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🎧  Voices of Reason. What You Need to Know About PA’s Gen Z Voters. “Freshman state Sen. Joe Picozzi and Guy Ciarrocchi discuss a number of topics with host Steve Ulrich.” (PoliticsPA)

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Top Story

1. PA Farmers Feel Funding Pinch As Federal Freezes Trigger Labor and Infrastructure Instability

“In an industry that already runs on thin margins and the great uncertainty of Mother Nature, farmers across the state are navigating a difficult business landscape.

President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen funding on several federal programs, including many that are under USDA and help farmers make their facilities more climate-friendly, protect against damage from wildlife, and help them employ more workers.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Elsewhere

Less Secure Elections, Higher Costs For Counties: How Donald Trump’s Cuts to Security Agencies Would Affect Pennsylvanians. “When Election Day bomb threats were received in key swing states last November, Pennsylvania’s top elections officials were ready, thanks to warnings from an arm of the Department of Homeland Security. Now, Schmidt is waiting to learn whether the federal agency will be shuttered.” (WITF)

Drug & Alcohol Secretary Says No Risk, Yet, To Federal Funding For Addiction Programs. “Operations of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug & Alcohol Programs are largely funded by the federal government, which provides roughly $4 of every $5 in its budget, and Secretary Latika Davis-Jones said there’s been no indication the funding is at risk.” (Meadville Tribune)

NIH Budget Cuts Would Mean Problems For Lancaster-Area Public Health Research. “In 2024, the NIH awarded eight research grants worth $4.9 million to Lancaster County educational institutions, hospital systems and private companies. Almost 150 grants worth $76 million went to Hershey Medical Center through Penn State’s College of Medicine, according to the agency’s grant database.” (LNP)

Employees at the VA, Pennsylvania’s Largest Federal Employer, Must Return to In-Person Work This Spring Or Summer. “Both bargaining unit and nonbargaining unit employees at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs must return to the office by May 5 or July 28, depending on their proximity to a federal office space.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

State

2. Pennsylvania Lawmakers Resume Push to Allow 1.3 Million Independents to Vote in Primaries

“Should 1.3 million Pennsylvania voters be allowed to cast ballots in the state’s partisan primaries? Some lawmakers, including an Erie Republican, continue to push for an open primary system that would allow just that.

In the proposed legislation, only voters unaffiliated with a political party would be allowed to participate in a primary of their choosing. Republicans and Democrats would still be required to cast ballots in their respective party’s primary.” (Erie Times-News)

Elsewhere

PA Attorney General Dave Sunday Shares Criminal Justice Vision With Conservative Activists. “The venue where Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday spoke may have been more important to his political future than the message he brought Saturday.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Crisis Management Agencies Facing Crises. “Ninety-five percent of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency’s funding comes from federal sources. Speaking before the House Appropriations Committee, Director Randy Padfield acknowledged that this could be a problem in the near future.” (The Center Square)

Vexing Questions on AI Confront PA Lawmakers: ‘We Have Got to Get Moving On This’. “Artificial Intelligence is trained by “scraping” the creative works of humans and then producing its own works that humans read, view, or hear. Then the questions begin.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Commonwealth Foundation Blasts Shapiro’s 2025 Budget Plan. “Officials at the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank, aren’t fans of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $51.5 billion 2025 budget.” (DV Journal)

Around The Commonwealth

3. Tiny Rural Pennsylvania Town Tears Itself Apart Over Politics and Pronouns

“A small Pennsylvania town has remained deeply divided in the wake of a school board decision on transgender athletes and preferred pronouns. The Elizabethtown school board voted 8-1 on January 28 to pass two gender policies. One policy mandates students are only allowed to participate in sports that align with the gender they were born with.” (Daily Mail)

Elsewhere

McGloin to Resign Monday, Still Mum on Future Plans. “Lackawanna County Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin will resign effective Monday, but remained mum Friday on what his plans are after leaving office. The county announced the former Penn State and National Football League quarterback’s pending departure in a news release citing a resignation letter he submitted Friday.” (Scranton Times-Tribune)

Philly DA Krasner Receives Endorsement From Democratic Ward Leader Convicted of Sex Offenses Against a Minor. “A Philadelphia Democratic ward leader with recent felony convictions for sex crimes against a minor under the age of thirteen gave a de facto endorsement to District Attorney Larry Krasner on Saturday according to sources and a video, creating the odd and unseemly spectacle of a district attorney receiving support from a political leader prosecuted by his office who must now register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.” (Broad + Liberty)

Allegheny County Republicans Choose Jason Richey As Local Chair While Rivals Question Process. “Jason Richey was elected as the new chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County this weekend, but not before he had his first leadership headache and a taste of the election skepticism with which voters outside the party have already become familiar.” (WESA)

Pollution From a Pennsylvania Landfill Caused Problems for Decades. Fracking Waste Made It Worse. “When government inspectors arrived at the hazardous waste landfill in Yukon in 2023, they found themselves in a barren and alien landscape carved from western Pennsylvania’s green countryside.” (Inside Climate News) | (Part II)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• America Loses With Trump’s Disgraceful Betrayal of Ukraine. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• The Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy Shifts Are Risky For Americans and the World. (Sait Onal)
• Congress Surrenders Power to Musk and DOGE, With Smucker’s Consent. (Stephen Medvic)
• Smucker Didn’t Adequately Address Concerns Over Elon Musk and Mistakes Made by DOGE. (John Trescot)
• Pennsylvania, The Swing State That Defies Conventional Wisdom. (Salena Zito)
• The Supreme Court Will Step Up and Trump Will Back Down. (Bruce Ledewitz)
• ‘A Political Blitzkrieg’ – What An Erie Historian Sees in DOGE, Trump. (Chris Magoc)

1 Thing

5. McCormick’s New Book

“Sen. Dave McCormick and Dina Powell McCormick, a business exec and Trump 1.0 national security official, will be out April 1 with “Who Believed in You?” — a new book designed to “kickstart a national mentoring movement.”

Why It Matters: COVID shattered the ability of young workers and college students to build meaningful relationships with colleagues and mentors.” (Axios)

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