First Read PA – Nov. 28, 2023

WEATHER: Philadelphia: mostly sunny with a chance of flurries, high of 36; Harrisburg: chance of snow showers, high of 34; Pittsburgh: scattered snow showers, high of 30.

FROM CITY & STATE:

* Meet some of the commonwealth’s most influential difference-makers to surpass the half-century mark in this year’s edition of Fifty Over 50.

NEW THIS MORNING:

* The Philadelphia Inquirer has a tick-tock on how Kenyatta Johnson won the race to become the next Philadelphia City Council president.

* The ongoing budget impasse – the Democratic-controlled state House and GOP-led state Senate still haven’t finalized code bills that authorize and direct certain spending amid a dispute about whether to create a taxpayer-funded school voucher program – is hurting community colleges, libraries, nonprofits and more, Spotlight PA reports.

* The Erie County Court of Common Pleas wants to avoid another situation like the one that led to the four-year suspension of James P. Miller, a court-appointed lawyer who was disciplined on Nov. 20 for "serial neglect" of his indigent clients. The local courts are seeking an additional $800,000 in the 2024 Erie County budget to help the justice system better meet one of its constitutionally required mandates, the Times-News reports.

* The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa said that one of their booster stations had been hacked by an Iranian-backed cyber group, KDKA reports.

* Westmoreland commissioners have four weeks to make final tweaks to a 2024 budget that is not expected to raise taxes but could all but exhaust the county’s surplus of funds, the Tribune-Review reports.

* PennDOT contractor G.O. Hawbaker Inc., which was forced to repay more than $20 million in wages stolen from its employees, lost its bid to halt the state’s process to disqualify the company from bidding on road work projects. The state Supreme Court rejected arguments by the company that PennDOT lacked jurisdiction to prosecute violations of the Prevailing Wage Act, which requires contractors to pay workers a minimum wage established by the state, the Capital-Star reports.

* A former supervisor at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center was sentenced to three years’ probation Monday for accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks to direct hundreds of thousands in government dollars to a Philadelphia company, the Inquirer reports.

EDITORIAL PAGES:

* The Times-News has an op-ed from Tim NeCastro, president and CEO of Erie Insurance, on how charitable events like Giving Tuesday have the power to transform communities.

* The Inquirer has an op-ed on how to prevent traffic deaths in Philadelphia.

NATIONAL POLITICS:

* Despite long advocating small government and local control, Republican governors and legislators across a significant swath of the country are increasingly overriding the actions of Democratic cities – removing elected district attorneys or threatening to strip them of power, taking over election offices and otherwise limiting local independence, the Washington Post reports. 

* A month after the House GOP lost its single-best fundraiser as it careened into chaos, Senate Republicans are amplifying their pitch to donors: We’re your best possible investment, Politico reports.

TODAY’S SKED:

10 a.m. – The Pittsburgh City Council will meet. City-County Building, Pittsburgh.

10 a.m. – The Philadelphia City Council Committee on Appropriations will meet. Watch here or view on Xfinity Channel 64, Fios Channel 40.

1 p.m – The State Senate Education Committee will meet. Parkland School District Administrative Center, 1210 Springhouse Road, Allentown.

1:30 p.m. – The Pittsburgh City Council Committee on Hearings will meet. City-County Building, Pittsburgh.

KICKER: 

“The chickens have come home to roost. I’ve been saying since mid-August the county is broke and we have much work to do over the next couple of weeks to make this better.” – Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas, via the Tribune-Review