This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

There was good news at public schools from Erie to Philly. The Quinta Brunson Field Trip Fund, spearheaded by the “Abbott Elementary” star, has raised $154,000 in mere months toward a goal of $200,000 to finance an excursion fund endowment for Philadelphia schools – such as the one where Brunson's show is set. Meanwhile, Erie’s Public Schools debuted the district’s new electric bus fleet – 12 environmentally friendly, retrofitted vehicles financed by $48 million in federal funds.

It’s a windfall for the commonwealth: 2026 non-motor vehicle sales tax revenues have exceeded projections by $628 million thus far, according to the state Independent Fiscal Office, which now estimates the state will finish the 2025-26 fiscal year $848 million richer than forecasted. The higher numbers are partly due to Pennsylvania consumers paying inflation-driven prices, which in turn helped bolster tax collections. Higher-than-expected corporate profits and stock prices – some of which are linked to spending on data centers – are contributing to the bonanza.

A month-long saga of political drama has resulted in a new president of the Allegheny County Council. Council unanimously voted to elevate Councilmember Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis to president on Tuesday, weeks after former President Pat Catena resigned the presidency under criticism over a controversial campaign mailer. Naccarati-Chapkis becomes the first woman to serve as president in Allegheny County Council’s 26-year history. 

The state Ethics Commission says two Northeastern Pennsylvania township supervisors violated the state’s Ethics Act and have been ordered to pay fines to settle their cases. In adjudications issued this week, the commission said Pittston Township Supervisor David Slezak directed township employees to complete work on his home while being paid by the township; also, former Madison Township Supervisor Andrew Nazarenko was fined after voting to accept a bid from a window-and-door company that employed his daughter. Slezak was ordered to pay $6,888.04 to Pittston Township, and Nazarenko was directed to pay $750 to the state. 

A new first-quarter financial report shows the City of Pittsburgh in a precarious fiscal position, with the Steel City facing a $24.4 million budget deficit this year – an imbalance exacerbated by lower-than-expected revenues and rising healthcare costs for current and retired employees. The city was already expecting to use money from its rainy day fund to cover the gap in 2026; the question now is how much.

The prospect of exposure to HIV and hepatitis is likely prompting more grimaces than smiles for patients of a Philadelphia dental practice, Smiles on the Square. The clinic shuttered after the commonwealth suspended the license of its dentist, Kirti Chopra, for unsanitary practices – including reusing single-use anesthesia paraphernalia – and advised patients to get themselves tested.