Category: State House Sound Bites

Over the last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have published two stories on sexual harassment that have caused some uproar.

One reported complaints of chronic sexually-tinged misconduct by Montgomery County Democratic Senator Daylin Leach. And another uncovered a secret quarter-million-dollar settlement on a sexual harassment complaint against longtime Berks County Representative Thomas Caltagirone, also a Democrat.

Governor Tom Wolf and a number of others have since called for both men to step down from their elected positions. Neither has, though Leach has said he’s taking a “step back” from his Congressional run.

The Inquirer’s Angela Couloumbis and Liz Navratil of the Post-Gazette are two of the primary journalists behind the reports in question, and join us to talk through their meticulous fact-checking process, the fallout that’s happened since they published the stories, and why they believe it’s important to take harassment complaints seriously.

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This was the legislature’s last session week of the year, and they made the most of it.

Dozens of bills were passed between chambers and onto the governor, including a contentious abortion restriction measure, GOP-backed proposals to change the budgeting process, and funding reauthorization for the state’s CHIP and unemployment compensation programs.

There were also notable failures and deadlocks, like a defeated bill to keep unions from deducting political contributions from state workers’ paychecks, or the seemingly-unending debates over a natural gas severance tax.

Plus, there was plenty of non-legislative action, like a mid-year budget report that conflicts with the Independent Fiscal Office’s findings, some controversy over an investigation into the Lieutenant Governor, and a questionable committee change.

Jason Gottesman of the PLS Reporter and City and State PA joins us to explain all this, and more.

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This week’s episode was recorded live for WITF’s morning show, Smart Talk. It’s about twice as long as usual, plus features calls from listeners.

With the year winding down, lawmakers are still entrenched in talks on a few major bills. Marc Levy of the Associated Press and the Morning Call’s Steve Esack join us in the WITF studio to discuss one of the most controversial ones: a natural gas severance tax currently on the House floor, which may or may not be a purely political ploy with no chance of passing.

We also discuss the contested race for Lieutenant Governor, the legislature’s aversion to cutting its own spending, some major redistricting lawsuits, and the congressional races to watch in 2018.

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Angela Couloumbis of the Philly Inquirer stops by to review a week that may not have seen much significant legislative action, but certainly made up for it in scattershot news items.

First up, Tom Ridge (former governor, Vietnam veteran and the country’s first Homeland Security Secretary) had a sudden heart attack this week and, as of this posting, remains in critical condition. We discuss what he means to PA politics, as well as the outpouring of support he’s received from across the country.

We also dig into a new report on next year’s (not great) budget prognosis, talk about Republican House Speaker Mike Turzai’s newly-announced gubernatorial campaign, and explain the latest legal twists in the commonwealth’s unfolding gerrymandering cases.

Plus, lest we forget, we’ll take a serious look at the latest dispute to grip the Capitol: which semi-aquatic creature deserves to be named state amphibian?

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For years, Democrats and moderate Republicans in Pennsylvania’s legislature have been trying to pass a severance tax on natural gas drillers. They’ve never been successful, and—particularly in the House—attempted legislation has rarely made it out of committee.

Right now, a measure is actually poised to make it to the House floor; it just needs leaders to call it to a vote. But the situation is more complicated than it sounds—in part because since it passed last month, over 300 amendments have been filed to the bill.

Capitolwire’s Carley Mossbrook has spent the last two weeks combing through all of them. She joins us to explain why many involve topics that aren’t remotely related to oil and gas taxation—including abortion, dredging bodies of water, and pensions.

Plus, Carley and Liz Navratil of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette discuss this week’s elections, and rehash Republican Senator Scott Wagner’s decision to name a running mate in his fledgling gubernatorial campaign.

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Now that the state budget is basically done, what’s next?

PennLive’s Charlie Thompson and the AP’s Marc Levy sit down to discuss the remaining unfinished business in the fiscal picture—namely, the details of expected revenue from borrowing and gaming expansions.

We also delve into the ethical questions that are now plaguing reauthorization of Pennsylvania’s CHIP program, as well as a fast-approaching deadline to fix the commonwealth’s unemployment compensation funding stream.

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It’s probably a little much to reference T.S. Eliot in a podcast title. But dealing as we are with a budget balanced on a borrowing-based plan that none of its makers even like, it does feel appropriate.

This week, after four months of trying, the House and Senate successfully got an entire $2.2 billion revenue package onto Governor Tom Wolf’s desk. It includes $1.5 billion in borrowing, a bunch of internal fund transfers, and a massive expansion to the commonwealth’s gaming industry.

Liz Navratil of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Philly Inquirer and Steve Esack of the Morning Call help break down exactly what that expansion—by far the most complicated component of the budget—will mean for the PA Casino industry, and for the state’s bottom line.

Plus, we try to predict whether this impasse will change the way the state does its budgets, and take a step back to identify the political—and moral—winners and losers.

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