Legislature
Pennsylvania Senate Democrats call for 3-month state gas tax suspension (wgal.com)
Pennsylvania Dems Introduce Plan to Suspend State’s Gas Tax and Push Anti-Price Gouging Laws – The Keystone (keystonenewsroom.com)
Federal gas tax holiday has pros and cons: State Dems ask for Republican support in Harrisburg | News, Sports, Jobs – Williamsport Sun-Gazette (sungazette.com)
Wolf pushes $91 million for nursing homes to offset costs of proposed new staffing regulations, but industry says it’s not enough · Spotlight PA
Plenty of cash so what’s holding up the Pennsylvania state budget? (wearecentralpa.com)
GOP-backed effort to expand poll watcher access advances in state House – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)
Education voucher program works its way through the Pennsylvania Senate | Pennsylvania | thecentersquare.com
Pa. House bill would give amusement parks more flexibility in selling alcohol (readingeagle.com)
Doylestown Township Awarded $1M For Rec Center Project | Doylestown, PA Patch
Berwyn Fire Co. awarded funding to build new state-of-the-art firehouse – Daily Local
Boscola’s “Christine’s Law” to Protect Motorists from Snow and Ice Reported Out of House Transportation Committee | The Valley Ledger | Its All About The Lehigh Valley
Coronavirus – COVID-19
UPMC seeing COVID-19 spikes in the Midstate (abc27.com)
New COVID-19 cases dipped again over past week | Coronavirus | tribdem.com
Children under 5 begin receiving covid-19 vaccines in Western Pa. | TribLIVE.com
Business/Jobs
Tapped out: Pennsylvania beer distributor strike may leave residents dry | Today in Pa. – pennlive.com
Inflation to blame for Hershey candy price hikes – pennlive.com
There’s not much a president can do to control the price of gas that is fueling inflation | Opinion – pennlive.com
Wawa to double its store count in the Midstate, first new location announced (abc27.com)
Starbucks unions pick up steam among LGBTQ workers | Pittsburgh City Paper (pghcitypaper.com)
Shenandoah business, community leaders weigh in on surge of downtown businesses | Business | standardspeaker.com
Crime/Punishment
Hunger strike to protest solitary confinement at SWPa. prison continues | Friday Morning Coffee – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)
Philly police are investigating a lieutenant who allegedly used the N-word while on a radio call (inquirer.com)
Education
Can a Lancaster school district restrict how trans athletes play sports? | WITF
DelVal Parents Told Posters of Kids’ Books ‘Too Graphic’ to Display at Capitol – DV Journal (delawarevalleyjournal.com)
Westmont Hilltop school board approves final budget with 3-mill tax increase | News | tribdem.com
Nine of 10 taxpayers to save on Hazleton Area school budget | Education | standardspeaker.com
Crestwood school board approves 2.4% tax increase | Education | standardspeaker.com
Designs for Reading STEM high school academy unveiled (readingeagle.com)
Guest commentary: Invest in state university system to boost workforce (readingeagle.com)
Philly board moves to close 3 charters amid allegations of bias against Black-led schools (inquirer.com)
Elections/Politics
Democratic Governors Association calls on Mastriano to release potential Jan. 6 footage – City & State Pennsylvania (cityandstatepa.com)
PA Gov. Race: Shapiro holds slim lead in latest AARP poll (abc27.com)
PA Senate race: Fetterman’s lead shrinks in latest AARP poll (abc27.com)
Allegheny County certifies primary results, with undated mail-in ballots included | TribLIVE.com
Doug Mastriano seeks to mend GOP rifts and raise money to compete with Josh Shapiro (inquirer.com)
Environment
Pa. company wants to draw 1.5M gallons of water daily from creek for fracking | Today in Pa. – pennlive.com
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ are everywhere. Here’s what you should know about them | WITF
Accurate reporting may help Americans accept climate change, but not for long : NPR
The planet’s alarm clock is blaring but Pa. politicians hit the snooze button | Will Bunch (inquirer.com)
Health
Roe v Wade decision: Will NY abortion clinics have capacity for patients? (buckscountycouriertimes.com)
‘Heightened alert’: Abortion providers brace for ruling – Daily Local
Op-Ed: PA must tighten laws to prevent elder abuse (buckscountycouriertimes.com)
Firearm suicides outpace homicides. Experts say the Senate gun bill could help. (inquirer.com)
State News
Sen. Pat Toomey hails Senate’s passage of bipartisan gun bill as a ‘significant step’ | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PA Sen. Toomey Discusses Bipartisan Gun Control Bill Passed by Senate Thursday Night – DV Journal (delawarevalleyjournal.com)
Pennsylvania, East Coast governors team up with Biden for offshore wind power | WITF
Pennsylvania’s economic recovery: some progress, but poor compared to other states | Pennsylvania | thecentersquare.com
Jan. 6 hearings: Pennsylvania Republicans draw scrutiny in hearing, by FBI (inquirer.com)
How Deep Does Scott Perry’s Involvement Go? – PoliticsPA
Rep. Scott Perry pushed to replace Attorney General ahead of Jan. 6, asked for pardon; select committee (abc27.com)
U.S. House committee outlines how U.S. Rep. Scott Perry pushed to restructure Justice Department – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)
Western PA Republicans Kelly, DeMarco drawn into ‘fake elector’ controversies as Jan. 6 hearings continue | WITF
Rep. Mike Kelly denies involvement in transfer of fake electors to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
How to fund public parks and wild places in Pennsylvania | Opinion (inquirer.com)
National News
States brace for fight over gun laws after high court ruling – Daily Local
Supreme Court shoots down New York gun law in major ruling – pennlive.com
U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights in striking down New York concealed carry law – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)
Supreme Court strikes down New York law limiting concealed guns in public : NPR
Our GOP activist U.S. Supreme Court is assaulting the separation of church and state | Opinion – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)
FDA bans Juul e-cigarettes tied to teen vaping surge | Health | phillytrib.com
Housing market squeeze pushes renters into bidding wars : NPR
Black veteran groups seek policy agenda on racial inequities | Across America | phillytrib.com
Local News
Easton City Council advances ‘Marquis,’ low-income housing projects | Lehigh Valley Regional News | wfmz.com
Harrisburg officials ask for regional businesses to take part in disparity study survey – pennlive.com
Radnor extends firefighter stipends to EMS volunteers – Daily Local
Democracy is hard work, John Meacham tells Lancaster Chamber; ‘Strong democracies require strong people ‘ | Local News | lancasteronline.com
Manheim Twp. to vote on Oregon Village zoning case after court decision | Local Business | lancasteronline.com
Protesters with Christian nationalist ties protest Lititz Pride event; refused to leave private park until police came | Local News | lancasteronline.com
Delaware County announces 2022 heat plan – Delco Times
Former Reading mayor, state representative and Strand Theater owner Paul Angstadt has died (readingeagle.com)
Harrisburg public works director fired – pennlive.com
Pitt
City of Pittsburgh blocks lawyer’s request for Fern Hollow Bridge documents | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh argues against release of documents in Fern Hollow Bridge collapse civil case | TribLIVE.com
Pittsburgh Regional Transit receives grant to study Strip District-Oakland-Overbrook corridor that could include suspended cable cars | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FBI interviews Allegheny County GOP chair Sam DeMarco about Trump’s attempt to plant fake electors | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Leon Ford, outgoing Pittsburgh police chief Schubert create foundation to address youth violence, community relations | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Philly
Philadelphia budget: 7 big takeaways from city’s $5.8 billion deal (inquirer.com)
New city budget increases funds for the arts (inquirer.com)
Philadelphia budget adds money for quality-of-life issues, but critics say it’s not enough (inquirer.com)
Takeaways from one of the largest surveys of Philly renters (inquirer.com)
A Philly judge reversed a zoning board decision to allow apartments atop the Painted Bride mosaic (inquirer.com)
Mayor’s $5.8B budget gets final approval from City Council | Local News | phillytrib.com
‘Why do I have to go through this?’: Water main break floods Kensington streets, leaving damaged homes in its wake | Local News | phillytrib.com
For Philly mayoral wannabes in City Council, this year’s budget starts their campaigns | Local News | phillytrib.com
End the Krasner impeachment sideshow | Editorial (inquirer.com)
SEPTA has a big summer construction schedule. Here’s what you should know. (inquirer.com)
Washington
Senate passes gun control bill, sends it to the House : NPR
Senate passes historic bipartisan gun deal, gives Biden needed win (buckscountycouriertimes.com)
Setting gridlock aside, Congress set to OK gun violence bill – Daily Local
White House pushes back on claims Biden is ‘vilifying’ US oil industry: ‘This isn’t personal’ | Fox News
4 takeaways from Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing : NPR
Senate sends school meal waiver bill back to House with some changes : NPR
Biden administration moves to expand Title IX protections : NPR
Biden will announce development projects at the G-7 to counter China : NPR
U.S. bolsters Ukraine with additional $450 million in weapons and aid | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
