive Speech To A Divided Country

-- TribLive: Fetterman Calls Out Democrats For ‘Unhinged Petulance’ During President’s Address

-- TribLive: Ukrainian Supporters Rally In Pittsburgh After Contentious White House Meeting

-- WESA: Pittsburgh Protesters Urge US Senator McCormick To Take Action To Support Ukraine

-- PennLive: Democrats Issue Rebuke Of President: ‘A Disaster For PA’ - Cuts, Firings, Tariffs

-- Inquirer Editorial: President Addresses Congress As Country Tumbles Into Disarray

-- PA Energy Politics

-- PUC House Budget Hearing: We Aren’t Going To Build Our Way Out Of Electric Generation Shortfalls On PJM Grid; We Need To Diversify Our Generation Sources  [PaEN] 

-- AP - Marc Levy: In A Reversal, Plans For US Natural Gas Power Grow, Complicating Progress On Climate [PA Natural Gas]

-- AP - Marc Levy: Facing Competition From Big Tech, States Dangle Incentives, Loosen Laws To Attract Power Plants  [PA Highlighted] 

-- Guest Essay: Significant Electricity Load Growth Can Be Accommodated Without A Stampede To New Natural Gas Generation Just By Increasing Efficiency At Existing Power Plants - By John Quigley, Senior Fellow, Kleinman Center For Energy Policy  [PaEN]  

-- Guest Essay: Significant Electricity Load Growth Can Be Accommodated Without A Stampede To New Natural Gas Generation Just By Increasing Efficiency At Existing Power Plants - By John Quigley, Senior Fellow, Kleinman Center For Energy Policy  [PaEN]  

-- Baker Hughes: 15 PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs - Same For 12 Weeks

-- Post-Gazette: Uncertainty Rises Around Pittsburgh As President’s Tariffs Spark Fears Of Global Trade War; Eos Battery Plant; Consol Energy; Gasoline Prices

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $3.09  Ohio- $2.80   PA- $3.27

-- Reuters: US Gasoline Prices Set To Climb As President’s New Tariffs Kick In

-- Bloomberg: Oil Posts 7th Weekly Loss On Easing War Risk, Tariff Chaos

-- American Gas Association: President’s Tariffs On Canadian Natural Gas Will Cost US Consumers At Least $1.1 Billion A Year  

-- Reuters: Top Oil, Gas Executives Reckon With Downturn As President’s Trade, Foreign Policies Threaten To Drive Up Costs 

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Prices Jump 8% On Record LNG Gas Flows To US Export Plants  

-- Reuters: Europe’s LNG Summer Gas Buying Binge Puts Market On Razor’s Edge [Higher Prices] 

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Pare Gain On Russia-Ukraine Truce Hopes

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Jump As Optimism Fades About Ukraine Talks

-- Bloomberg: China LNG Gas Imports At Lowest Since COVID Hist Demand In 2020

-- Reuters: US DOE Approves LNG Gas Export Facility Extension For Golden Pass Plant In Texas

-- Barron’s: President Wants To See More Natural Gas; How He Could Tank The Price: Approve More LNG Gas Export Projects To Double US Capacity By 2028  [Industry Wants Higher Prices]

-- S&P Global: US LNG Gas Export Facility Additions Would Significantly Lower Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Compared To Alternatives

-- Financial Times: Oil Prices Fall After OPEC+ Confirms Crude Production Increase

-- Three Mile Island Restart

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Pennsylvania Showing The Nation How To Power A.I. With Nuclear Energy - By Carol Browner, Fmr EPA Administrator

-- Financial Times: Is Giving Old Reactors New Life The Future Of Nuclear Energy?

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Canadian Bitfarms Cryptocurrency Mining Co. Wants Pennsylvania’s Power, So It’s Buying 2 Stronghold Waste Coal-fired Power Plants In Carbon, Venango Counties 

-- Post-Gazette: How Cryptocurrency Is Mined And Why Canadian Bitcoin Mining Co. Wants To Do It In Pennsylvania

-- DEP:  Diversified Production LLC Abandons Shale Gas Powered Cryptocurrency Facility In Elk County; 9 More Violations For Abandoned Shale Gas Wells This Week  [PaEN] 

-- Stronghold Digital Mining, DEP, Environmental Groups Settle Appeal, Require Removal Of Unpermitted Scrubgrass Power Plant's Coal Ash Pile 14 Months Faster In Venango County  [PaEN] 

-- Scranton Times: Developer Proposes Massive Data Center Campus In Lackawanna County 

-- AP - Marc Levy: In A Reversal, Plans For US Natural Gas Power Grow, Complicating Progress On Climate [PA Natural Gas]

-- AP - Marc Levy: Facing Competition From Big Tech, States Dangle Incentives, Loosen Laws To Attract Power Plants  [PA Highlighted] 

-- Guest Essay: Significant Electricity Load Growth Can Be Accommodated Without A Stampede To New Natural Gas Generation Just By Increasing Efficiency At Existing Power Plants - By John Quigley, Senior Fellow, Kleinman Center For Energy Policy  [PaEN]  

-- Frozen Hoping For A Thaw: Eastern PA Coalition For Abandoned Mine Reclamation Project To Repurpose Fmr Coal Waste Plant Site Into Solar Energy, Mine Water Pool Energy Storage, Cooling Facility In Schuylkill County [PaEN] 

-- PUC House Budget Hearing: We Aren’t Going To Build Our Way Out Of Electric Generation Shortfalls On PJM Grid; We Need To Diversify Our Generation Sources  [PaEN] 

-- PA Capital-Star/Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Data Centers Drive Higher Forecasts For Electric Demand In PA, Sparking Climate Worries

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: As Energy Demand Rises, America Needs Fossil Fuel Plants And Solar Power -  By Tim Gallagher, ReliabilityFirst 

-- Inside Climate News: Utility, Grid, Energy Systems Experts Tell US House Committee Renewable Energy Needed To Keep Up With Energy Demand, Reduce Costs

-- Flooding

-- Courier Times: Bucks County Residents Demand Answers On Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Inspection Report For 2023 Flash Flood 

-- Post-Gazette: How Ready Is Pittsburgh Region For A Hurricane Helene-Like Flooding Disaster 

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: If A Catastrophic Flood Hits Pittsburgh, FEMA Won’t Help Enough - Kelly McKinney, NYU Langone Health

-- Train Derailments

-- Post-Gazette: PA, OH Lawmakers Push For Study Of Long-Term Health Impacts Of Norfolk Southern Train Derailment 

-- Education

-- Spotlight PA: Calls For Private Cyber Charter Taxpayer Funding Reform Intensify After Audit Found Ballooning Revenue, Surpluses

-- TribLive: PA Program Has Intercepted Over 120 Weapons In Schools Before They Could Be Used

-- TribLive Editorial: Safe2Say School Safety Tip Line A Valuable Tool, But False Reports Can’t Be Dismissed

-- TribLive/AP: Lawsuit Aims To Strike Down LGBTQ Antidiscrimination Protections In PA 

-- TribLive: State Lawmakers Hope Pressure, Even Legislation, Can Keep Penn State’s New Kensington  Branch Campus Off The Chopping Block

-- Beaver Times: Penn State Beaver Campus Among List Of Possible Closures

-- Post-Gazette: Fayette Community Rallies Behind Penn State Campus At Risk Of Closure

-- Republican Herald: Closing Penn State Schuylkill Campus ‘Would Be Devastating’ Says Pottsville Superintendent

-- Spotlight PA: Final Say On Penn State Campus Closures Might Not Involve The University’s Governing Board

-- Inquirer: In Philly, Across The Country, Educators Sound The Alarm About How Possible Federal Cuts Would Hurt Kids

-- TribLive: Uncertainty Swirling For University Researchers Impacted By Proposed NIH Cuts

-- Post-Gazette: Citing Federal Cuts, Pitt And CMU Pull Out Of Hosting Scientific Writers Conference

-- WESA/AP: Federal Judge Blocks Drastic Funding Cuts To NIH Research

-- Erie Times: Inside VP Mike Pence’s Classroom At Grove City College

-- Health Care

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Faced With Exploding Costs, PA Seeks Clampdown On Medicaid-Funded Use Of Ozempic, Other Weight-Loss Drugs

-- Post-Gazette -Ford Turner: PA Republicans Want President To Cut PA Medicaid Coverage That Is Costing The State Billions

-- WESA: PA Officials, Medical Providers Sound Alarm Over Medicaid Cuts

-- PennLive: With Billions In Medicaid Cuts Looming, PA Health Providers Sound The Alarm 

-- MCall Guest Essay: When Logic And Facts Vanish Lives Hang In The Balance [Vaccines] - By Bill White

-- MCall Guest Essay: Congress Must Extend Health Care Coverage Tax Credits - By Capital Blue Cross

-- Post-Gazette: UPMC Expands Services In Rural Northwest PA

5-Years Since COVID

-- TribLive: 5 Years After COVID Struck, Pennsylvanians Assess The Pandemic’s Impact

-- MCall: 5 Years Later, How COVID Changed The Lehigh Valley

-- Post-Gazette: Long COVID Has Impact About 1 Million In PA, But What Do We Know About It?

-- Post-Gazette: COVID Timeline: Notable Moments In PA In The Initial Months Of The Pandemic

-- Law Enforcement

-- Spotlight PA: More Elder Abuse Transparency, Accountability Coming As Shapiro Administration Denies ‘Crisis’

-- TribLive/AP: Lawsuit Aims To Strike Down LGBTQ Antidiscrimination Protections In PA 

-- TribLive: PA Program Has Intercepted Over 120 Weapons In Schools Before They Could Be Used

-- TribLive Editorial: Safe2Say School Safety Tip Line A Valuable Tool, But False Reports Can’t Be Dismissed

-- Spotlight PA: Rare 2nd Chance At Freedom For PA Woman Serving Life Sentence Reversed In Unprecedented Revote By Pardons Board

-- The Economy

-- TribLive: 2.3 Million Birds Killed In PA This Year As Bird Flu Spreads In Commercial, Backyard Flocks; Game Commission Reports More Bird Flu 

- LancasterOnline Editorial: Lancaster County Farmers Face A Triple Whammy Of Threats: Tariffs, Bird Flu And Federal Funding Cuts  

-- Spotlight PA: Reviving Rural PA Should Start With Shoring Up Local Governments, Says State Commission

-- Beaver Times: Penn State Beaver Campus Among List Of Possible Closures

-- Post-Gazette: Fayette Community Rallies Behind Penn State Campus At Risk Of Closure

-- Republican Herald: Closing Penn State Schuylkill Campus ‘Would Be Devastating’ Says Pottsville Superintendent

-- Spotlight PA: Final Say On Penn State Campus Closures Might Not Involve The University’s Governing Board

-- Other

-- WESA: Officials Urge Pennsylvanians To Obtain REAL ID By May Deadline

[Posted: March 9, 2025]