🌅 Good Day, Wednesday

PA Weather
Waynesburg | Becoming Sunny, 78
Carlisle | Mostly Sunny, 81
Malvern | Mostly Sunny, 81

PA Sports
Pirates (7-4) | Houston 7-4 | WED vs. Houston
Phillies (4-7) | Miami 4-8 | WED vs. Miami
Union | WED CONCACAF Champions League vs. Atlas FC
Flyers (30-38-13) | Columbus 4-3 OT | THU vs. Chicago
Penguins (40-31-10) | Chicago 2-5 | THU vs. Columbus

What’s Happening Today

• Appropriations Committee – Senate (930a), House (10a)
• Senate Legislative Budget & Finance Committee (1130a)

What We’re Hearing
“Chester is Chester. I work for Philadelphia, and the trash has to go somewhere, and whoever gets it is going to be unhappy with it.” – Jeff Brown

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Top Story

1. The GOP’s Kari Lake And Doug Mastriano Problems

“Bad candidates and stolen-election fever might well have cost the GOP control of the Senate in both the 2020 and 2022 elections. The party may have its best shot to take it back in the next election, in 2024, and yet those problems are suddenly looming large again.

The data in Pennsylvania is unambiguous. In no other swing state did the Republican Party’s Senate or gubernatorial nominee underperform the 2020 presidential results as much as Doug Mastriano did. His 15-point loss to Josh Shapiro compares to Donald Trump’s one-point loss to Joe Biden just two years prior.” (Washington Post)

Related

A 2024 Passover Presidential Primary Pushes Lawmakers To Move Up Swing State’s Election. “The primary is scheduled for April 23, 2024, and Passover begins the previous evening. Traditional Jewish law prohibits many regular activities such as driving, writing, working and the use of electricity on the holiday, which is observed for eight days in the United States.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

The Conservative Case For Keeping Our Republic. With election denialism at an all-time high, it makes one wonder what the future holds for this 247-year-old experiment we call a democracy. One group thinks it has an answer. And it involves getting back to the future. (PoliticsPA)

Your City Defined: Primary Elections. “Why we have them, why they are the way they are — and how they might change to allow more people to vote in Pennsylvania.” (Philadelphia Citizen)

County Elections Officials Move To New Envelopes To Fight ‘Naked’ Ballots. “The postage-paid return envelopes now have a tiny hole punched through the bottom corner, and new, yellow inner secrecy envelopes are also included.” (Levittown Now)

Lehigh County: Who’s Running For Office? (PoliticsPA)

State

2. Planned Parenthood Calls On Shapiro To End State Funding Of Crisis Pregnancy Care Centers

“Reproductive rights advocates challenged the Shapiro Administration for including approximately $7.2 million in the governor’s proposed budget for crisis pregnancy care centers they say delay time-sensitive abortion access and provide no medical care.

The funding recipient, Real Alternatives, defends itself as a source of hope and tangible resources for women faced with an unintended pregnancy, denies misleading anyone seeking help through its crisis pregnancy care centers and holds that it’s up front about not offering medical services.” (CNHI News)

Related

Advocates Urge Against Using Taxpayer Money To Fund Crisis Pregnancy Centers. “Pennsylvania reproductive health advocates want the next state budget to defund so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” arguing that they use misleading practices to discourage people from getting an abortion.” (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

Democratic Attorneys General, Including PA, Urge Appeals Court To Keep Abortion Pill Available. “Democratic attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia weighed in with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday supporting access to the abortion medication mifepristone.” (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

PA Beats Out Almost Every State In Getting More Money From Washington Than It Pays In Taxes, Study Says. “In the Keystone State, the federal spigot runs full blast. Pennsylvania received $416.2 billion more from Washington than individuals and businesses in the state paid in federal taxes from 2015 to 2021, according to a new study. Only three states — Virginia, Florida and Texas — fared better.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Support Grows For Shapiro’s Idea For Freeing Up More Money For Road, Bridge Projects. “Gov. Josh Shapiro’s call for a five-year phase-out of transfers from the Motor License that help to fund state police operations to free up more funding for transportation projects enjoys broad support from various sectors.” (PennLive)

‘It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way,’ Shapiro Says During TV Appearance On Louisville Shooting, Gun Violence. “Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was on national television Tuesday morning discussing the Kentucky mass shooting, gun violence and abortion.” (PennLive)

Reader Poll: Nearly 3 In 4 Have Positive Impression Of Shapiro. “Seventy-six percent of our 149 respondents said that they had a positive view of Shapiro, including 56 percent who have an extremely positive view of the new governor. Eleven percent of those who responded to our unscientific poll were neutral on the question.” (PoliticsPA)

House Appropriations Committee Examines $19B Human Services Budget. “Acting Human Services Secretary Valerie Arkoosh appeared before the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to field lawmakers’ questions on issues ranging from mental health to dental care as they parsed the state’s largest departmental budget.” (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

A Q and A With Chris Deluzio, One Of PA’s Newest Members Of Congress. “City & State spoke with Deluzio about his first three months in Congress, touching on everything from his unpredictable first week to how discussions about the national debt should go down.” (City & State)

PA-17: Nelson Announces Candidacy For GOP Nomination. “Pittsburgh-area pastor Jim Nelson, a veteran and retired law enforcement officer, announced on Tuesday that he will seek the 2024 Republican nomination for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 17th district, aiming to unseat Democratic incumbent Chris Deluzio next November.” (PoliticsPA)

Around The Commonwealth

3. Libraries To Locker Rooms: How A Religious Law Firm Is Changing PA School Policies

“As culture wars rage in schools across Pennsylvania, a conservative, faith-based law firm has been quietly crafting policies to advance gender essentialism, limit LGBTQ expression and restrict library books.

And some districts are listening to these attorneys over their own solicitors, the USA Today Network has documented through a series of public records requests.” (PhillyBurbs.com)

Related

Bankrupt Chester Could Cease To Exist As City Without Fiscal Change, State Receiver Says. “Once one of the nation’s most important shipbuilding centers, Chester has taken on so much financial water that its very existence as a city is seriously threatened, the state official who filed for bankruptcy on the city’s behalf said Tuesday.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Sparring Over The Sixers’ Arena, Jeff Brown Responds To Ethics Probe, And Other Top Moments From Philly’s Mayoral Debate. “The Philadelphia mayor’s race took a combative turn Tuesday night when seven of the top Democratic candidates met for the first televised debate of the campaign.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Brown Calls Ethics Allegations A ‘Political Hit Job’ During Debate. “Philadelphia mayoral candidate Jeff Brown on Tuesday said he is the victim of a “political hit job” and attacked the city Board of Ethics after it accused him Monday of illegally coordinating with an outside spending group that has raised millions to boost him.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Mayoral Candidates Stumble Through Their Performance At Monday’s Latino Forum. (Inquirer)

Allegheny County Executive Candidates Pledge To Tackle Hunger, Homelessness, At Forum. “Candidates for Allegheny County Executive answered questions at a forum about their plans to tackle child poverty in the region, as well as fight hunger and food insecurity, and help people struggling with homelessness and high housing costs.” (WESA)

‘Bomb Trains’ Are A Threat Lawmakers Must Deal With, Say Political And Environmental Leaders. “At one point during a news conference addressing the threat of “bomb trains” such as the one that derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee paused to consider the impact such an event would have in Pittsburgh.” (Pittsburgh Union Progress)

• After Pittsburgh Derailment, Rep. Lee Re-Ups Calls To Pass Federal Train Safety Regulations. (WESA)
• It’s Time To Get Rid Of ‘Bomb Trains,’ Local Officials And Environmentalists Say. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

We Asked 50 Mayors: What Keeps You Up At Night? “Lancaster’s Danene Sorace said, ‘Ensuring my neighbors are safe keeps me up at night. Feeling safe in one’s own community is essential.’ (POLITICO)

Editorial

4. What They’re Saying

A glance around the Keystone State at editorials and opinions.

• The Sixers Have A New Process And They’re Trying To Rush It. (Ben Waxman)
• Maria Quinones Sanchez Won’t Be Philadelphia’s First Latina Mayor, But She Can Still Propel Latinos Forward. (Helen Ubinas)
• Who Won The Philly Mayoral Primary Debate? Our Opinion Staff Weighs In. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• A Shot At Our Ever-Worsening Gun Policy. (Gene Collier)
• In The Face Of Unrelenting Terror, Teacher Unions Nationwide Should Force Gun Reform. (Aaron Schwartz)
• Someone Finally Said It – The Emperor Has No Clothes. (R. Seth Williams)
• Should Judges Be Allowed To Prevent Death Penalty Cases In PA? (Tribune-Review)

1 Thing

5. Super Mario

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” blew past expectations in its weekend debut, Axios’ Sara Fischer reports, bringing in a whopping $377 million in global box office sales and $204.6 million domestically between Wednesday and Sunday, per Comscore.

• It’s already the most successful video game adaptation ever, trouncing 2022’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” which brought in $190 million globally.

Why it matters: It’s another sign that big movies can still be a huge draw for theaters, even in our increasingly streaming-focused world.

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