Gov. Tom Wolf will deliver his budget address for the 2021-2022 fiscal year today. Here is the Playbook. 

Trump Taps Castor To Defend Him At Senate Impeachment Trial: The former Montgomery County District Attorney and former acting Attorney General said that he considers it a privilege to represent former President Donald Trump at his upcoming second impeachment trial.

Dermody Appointed to Gaming Control Board: The former House Democratic Leader will be one of the seven members on the board.

Harrisburg & DC   
Spotlight PA: Pa. enacted 140 laws last year. Only 27 of them addressed the coronavirus.
AP: Governor seeks big increase in school funding, tax increase
AP: A look at Gov. Wolf’s policy proposals for the 2021-22 year
AP: Pivotal election figure leaving job under an unrelated cloud
Inquirer: Montgomery County Republican Jeff Bartos is taking steps to run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania
Inquirer: Pennsylvania’s 2020 election was really hard to pull off. This year won’t be much easier.
Inquirer: Gov. Tom Wolf wants to raise Pa. income taxes and give $1.5 billion more to schools
Inquirer: House accuses Trump of ‘historic betrayal’ as his lawyers say impeachment trial is unconstitutional 
Patriot News: Gov. Wolf proposes Pa.’s biggest tax increase ever, but it would be a tax cut for many
Patriot News: Gov. Tom Wolf to propose tax increase to benefit public schools, give tax breaks to some families
Patriot News: Survivors of clergy sex abuse urge Gov. Wolf to push Legislature to fast track reforms to child sex crime laws
Patriot News: ‘There’s no end to this’: Mail slowdown continues under Trump-era honcho
Patriot News: 2 more Pa. residents charged in U.S. Capitol riot
Patriot News: Pa. registers 125 new COVID-19 deaths
The New Yorker: A Pennsylvania Mother’s Path to Insurrection
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Still primed for public life, ex-Pa. Treasurer Torsella reflects on pensions and bipartisanship
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Wolf to seek personal income tax hike to boost school funding
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: As cyber threats loom, state officials aim to boost defenses
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Budget Day 2021: 5 things to watch for in Gov. Tom Wolf’s new spending plan | Wednesday Morning Coffee
Post-Gazette: After ballot blunder, some seek a bill on abuse lawsuits
Post-Gazette: Holding up West Virginia’s success, lawmakers debate states’ sluggish COVID-19 vaccine rollout 
Beaver County Times: Gov. Tom Wolf calls for personal income tax increase, cut for PA lower wage workers. What would change
WESA: Secretary Of The Commonwealth To Resign After Amendment Advertising Error
WITF: With Pennsylvania Behind In Vaccination Rate, PA Health Department Says Not To Compare States
WHYY Newsworks: Wolf pitches massive attempt to fix Pa. school funding inequities with income tax hike
PLSReporter: Ahead of budget address, Wolf proposes investing in education with income tax adjustments
PLSReporter: Feb. 2 COVID-19 Update: 4,410 additional positives, more than 1 million vaccine doses administered
Fox News: Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf wants to increase taxes for some residents
City Paper: Former Pa. Gov. candidate Paul Mango at center of Trump effort to block extra funding for vaccine rollout
Morning Call: Pennsylvania COVID-19 vaccine rollout to get scrutiny from lawmakers amid frustration over distribution, lack of supply
The Hill: Pennsylvania secretary of state resigns over ballot initiative error
CNHI: Prominent Pa. attorney helping lead Trump’s impeachment defense
Politico: House Dems move to yoke GOP to QAnon

Philadelphia 
Inquirer: Next up in the Philly Fighting COVID debacle: A political fight in City Hall
Inquirer: Philly will open six mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics and doses are also coming to city pharmacies
Inquirer: Facebook restricted a West Philly activist as it grappled with fallout from the Capitol riots
WHYY Newsworks: ShopRite, Walgreens to offer vaccines for older Philadelphians, while Health Dept. takes over PFC clinic 
WHYY Newsworks: Pa. coronavirus update: Philly to open new clinics Feb. 22; state releases vaccine numbers
Philadelphia Magazine: Got a Shot From Philly Fighting COVID? Here’s What to Do Now
Philadelphia Magazine: Gyms and Restaurants Can Apply for COVID-19 Relief Through This City Program
Billy Penn: Snow, sleet and no food for 15 days: Germantown man won’t give up till Kenney moves on gun violence resolution 
KYW Newsradio: Philly’s new COVID-19 cases continue their downward trend, but precautions remain in place 
Philly Voice: Philly expanding COVID-19 vaccination rollout to more pharmacies, mass clinics

SEPA
Levittown Now: Bristol Man Arrested By FBI For Allegedly Attacking Police Officers During Insurrection
Daily Local News: Howard to host virtual mental health resource fair Feb. 4
KYW Newsradio: With vaccine already at a trickle, winter storm forces most Philly suburbs to reschedule COVID-19 services
Montgomery Media: Montgomery County sees slight decrease in coronavirus positivity rate

Pittsburgh 
KDKA: U.S. Rep Guy Reschenthaler Says Vote To Disqualify Pa’s Election Results Was ‘Symbolic’ And Holds Open Option To Run For Senate
KDKA: 2 Pittsburgh City Council Members Introduce Legislation To Declare ‘State Of Educational Emergency’ 
KDKA: COVID-19 In Pittsburgh: Person In Their 20s Among Allegheny County’s 8 New Coronavirus Deaths
WESA: Lamb Talks COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout, Denounces GOP Lawmaker At Town Hall
WESA: City Councilors Call For ‘Educational Emergency’ Declaration 
Post-Gazette: Allegheny County, Pittsburgh to manage $36M in new federal COVID-19 aid for rent, utility aid
Post-Gazette: Burgess, Lavelle want to declare ‘educational emergency’ for Pittsburgh schools
Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh native Tom Vilsack, tapped again to agriculture secretary, confronts new challenges 
Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh’s unemployment rate went up slightly in December, but may be a ‘one-month blip’ 
Post-Gazette: Experts: Personal behavior key to continuing decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths
Tribune Review: Pittsburgh councilman moves to declare ‘state of educational emergency’ in the city 
Tribune Review: Allegheny County reports 8 covid deaths, including a person in their 20s
Pittsburgh Business Times: Allegheny County and City of Pittsburgh announce new $36 million Covid-19 emergency rental assistance program
Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh MSA sees slight uptick in unemployment rate for December, now at 6.8%

SWPA 
Beaver County Times: Beaver County Continuum of Care to receive $1.9 million for homeless assistance 
Beaver County Times: Report: Green energy plan could create 243K Pennsylvania jobs
Observer-Reporter: Washington native becomes first African-American chair of lawyers fund 
Observer-Reporter: COVID-19 deaths reported in Washington, Fayette counties
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: New COVID-19 cases continue to ease, 14 new deaths in region 
Altoona Mirror: Milliron to retire at end of 2021 

NEPA
Citizens Voice: New Wolf budget increases income tax, but cuts taxes on lower income families
Citizens Voice: 75 new COVID-19 cases reported in county on Tuesday
Times-Tribune: Committee likely to probe feasibility of renaming road after Biden
Times-Tribune: Scranton School District could see $33M with fair funding proposal in Wolf’s budget 
Times-Tribune: New Wolf budget increases income tax, but cuts taxes on lower income families
Times-Tribune: Northeast Pennsylvania COVID-19 death rate remains stubbornly high
The Times Leader: 75 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Luzerne County Tuesday; 3 more deaths

South Central 
York Dispatch: ‘Always there when you needed him’: Evans Fishel, former Red Lion mayor, dies
York Dispatch: Eight new deaths in York County attributed to COVID-19
LNP | LancasterOnline: Who is the man the FBI arrested in Lancaster County after Capitol attack?
LNP | LancasterOnline: Second wave of COVID-19 ends improvement of Lancaster County jobless rate
LNP | LancasterOnline: Police documents detail Ephrata lawyer’s plan to travel to D.C., shoot officials
LNP | LancasterOnline: Lancaster County ranks 45th in PA in per capita rate of coronavirus vaccinations
York Daily Record: ‘Ever-increasing obstacles’ Coroner releases 2020 report on deaths in pandemic 
York Daily Record: Man arrested in Lancaster County for U.S. Capitol rioting that led to military vet’s death
Carlisle Sentinel: DOH: 105 new cases of COVID-19 and 2 new deaths for Cumberland County Tuesday
Patriot News: ‘There’s no end to this’: Mail slowdown continues under Trump-era honcho
Patriot News: Harrisburg law firm launches public relations agency

Lehigh Valley      
WFMZ: Lehigh Valley elected its first mother and son duo to the State House of Representatives
WFMZ: Former Congressman Charlie Dent takes on new role, hopes to create more bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill  
WFMZ: Reading mulls details of proposal to address panhandling  
Morning Call: PA-7 voters, participate in this survey and discussion on campaign finance reform proposals
Morning Call: Lehigh Valley unemployment rate stable as payrolls rise slightly
Express Times: New Biden order means Lehigh Valley buses, airport can enforce face mask requirement 
Express Times: Pa. coronavirus update: 4,410 new cases, 125 new deaths; 248 more cases in Lehigh Valley; more than 1M vaccines given statewide | Pa. COVID county map (02/02/21)
Reading Eagle: Acting Berks County Coroner Jonn Hollenbach launches campaign to keep post 
Reading Eagle: New COVID cases, hospitalizations trend down in Berks County

North by Northwest
Erie Times-News: Erie County Councilman Shank might run for sheriff
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Lycoming County 44 new COVID-19 cases
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Snow delays Pennsylvania governor’s budget address a day
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: New website offers assistance resources for every zip code
Centre Daily Times: State College Council, administration offer support for further investigation into Osagie case
Centre Daily Times: Feb. 2 update: Centre County reports 95 new cases of COVID-19; Pa. adds 4,410 positives

Opinion  
Deborah Gross and Lauren P. McKenna: Proposed constitutional amendment threatens independence of Pa. appellate courts
Paul Muschick: Pennsylvania’s secretary of state deserves credit for handling election changes. But she needed to resign
Edward C. Ketyer: Biden’s executive order on oil and gas drilling does little to protect health in Pa. 
Jerry T. Jordan: Union president: Teachers and families deserve safe ventilation if they’re going to school during a pandemic 
Frank Pizzoli: The Legislature dashed hopes for LGBTQ equality in Pa. — again 
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Tearing down the digital divide
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Different paths
LNP | LancasterOnline Editorial Board: A heads-up: 2 masks may be better than 1 in protecting us against COVID-19
LNP | LancasterOnline Editorial Board: We’re glad to see renewed push to get Harriet Tubman onto the $20 bill
Hannah J. Wiseman: Localizing the green energy revolution
Tony Norman: The protocols of the Lasers of Zion
Abdul-Aliy Muhammad and Amelia Carter: Kenney and Outlaw’s failures, outlined in recent report, give Philadelphians more reasons not to trust police 
George A. Nation III: Why we must avoid extremes of both the left and right
Richard A. Fluck: We risk spreading new strains of COVID-19 by not masking up
Trudy Rubin: Alexei Navalny attacked Putin’s Big Lie. GOP senators should do the same to Trump’s at his impeachment trial. 
Oren Spiegler: President Trump pitted Americans against each other
Dorothy R. Novick: The tragic loss of Nyssa Davis: a pediatrician’s call for safe firearm storage | Expert Opinion
Tom Stiglich: Groundhog Day in Philly means many weeks more of botched leadership | Cartoon