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Your Morning Pick-Me-Up. Let’s Go Crazy, Prince

PA Weather
Delmont | Increasing Clouds, 45
Danville | Mostly Sunny, 48
Drexel Hill | Sunny, Breezy, 51

PA Sports
Flyers (27-28-8) | Winnipeg 4-1 | Sat vs. Seattle | Sun vs. New Jersey
Penguins (24-30-10) | Fri vs. Vegas | Sun vs. Minnesota
Sixers (21-41) | Boston 105-123 | Sun vs. Utah
PIAA Wrestling Championships at Giant Center in Hershey.
Union (2-0) | Sat vs. New England

What We’re Hearing. “More than anything, unlimited money. This is the only business where you can spend unlimited money to destroy someone’s reputation. And then social media. That became a narcotic.” — Sen. John Fetterman in response to “What Broke Congress”

Happy Birthday. Cake and candles for Reps. Perry Stambaugh (Sat.) and Robert Freeman (Sun.)

Social Media. Join us on Twitter and Bluesky at @PoliticsPA

Top Story

1. What Happens to Student Loans in Pennsylvania If the Federal Education Department Is Closed?

“Though state and local governments already control most of what happens in the classroom, the U.S. Department of Education plays a limited but vital role, some advocates say. The agency manages college loans for nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians, seeks to protect students from discrimination and provides more than $1.6 billion annually to the commonwealth’s schools, much of that directed to the communities most in need.” (USA Today Network)

• Here’s What the Department of Education Does For PA Students and Schools. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• President Trump Is Poised to Issue An Executive Order Ending the Department of Education. How Are Local Districts Bracing? (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Elsewhere

As Trump Goes After Universities, Students Are Now on the Chopping Block. “In the early weeks of the Trump administration’s push to slash funding that colleges and universities rely on, grants and contracts had been cut and, in a few cases, researchers had been laid off. In recent days, the fiscal pain has come to students.” (New York Times)

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan On Why She Voted to Censure Fellow Democrat Al Green After Outburst at Trump’s Address to Congress. ““It’s frustrating because Al Green’s statement was true. It wasn’t provocative or offensive. But I think each one of us had to make decisions about how were going to comport ourselves.”” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

‘Lies And Division’: Montco’s Rep. Dean Responds to Trump’s Address. “U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, who represents most of Montgomery County in Washington, lashed out at President Trump this week after she said his speech to a joint session of Congress was riddled with “countless” lies.” (Montgomery-Lansdale Patch)

State

2. Meuser Again Teases Run For PA Governor’s Mansion

“Rep. Dan Meuser (R-09) once again teased a run at Pennsylvania’s governor’s mansion during a Wednesday interview with Newsmax.

Asked by host Katrina Szish about rumors she is hearing, Meuser did not shut down the possibility of becoming a candidate to challenge current office-holder Josh Shapiro.

“We need someone to pick up President Trump’s view of such. I think, that’s something I could bring to it if I were to go and make that decision to run for governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”” (PoliticsPA)

Elsewhere

Pennsylvania Seeks to Upgrade Election Management Program. “According to Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, the replacement for SURE has been a long time coming. “The SURE system has served us well and will continue to for a little bit longer,” said Schmidt. “But it has struggled with the changes in election administration that we’ve seen, especially over the past five years.” (PoliticsPA)

Republicans Slam Shapiro On Taxpayer-Funded Communications Work and Plane Use. “A Republican senator, citing the state’s $3.2 billion structural budget deficit, on Thursday highlighted the more-than-doubled size of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s communications staff and criticized his use of state resources to produce what she called “kind of frivolous” social media content.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

PA House Democrats May Be On Board With Voter ID Expansion If Part of Larger Election Reforms, House Speaker Says. “The top Pennsylvania House Democrat said she was open to including stricter voter identification requirements as part of a broader effort to modernize the state’s election law in the divided legislature, signaling a renewed willingness from Democrats to work on the issue.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Ecker Makes It Official – He’s A Candidate For Adams County Judge. “Late in January, Rep. Torren Ecker (R-Adams/Cumberland) announced that he would be running for judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Adams County. On Wednesday, he made it official by submitting his petition to appear on the May ballot.” (PoliticsPA)

• Who’s Running For County Courts of Common Pleas. (PoliticsPA)

Around The Commonwealth

3. Why Trump and MAGA Are Playing a Role in the Pittsburgh Mayoral Race

“This job isn’t as glamorous as it may look. I mean, I once saw a fistfight nearly break out among local politicos in an elementary school parking lot. And until recently, one of the consolations of covering local politics is, well, at least you aren’t covering national politics.

But the boundary between national politics and local politics, like so many boundaries these days, is getting blurry.” (WESA Politics)

Elsewhere

Topper Responds to Shapiro’s Workforce Order. “State House Republican Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Fulton) argued that the move will lead to bigger government. “When a job becomes vacant in Pennsylvania’s administrative apparatus, the question should first be asked if it is truly needed rather than how quickly it can be filled.” (Bedford Gazette)

PIAA’s Rule Change For Transgender Athletes ‘Unnecessary and Unlawful’, Advocates Say. “Several groups, including the Women’s Law Project, Education Law Center, ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Planned Parenthood Association of Pennsylvania, have signaled they will “work to defend” transgender athletes.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

One of PA’s Most Populated Counties Could Be Down to Two Hospitals Soon. “Reports surfaced Thursday that a Delaware County hospital system could close two hospitals.” (Penn Capital-Star)

‘This Is a Way to Shut Our Agency Down,’ Says Union President, Tobyhanna Army Depot Employees Worried About Job Security. “Morale is low at the Tobyhanna Army Depot, and some of the approximately 3,000 employees – 30% who are veterans – are stressed that they might not be able to retire from the depot.” (WVIA)

Editorial

4. Speak Your Mind

• Hey Democrats: It’s Time to Rethink Our Stance on Tariffs. (Rep. Chris Deluzio)
• Orwell’s ‘1984’ Dystopia Is Happening Now. (Kathryn Grossman)
• Trump’s Tariffs Are No ‘Emergency’. (Wall Street Journal)
• Trump’s New America Is Worse Than a Banana Republic. (Dennis Jett)
• Trump Plans to Shake Up Higher Education. (Jason L. Riley)
• Leading Through the Principles of Conservatism. (Emily Greene)

1 Thing

5. What’s the Difference Between a Pair of $30 Jeans and $300 Jeans?

“Levi Strauss patented the “blueprint for the blue jean” — the design that would become the 501 — back in 1873, and at the turn of the century, a pair of Levi’s could cost you about $1.25. More than 100 years later, 501s now start at $78.50. That places them on the lower end of the jeans-price scale.

How much a pair of jeans costs can depend on the usual suspects — markups, marketing, changing profit margins, and that catchall term: inflation — but, ultimately, the price tag comes down to the production process.” (New York Magazine)

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