Pennsylvania in Focus

County boards of elections across Pennsylvania are preparing for November, but warn that more support would help them get the job done quicker — while state laws hamstring their effort. “We should have one uniform way of handling elections that takes out all the ambiguity,” Jeff Reber, a Union County Commissioner and election reform committee chair of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said. “Honestly, everybody I’ve talked to from the election administration side would be thrilled if that were the case.” Speaking during a Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing on mail-in and absentee ballot access, Reber and others noted how election day in Pennsylvania is an event done in 67 ways. Counties, not the state, set their policies around things like ballot drop boxes and whether to notify mail-in voters of errors made on their ballot.

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A new plan formalized Sunday means Pennsylvania will support economic recovery efforts in southeastern Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the war-torn country’s president, watched as an official from the Zaporizhzhia Regional State (Military) Administration signed the agreement at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant on Sunday. The Lackawanna County facility manufactures the 155-millimeter howitzer rounds considered “vital” for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

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New presidential polls are dropping, but they don’t bring much clarity for battleground Pennsylvania. The race is tight and within the margin of error – and one poll has a tie between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. A Marist Poll found little space between the two.

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Pennsylvania relies on nuclear power more than any other state except Illinois — and there’s talk of growth. One way would be to revive Three Mile Island, and it has some political support as electricity demand keeps building. Pennsylvania is one of 13 states and Washington, D.C. that’s part of the PJM grid, which supplies power for 65 million people. Pennsylvania is a major exporter of electricity to other states, but as power demands are set to grow significantly in the near future, there’s no clear plan for how to produce that power.

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Private school students who pay tuition using taxpayer-funded scholarships achieve higher academic proficiencies than their public school counterparts, according to a recent report. The analysis, compiled by the Commonwealth Foundation, a policy group that focuses on fiscal conservancy, looked at the demographics of nearly 78,000 students who received financial aid through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit or the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit programs in the 2021-22 school year. Rachel Langan, senior education policy analyst, said the results found an inverse relationship between students living in low-achieving schools and the number of scholarships awarded, suggesting that the program is helping families in neighborhoods with the greatest need.

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The presidential debate Tuesday night in Philadelphia focused on immigration, abortion, and crowd sizes at campaign rallies. What went under-discussed, however, was one close to the heart of Pennsylvania’s economy: energy. The attention it did receive centered on fracking, and Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country. Vice President Kamala Harris clarified that she no longer supported banning fracking after saying in 2019 there was “no question I would ban fracking .”. By 2020, she had disavowed that stance as Joe Biden’s running mate.

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As the Pennsylvania treasurer’s election approaches in November, incumbent Stacy Garrity touts her accomplishments and stewardship of Pennsylvania’s tax dollars. However, her Democratic challenger, Erin McClelland, argues that the office needs a shakeup in the name of transparency and less-politicized investments. Garrity first won election in 2020 while McClelland defeated Rep. Ryan Bizarro, D-Erie, in this year's Democratic primary, by eight points.

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Unions see a clear path through the legislature to boost membership after several legal challenges saw workers leave in droves. This, according to a new report released Wednesday that grades public sector labor laws across the nation. The data was compiled by the Commonwealth Foundation, a policy group that focuses on fiscal conservancy. David Osborne, senior fellow for labor policy at the foundation, said during a media briefing that government privatization, changing demographics and a 2018 Supreme Court decision, Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, have caused membership rates across the nation’s four largest public sector unions to fall more than 320,000 over the last five years.

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The company behind the eponymous "Steel City" may be a Pittsburgh icon no more. U.S. Steel, founded in the city more than 120 years ago, said Wednesday that without Japanese-owned Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition, it would relocate out of Pittsburgh – dealing an economic and symbolic blow to Pennsylvania. The comment comes as multiple media reports suggest the Biden administration will soon collect on a promise to block the deal, a union-backed bipartisan move aimed at keeping the famed company American-owned.

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A new law designed to boost high-value manufacturing through engineering firms and universities took center stage on Tuesday. Now, it just needs state funding. Act 24, passed in June, created the Max Manufacturing Initiative to build public-private partnerships through a grant and loan program, shared research facilities and new equipment and incentives. Officials see it as a game changer for advanced manufacturing if it gets some tax money, which they hope will come in next year’s budget.

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