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PA Weather
Erie | Showers before noon, 42
Elizabethville | Mostly Cloudy, 61
Easton | Mostly Cloudy, 49

PA Sports
Sixers (29-14) | Indiana 122-134 | Sat vs. Denver
Flyers (25-18-6) | Detroit 0-3 | Sat vs. Boston
Penguins (21-17-6) | Fri vs. Florida

What We’re Watching
The Carnegie Mellon University Democrats will be co-sponsoring a Political Forum with the 14th Ward Democratic Committee Sunday at 2 p.m. All the declared Democratic candidates for the PA-12 House of Representatives race will be in attendance.

What We’re Hearing
“Essentially, it’s going to be the most expensive race in the country … high profile. I’m nationalizing the race. If you vote for me you’re voting for winning the Senate blah blah blah, so I’m everywhere prospecting mostly with really wealthy people, where you will all be in 20 years – or many of you.” – Dave McCormick

Happy Birthday
Cake and candles for Sen. Art Haywood (Sun.).

Political News? Yes, Please
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Top Story

1. Shapiro Proposes Sweeping Reform Of PA State-Funded Higher Education

“Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday is to announce a blueprint for changing how Pennsylvania handles state-funded higher education to make attending college more affordable with better economic outcomes for the commonwealth, his office said.

Part one of Shapiro’s three-part plan calls for a cap of $1,000 per semester on tuition and fees at state-owned universities and community colleges for median-income Pennsylvanians making $70,000 or less. And it proposes increasing Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency grants by $1,000 for all students attending state-related universities and independent colleges. PHEAA administers financial aid.

The second part of the plan calls for the unification of the 10 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities and the 15 publicly run community colleges under a new governance system, which Shapiro argues would improve coordination between schools and improve affordability.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Related

A Semester Of College In PA For The Cost Of A New iPhone? That’s The Plan. “Gov. Josh Shapiro has put together a bold plan for making a semester of college education in Pennsylvania as affordable as buying a new iPhone.” (PennLive)

While All Eyes Are On Lee’s District, Challengers Are Preparing To Take On Deluzio And Reschenthaler. “While the title fight may be wrapped up by Pennsylvania’s April 23rd primary, there will be primary battles — including bids for offices like state attorney general and Congress — where voters can have an impact.” (WESA Politics)

PA-12: Lee Raises $1M in Fourth Quarter. “Congresswomen Summer Lee (D-12) and her re-election campaign announced Thursday that it has raised over $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. That sum is her largest fundraising quarter ever.” (PoliticsPA)

PA-17: Deluzio Kicks Off 2024 Re-Election Campaign; Announces $1.5M Haul. “Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-17) kicked off his re-election campaign on Tuesday night, announcing that his team raised more than $1.5 million thus far in the cycle.” (PoliticsPA)

Washington Notebook: New Study Debunks Allegations Of Election Fraud In Pennsylvania. “The report’s conclusion: “In each instance, we find that these claims fail to provide any evidence of fraud, illegality, or even an abnormality. One reason that the claims fail is that they are not based on facts. We find that many claims misstate turnout histories, incorrectly characterize candidate’s performance, or are just simply mistaken.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

State

2. Pennsylvania’s Governor Says He Wants To ‘Get S— Done.’ He’s Made It His Slogan, Profanity and All

“Gov. Josh Shapiro has a new slogan for how he wants to run Pennsylvania — and it’s not fit for kids’ ears.

“We’ve got a GSD attitude in the Shapiro administration that means we focus on getting, you know, stuff done,” he told a news conference Monday with local officials at the Johnstown YMCA. “There’s children here, so we’ll just say ‘stuff.’”

That was the G-rated version of the line he’s been delivering in recent months. Occasionally, Shapiro just comes out and says it: “Get s—— done.” (AP)

Related

PA Freedom Caucus Files Civil Rights Complaint Against Biden, Shapiro and Dept. of State. “Rep. Dawn Keefer (R-York) and nearly two dozen Keystone State legislators filed a federal civil rights complaint against President Joe Biden, Gov. Josh Shapiro and representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of State.” (PoliticsPA)

• Republican Lawmakers In Pennsylvania Challenge State, Federal Actions To Boost Voter Registration. (AP)
• 24 PA GOP Lawmakers Sue Biden, Shapiro For Alleged Extreme Overreach On Elections. (CNHI News)

State Senate To Consider Bill On Students’ Digital Privacy. “A Senate bill, introduced by two Democratic senators, addressing student and family digital privacy moved to the Education committee earlier this month.” (Broad + Liberty)

Listen: Black Politics and Pennsylvania in the 2024 Election Cycle. “Dr. Anthony Monteiro is a Duboisian scholar and founder of the Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation. He joins us from Philadelphia to talk about Black politics in Pennsylvania and the 2024 election cycle.” (Black Agenda Report)

Around The Commonwealth

3. What’s The Status Of Abortion Access In Pennsylvania?

“Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania. And with a Democratic governor in power who supports access, it will almost certainly remain so for at least the next three years.

But that doesn’t mean it’s as easy to get an abortion in the commonwealth as supporters want it to be.

It also doesn’t mean that attempts to restrict the procedure are dead. Less than two years ago, Republican lawmakers launched a robust attempt to enshrine language in the state constitution that would have said there was no right to abortion. While the legislature has since changed significantly, many members who supported the effort are still in office.” (Spotlight PA)

Related

Mayor Parker’s Office Has A New Policy: All Public Statements Go Through Us. “Sunshine is the best disinfectant, the old credo goes. So Clout was intrigued to learn that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration has implemented a new policy that one might compare to applying SPF100 on public information before it hits the beach.” (Philadelphia Inquirer Clout)

Will Pennsylvania See Another “Red Mirage” In The 2024 Election? “Pennsylvania voters should prepare themselves for the possibility of another “red mirage” on Election Day in November  due to the commonwealth’s lack of pre-canvassing reforms, which would allow  county election officials to open mail-in ballots and prepare them to be counted prior to Election Day.” (The Keystone)

Imprisoned Former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski Files Motion To Vacate His Conviction On Corruption, Fraud Charges. “Pawlowski, Allentown’s mayor from 2006 to 2018, was charged in 2018 along with five co-defendants for pay-to-play contract schemes, findings which came from an FBI probe into city hall corruption. He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in 2018.” (Allentown Morning Call)

Candidate Announcements

• SD-45: Plum’s Dintini Vies To Flip Brewster’s PA Senate Seat To GOP. (Tribune-Review)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• I’m an Election Law Expert. Here’s What I Fear Most in 2024. (Rick Hasen)
• Why Is The Inquirer Editorial Board Still Silent On The Shapiro Administration’s Sexual Harassment Scandal? (Broad + Liberty)
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Way To Combat Antisemitism. (Jason Lantzer)
• President Biden’s Posturing in Pennsylvania. (Emily Greene)
• What Is The Best Way To Spend $65 Million? Let Us Count The Ways. (Lori Falce)
• Racial Disparities In School Funding Are Not About Bad Policy. They’re Rooted In The Differential Valuing Of Children’s Lives. (Roseann Liu)

1 Thing

5. The Parental Payroll

“Parents have always supported their children into adulthood, from funding weddings to buying a home. Now the financial umbilical cord extends much later into adulthood.

About 59% of parents said they helped their young adult children financially in the past year, according to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center that focused on adults under age 35. Parental support is continuing later in life because younger people now take longer to reach many adult milestones—and getting there is more expensive than it has been for past generations, economists and researchers said.” (Wall Street Journal)

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