Smart Talk: Poll finds majority of Pennsylvanians remain concerned about public health situation

Listen to Smart Talk every weekday at 9am and 7pm on WITF 89.5 & 93.3. You can also stream WITF radio live on our website or ask your smart speaker to “Play WITF Radio.”

The ninth annual Muhlenberg College Public Health Program survey results were released last week and reveal how Pennsylvanians feel about a wide variety of public health issues.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and issues relating to it, dominates the poll and the results offer a view of public opinion on how the health emergency is being handled.

This survey also asks respondents how they feel President Biden and Governor Wolf are handling the pandemic response.

Christopher Borick, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion and he appears on Smart Talk Tuesday to analyze the survey results.

For more on public health issues plus a deeper look at the changing tide of healthcare–check out WITF’s Transforming Health. Online at TransformingHealth.org, a partnership of WITF, WellSpan Health and Capital Blue Cross.

Taxpayers on the hook for election lawsuit bills

At least a dozen lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania following President Joe Biden’s victory in the the 2020 General Election.

The Pennsylvania Department of State paid law firms over $3.4 million for work on election-related lawsuits filed before and after election day by any group or political party, according to invoices obtained by WITF through a Right-to-Know request.

All but one of the suits brought by former President Donald Trump and his allies, before and after the election, failed. Yet they accounted for more than $1.9 million of the overall cost incurred by the DOS.

Julia Agos is a reporter and host of All Things Considered for WITF. She filed a report outlining the cost to taxpayers and joins Smart Talk Tuesday to share those details.