Month: June 2019

It’s been a busy time in Harrisburg. State lawmakers are hoping negotiations on next year’s budget are wrapped up before the end of this week—and that means in the meantime, there are a lot of balls in the air.
On Thursday, Governor Wolf stopped by WITF for a live show produced by Keystone Crossroads, in partnership with the major public radio stations in Pennsylvania, and PA Post. He took questions on a number of topics, and in this episode, we’ve included some of the newsiest ones.
Hear what the governor has to say about budget-related issues, like negotiations on a higher minimum wage, upgrading voting machines, and deciding the fate of the General Assistance program. Plus, we’ll get into broader conversations, like his pitch to upgrade infrastructure.
The full conversation with Wolf ran a full hour and covered a lot more ground, so if you’re interested you can check out the recorded broadcast here.

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Lawmakers are busy negotiating the budget for next fiscal year, which starts July 1. By all accounts, things are going relatively well. But a few major proposals are still up in the air.

One of those is the minimum wage.

Pennsylvania’s wage is at the $7.25 federal minimum—lower than any neighboring state. It’s been a sore subject for Democrats for years, but Republicans have, historically, been staunchly against an increase.

This year though, that opposition seems to have thawed slightly. GOP leaders have said they may be open to a modest increase, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have confirmed that talks on the minimum wage are happening in relation to the budget.

It’s still not clear if anything will change. But as negotiations progress, a few potential paths forward have begun to circulate among rank-and-file members.

Marc Levy of the Associated Press joins us this episode to discuss where the issue stands, and where it’s likely to go.

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This week, we’re marking the anniversary of D-Day by investigating a famous photo with a Pennsylvania connection.

For months, WITF News Director Tim Lambert has been unraveling the story behind a scene that happened on Omaha Beach in Normandy 75 years ago. It was immortalized in a picture taken on D-Day +1 — June 7th, 1944. It shows 31-year-old Private First Class Nicholas Russin of Lyndora, Pa.  being dragged ashore, clearly half-drowned, under artillery fire.

Tim and a number of historians have been able to figure out the events leading up to that photo, who some of the men pictured were, and what happened to them.

Tim joins us today to explain how he told the story, and why he thinks it’s still important to remember the lessons of D-Day. You can read his full story here.

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For months now, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf has been battling Republican lawmakers over how Pennsylvania should fund infrastructure improvements.

Wolf wants to implement a $4.5 billion plan funded by a tax on natural gas drillers. Republicans have adamantly opposed such a tax for years, and are casting Wolf’s plan as a nonstarter.

Now, two GOP senators are introducing an alternative: a $1 billion package funded by lifting Wolf’s four-year moratorium on drilling in state forests.

StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter Marie Cusick joins us for a discussion about the history of forest drilling, the politics behind it, and the reason why it still has an environmental impact even if most of the work happens far underground.

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