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Summer Lee says she condemns ‘all forms of hate’ while defending controversial decision to appear with Hasan Piker

Harrison Cann — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:45:33 -0400

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee is getting heat for a planned campaign appearance alongside Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, a political commentator who’s been accused of antisemitism and anti-American sentiment on multiple occasions.

Lee, a progressive Democrat who represents part of the Pittsburgh region – including Squirrel Hill, seen by many as the center of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community – was scheduled to appear alongside Piker at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan on Tuesday at rallies for U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Piker, a streamer and political commentator, has been in the spotlight recently for his previous comments regarding Hamas, the Oct. 7 attacks, 9/11 and more. His more inflammatory comments include saying that “America deserved 9/11,” responding to one of his listeners who condemned the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, with “Bloodthirsty violent pig dog, suck my dick,” and also said “It doesn’t matter if rape happened on October 7th. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me.”

Amid the controversy, Democratic officials have found themselves on the back foot, trying to explain why they are agreeing to make appearances with him – and Lee is no exception.

Backlash to her announcement was swift. In a joint statement released Monday, state Rep. Dan Frankel and state Sen. Judy Schwank, both Democrats and co-chairs of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, said they were “deeply alarmed” by the move, saying Piker is a “commentator who has repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic statements.”

“At a time when Jewish communities are facing rising threats and harassment, public officials have an obligation to be unequivocal about the voices they elevate and the company they keep,” the statement read. “Dehumanizing language creates an environment where hatred is emboldened and violence becomes more likely.”

Lee responded in an email Tuesday afternoon, stating that she’s focused on reaching young people and bringing more of them into the democratic process.

“At a moment when Donald Trump is threatening catastrophic violence against Iran and saying ‘a whole civilization will die tonight,’ our priorities are deeply out of step if this is what some choose to focus on,” Lee said in a statement to City & State. “We need to invite young people in, take them seriously, and recognize that our politics are strongest when everyday people have a real hand in shaping them.

“I’m going to continue showing up to speak with young people about the issues defining their lives and futures, and I will continue to be unequivocal in condemning Islamophobia, racism, antisemitism and all forms of hate. If reporters have questions about Hasan Piker’s statements, they should ask Hasan Piker. I’m focused on reaching young people and bringing more people into a democratic process that too often pushes them away.”

Lee has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian civilians and had repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the conflict following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. She’s also received criticism for accepting campaign donations from pro-Palestinian activists who have been accused of making antisemitic remarks about Israel. Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick even called for her resignation from Congress in 2024 when Lee found herself in a similar situation.

Prior to the 2024 event, Lee bowed out of a speaking engagement with a Muslim group after intense backlash about other speakers’ antisemitic and homophobic comments. The event was held for the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim group.

Frankel and Schwank’s statement expressed hope that Lee would do the same this time around.

“Two years ago, Rep. Lee agreed to withdraw from a fundraising event that would have placed her on a stage with speakers known for extremist and antisemitic rhetoric,” the statement said. “It is not too late to make that same choice again, refusing to legitimize intolerance.”

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Justin Douglas picks up 3 endorsements in PA-10 Democratic primary race

Justin Sweitzer — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:13:39 -0400

Dauphin County Commissioner and Democratic congressional candidate Justin Douglas picked up endorsements from three organizations representing immigrants and communities of color on Tuesday, with the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, One Pennsylvania and CASA In Action all backing Douglas’s candidacy in the 10th Congressional District Democratic primary.

Supporters praised Douglas as an elected leader who actively engages with communities of color. One speaker noted how Douglas, as county commissioner, offered support to immigrant families impacted by recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Central Pennsylvania.

Robin Gurung, a Nepali-speaking member of Harrisburg’s Bhutanese refugee community who serves on API PA’s board, said ICE raids have led to roughly 20 Bhutanese community members in Pennsylvania getting deported as a result of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. He said Tuesday that Douglas actively worked to connect local families with loved ones who were at risk of deportation.

“It was Justin who drove all the way to Pike County Detention Center with families to let them meet with their loved ones before they would be separated forever,” Gurung said. “It was Justin who coordinated with community members and community leaders to provide support to the impacted families.”“Justin has a proven track record of standing up for justice, dignity and community care,” Gurung added.

Tyler Hartl, an organizer with One Pennsylvania, said that the organization will look to boost Douglas’ campaign by organizing volunteers, creating social media content and organizing actions within the Black community to support Douglas’ congressional campaign.

Douglas said Tuesday that he was grateful to earn the endorsements of the three organizations and highlighted his service as a Dauphin County Commissioner, citing his efforts to expand ballot drop boxes and advocate for inmates at the county prison.

Douglas vowed to stand up to special interests if elected, and expressed support for universal health care and banning members of Congress from trading stocks.

“I know how hard it is to get by, and I know that decisions made in Washington affect everyday Americans right here in Pennsylvania's 10th district,” Douglas said. “Until we send principled leaders there who know what it's like … we're going to keep getting the same Band-Aid fixes to gaping wounds in our economy, and ultimately, that affects everyday Americans here in Pennsylvania's 10th.”

Douglas is running against former news anchor Janelle Stelson in the 10th Congressional District Democratic primary. Stelson lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in 2024 by just over 5,100 votes.

Since launching her 2026 campaign, Stelson has racked up endorsements from Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Sen. Patty Kim, the Dauphin County Democratic Committee, and a wide range of labor unions.

Following Tuesday’s press conference, Douglas expressed his desire to debate Stelson ahead of the May 19 primary: “Janelle is not ignoring me. She’s ignoring the voters ... Voters deserve to hear, side by side, my policies and her policies,” he said.

“She refuses to sit with us, to share her ideas, to take questions in a way that might have to give an account for her policies last time,” he added.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Stelson said she is focused on taking on Perry in this year’s general election.

“Janelle is focused on doing her job – which is beating Congressman Perry and delivering for the people of Central Pennsylvania – so she will not participate in any effort that distracts from that,” a Stelson spokesperson said. “Instead, Janelle is going to continue listening to people across the district, and talk about her plan to clean up corruption and Perry’s mess in Washington.”

“The reason the Dauphin County Democratic Committee, Governor Josh Shapiro and almost 20 unions representing tens of thousands of working families in Central PA are supporting Janelle Stelson is because they know she is the candidate who will beat Scott Perry,” the spokesperson added.

Stelson holds a considerable fundraising edge over Douglas heading into the primary election. At the end of 2025, Stelson had more than $1.5 million in cash on hand, while Douglas had roughly $14,300, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Douglas said he wasn’t concerned about the fundraising gap, pointing to his county-level win in 2023.

“I’m not concerned about the fundraising gap. Look, money matters. I’m not going to act like it doesn’t matter. But as a commissioner, I was out fundraised 20-to-1,” he said. “Go look at my results as a commissioner – I won. I flipped a seat that hasn’t been flipped for 100 years in Dauphin County. No one else had been able to do it before, and we did it by mobilizing people just like this.”

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PA-3 Democratic primary tracker: Common Defense endorses Chris Rabb, Philly AFL-CIO recommends Sharif Street

Harrison Cann — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:40:00 -0400

For the first time in a decade, the commonwealth’s third congressional district is up for grabs. Six candidates remain in the race to fill retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans’ spot, down from what was a field of roughly a dozen early on in the deep blue seat that is PA-3.

According to the Cook Political Report, the North and West Philadelphia district is the most partisan – regardless of party – in the nation. Coming in at +40 in favor of Democrats, the district performed about 40 points more Democratic in two-party vote share than the nation as a whole in 2020 and 2024.

Candidates jumped on the opportunity to run soon after Evans announced his plans to retire, with political veterans, local activists and newcomers throwing their hats into the ring. March 10 was the deadline for filing signatures needed to get on the ballot and Tuesday was the deadline for challenging any signatures.

Last week, after physician Dave Oxman dropped out and endorsed fellow physician Ala Stanford, and Morgan Cephas announced she’s no longer in the running, voters began to get a clearer picture of who will be on the ballot in May.

Here’s the latest on each remaining Democratic candidate in the PA-3 primary, along with their list of endorsements. City & State also has one-on-one interviews with Sharif Street, Ala Stanford and Chris Rabb.

Cole Carter

Cole Carter, a software engineer who entered the race early, has described himself as a “progressive millennial,” according to his campaign announcement. A Temple University and University of Pennsylvania graduate, Carter is also a hip-hop artist who grew up in Germantown and uses music to address social issues, including mass incarceration and poverty. Carter has called out the Democratic establishment for failing to deliver policy solutions in his community, and has called for a $20-an-hour minimum wage, tuition-free college and workers’ protections against artificial intelligence.

Shaun Griffith

Shaun Griffith is a tax attorney who previously worked for the state government before opening his own firm in Roxborough. According to his website, Griffith’s campaign focuses include healthcare for all, a $15-an-hour minimum wage and community protections from data centers.

Karl Morris

Karl Morris has been a computer science professor at Temple for more than a decade. Morris, who grew up in poverty in Jamaica, has said Congress needs true community representatives and is active in unionizing efforts. According to his website, he has a broad range of priorities, including protecting personal privacy, making technology safer and fairer, and improving education and health outcomes. He’s also argued for term limits and age limits for Congress, as well as for cannabis decriminalization.

Chris Rabb

State Rep. Chris Rabb has served five terms in the state House and sought to be a progressive voice in the Philadelphia delegation throughout his tenure. The only state lawmaker in the race who’s chosen not to seek re-election – in his case, in order to run for Congress – Rabb has called himself a social justice activist, and his legislative history supports that. The 200th legislative district representative has pursued bills ranging from ranked-choice voting and adult-use cannabis legalization to restorative justice and prison reforms.

Rabb’s endorsements include: Common Defense, the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, State Sen. Nikil Saval, State Reps. Elizabeth Fiedler and Rick Krajewski, the Working Families Party, Justice Democrats, Philadelphia City Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke, One Pennsylvania, Philly Neighborhood Networks, Sunrise Movement, Philly DSA, Reclaim Philadelphia, Community College of Philadelphia AFT Local 2026, Peace Action, Progressive Voter Network, If Not Now Philly Action, and Muslims United PAC.

Ala Stanford

Dr. Ala Stanford has positioned herself as both a political newcomer and an experienced public health expert able to work with local, state and federal officials. The 55-year-old Philadelphia native, who has been a practicing physician for more than 20 years, received national recognition in 2020 for founding the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, which spearheaded efforts to test and vaccinate Philadelphians, particularly in low-income communities. In 2022, Stanford was appointed by President Joe Biden as the Health and Human Services regional director for the mid-Atlantic region, overseeing efforts to rebuild communities most affected by COVID.

Stanford’s endorsements include: Dwight Evans, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Dave Oxman, and 314 Action.

Sharif Street

Considered a frontrunner from the jump, state Sen. Sharif Street has the name recognition and party connections to fuel a successful campaign. The son of former Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street and the nephew of former State Sen. Milton Street, Sharif Street has been representing the 3rd state senatorial district since 2017. A North Philadelphia native, Street became the first Black man and Muslim to serve as Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair in 2022, succeeding Nancy Patton Mills, whom he had served as vice chair for nearly four years.

Street’s endorsements include: Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, the Philadelphia Democratic Party, the Muslim League of Voters of the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia Building Trades, Steamfitters Local 420, the Plumbers Union Local 690, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1, IUOE Local 542, IUPAT DC 21, Insulators and Allied Workers Local 14, International Longshoremen’s Association 1291, Ironworkers Local 405, Sheet Metal Workers Local 19, Sprinkler Fitters Local 692, IATSE Local 8, PASNAP, former Gov. Ed Rendell, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, and Philadelphia City Councilmembers Cindy Bass, Jim Harrity and Rue Landau. He also received a “recommendation” from the Philadelphia AFL-CIO on Monday.

Dropped Out

Morgan Cephas

Elected to her first term in Harrisburg in 2016, state Rep. Morgan Cephas currently serves as the Philadelphia House Delegation chair and as the Women’s Health Caucus co-chair. Having gotten her start in politics serving as deputy chief of staff to Philadelphia City Councilmember Curtis Jones, Cephas has been a strong advocate for improving maternal health outcomes, investing in public transit and more. But she struggled to gain momentum and fundraising early on, resulting in her dropping out of the race on Friday. And, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, she is not endorsing anyone else in the race at this time.

NaDerah Griffin

NaDerah Griffin has previously run for office in the city, coming up short in her at-large bid for Philadelphia City Council in 2023 and in her run challenging state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta in 2024. According to her website, Griffin has worked as a federal security officer and at the Department of Veterans Affairs – and has been involved in civic organizations like the West Philadelphia Community Development Corporation. Griffin has reportedly dropped out of the race.

Dave Oxman

A physician-turned-congressional candidate, Dave Oxman entered the race with support from a PAC focused on getting STEM-educated Democrats in higher office. But with a crowded field and another physician, Stanford, in the race, Oxman dropped out in March, endorsing Stanford along the way.

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Janelle Stelson calls out DC Republicans for spiking gas prices

Justin Sweitzer — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:52:17 -0400

Standing just steps away from a Harrisburg gas station where the cost of fuel has risen to $4.24, Democratic congressional candidate Janelle Stelson on Monday blamed Republicans in Washington, D.C., for the rising cost of gas, groceries and other everyday goods.

Stelson, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District in hopes of a rematch with U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the fall, cited tariffs and the ongoing war in Iran as two major contributors to rising costs – and looked to draw a contrast between herself and Perry as she seeks a rematch of their 2024 matchup.

“The people of Central Pennsylvania deserve answers, because the cost of living is crushing Central Pennsylvania families and our congressman, Scott Perry, just keeps making it worse,” Stelson said Monday at a press conference outside of a Mobil gas station along Walnut Street in Harrisburg.

“He supports the tariff policies that are driving up prices of groceries, building materials, household goods and housing. These tariffs are taxes, and they are not being paid by China or any other country; they're being paid by you, by American families, by Central Pennsylvania small businesses,” she added.

Since the start of the Iran War in late February, oil and gas prices have risen nationwide, with the average price for regular unleaded gas topping $4 a gallon over the last week, according to AAA data.

Stelson was joined on Monday by local residents who weighed in on how the high prices of gas and other goods have affected them. She told attendees that if she’s elected to represent voters in Washington, she’ll work to repeal President Donald Trump’s tariffs, advocate for a more stable foreign policy, and make Affordable Care Act tax credits permanent.

Stelson, a former news anchor with WGAL, ran against Perry in the 2024 general election and lost by a margin of 49.4% to 50.6% – or 5,133 votes.

She quickly earned an endorsement from Gov. Josh Shapiro upon launching her 2026 campaign last year, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Stelson to its “Red To Blue” program, which provides fundraising and organizational support to Democratic candidates.

Stelson will face Justin Douglas, the chair of the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, in the Democratic primary on May 19.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District rated as a “toss-up” in 2026, as does Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a project of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Meanwhile, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the district as “tilt Republican.”

Stelson also criticized Perry on Monday for his support of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and his opposition to an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits.

In a statement to City & State, Perry shot back at Stelson over her remarks on Monday, saying Stelson “said nothing when gas prices ballooned to over $5 a gallon when she was running alongside Joe Biden.”

(According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average price for a gallon of gas in 2024 was $3.30, with the retail gasoline price hitting $3.67 a gallon at its highest in April 2024. However, the price of gas did top $5 a gallon in June 2022 during President Joe Biden’s administration, per AAA data.)

“And if Stelson had her way,” Perry added, “taxes would have been raised by more than $2,000 on Pennsylvanians because she opposed the renewal of the Trump middle-class tax cuts. So while it’s not shocking to hear her recent disingenuous rant, it’s certainly more than hypocritical of Janelle Stelson to be speaking out against gas prices all of a sudden.”

Perry said he hopes a resolution in Iran will be reached soon – and ultimately bring down gas prices.

“Like so many citizens across our region and nation, I want gas prices to come down, and I understand firsthand the strain these high prices put on families,” Perry said. “It’s everyone’s goal that resolution will be brought to the War in Iran soon, so we can be rid of the threat of a nuclear Iran and energy prices can return to pre-war levels.”

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Nuclear energy jobs are back – and powering Central PA communities

Tom Mehaffie and Patty Kim — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

The cloud-like water vapor rising from the cooling towers over the Susquehanna River has been a familiar sight for generations of Central Pennsylvanians. While that vapor has not yet returned to the former Three Mile Island Unit-1, something just as important has: the jobs. Many workers are former neighbors who left in 2019 and are now coming home to power up our communities once again. As local lawmakers representing this region who work every day to support economic development, we think it’s a story deserving of more attention.

The restart of operations at the Crane Clean Energy Center (formerly TMI Unit 1) marks a rare and welcome chapter in Central Pennsylvania’s economic story. For years, communities across the country have grown accustomed to the painful reality of energy plant closures – jobs lost, tax bases eroded, and families forced to relocate in search of opportunity. We experienced that loss firsthand just six years ago. That is why what we are witnessing today is so remarkable: not the loss of hundreds of good-paying jobs, but their return.

When Three Mile Island Unit 1 shut down in 2019, it represented more than the end of a facility’s operations. It was the loss of a highly skilled workforce and a key economic engine for Dauphin County and the surrounding region. Workers who had dedicated decades to safe, reliable energy production suddenly faced uncertainty. Local businesses, from restaurants to contractors, felt the ripple effects almost immediately. It was a sobering reminder of how interconnected our energy infrastructure is with the health of our communities.

Today, with the Crane Clean Energy Center bringing jobs back, we have an opportunity to reverse that narrative. It is exceedingly uncommon to see an energy facility reopen in a way that restores hundreds of family-sustaining jobs. In most cases, closures are permanent, and communities are left to rebuild from scratch. Here in Middletown and the surrounding region, however, we are seeing something different: a second chance.

These returning jobs are not just numbers on a balance sheet. They are careers that support families, sustain local economies and provide long-term stability. Nuclear energy jobs, in particular, are among the most skilled and best-compensated in the energy sector. They require rigorous training, technical expertise, and a commitment to safety that has long defined the workforce at Three Mile Island. The return of these positions signals renewed investment not only in infrastructure, but in people.

Beyond the direct employment impact, the reopening of the Crane Clean Energy Center will once again generate significant economic activity throughout the region. Local suppliers, service providers, and small businesses will benefit from increased demand. Schools and municipalities will see strengthened tax revenues, helping fund essential services and community improvements. The building trades will also play a critical role in refueling and maintenance, bringing in a temporary workforce in the hundreds. In this way, the benefits of these jobs extend far beyond the plant’s gates.

It’s also worth noting that plant owner Constellation is living up to its promise to support local nonprofits philanthropically. Those contributions already are benefitting our first responders, schools and food banks, among others.

There is also a broader energy conversation at play. As our nation works to meet growing electricity demand while reducing emissions, nuclear energy offers a reliable, carbon-free source of power. Facilities like Crane are uniquely positioned to provide consistent energy generation regardless of weather conditions, supporting grid stability and complementing other clean energy sources. For Pennsylvania, a state with a proud energy heritage, this matters. The deal struck between plant owner Constellation and Microsoft allows the energy to be transmitted to the grid, powering homes and businesses in the region.

Importantly, this moment reflects what can be achieved through collaboration. The return of these jobs did not happen overnight, nor did it occur in a vacuum. It required coordination among industry leaders, policymakers, regulators, and the community. It also stands as a rare example of genuine bipartisan alignment in today’s political climate. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright have both recently visited Crane and voiced strong support for this project, recognizing its economic and energy significance. At a time when agreement across party lines can be difficult to find, the Crane Clean Energy Center demonstrates that supporting American jobs and strengthening our energy future can unite leaders from both sides of the aisle.

We proudly count ourselves as examples of that bipartisan support. The two of us come from different backgrounds and perspectives, but we share a common commitment to the people and communities we serve. The reopening of the Crane Clean Energy Center is a reminder that economic progress need not be a zero-sum game. We can preserve good-paying jobs, support local businesses and advance our energy goals at the same time.

For the workers who have already returned to the site, this is a moment of pride and renewed purpose. For the region, it is a sign of resilience. And for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is proof that with the right vision, partnership and cooperation across party lines, even the most unlikely comebacks are possible.

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This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

City & State — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:14:32 -0400

The madness of March didn’t spare the Keystone State, where plenty of teams met the end of the line – in more ways than one. The University of Scranton women’s basketball team deserves a shoutout for its run to the Division III National Championship and for snapping New York University's 91-game winning streak in a Final Four win, even if the Lady Royals fell short in the title game. Elsewhere, Philly-area lax fans will have to say goodbye to the Wings. The National Lacrosse League teams announced it will cease operations at the end of this season, meaning their April 11 game will be their final sendoff.

Keep reading for more winners and losers!

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Ask the Experts: Local transit leaders mind the gaps

Harrison Cann — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 11:38:12 -0400

Transit talks aren’t taking a back seat in 2026.

Coming off last year’s budget season, which was dominated by the transit funding debate, local transit leaders and riders across the commonwealth are seeking answers. With systems large and small having to make tough decisions to stay afloat and maintain adequate service levels, eyes are on the State Capitol and what transportation funding approach lawmakers can agree on.

Gov. Josh Shapiro offered one solution, proposing to transfer an additional 1.75% of sales and use tax revenues to the Pennsylvania Transportation Trust Fund beginning July 1, 2027, which would provide more than $300 million annually in funding for mass transit.

City & State spoke with Owen O’Neill, executive director of the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Greg Downing, executive director of the South Central Transit Authority, Bob Fiume, executive director of the Luzerne County Transportation Authority and Rich Farr, executive director of Rabbittransit in Central Pennsylvania – about ongoing transit talks and where costs and services are becoming issues.

These conversations have been edited for clarity and length.

Are your transit systems approaching a fiscal cliff?

Rich Farr: We're a couple of years out, but we can see it coming; every year it gets closer. There are concerns in our shared-ride program (paratransit shuttles often offering on-demand, curb-to-curb service). We're robbing the fixed-route program (for buses with set schedules and routes) to support the shared-ride program because it has a structural deficit. We're over the cliff in shared-ride – long over the cliff, like I see the rocks coming. It's really terrible. And because we're stealing from the fixed-route program to balance the budget and the shared-ride program, we're creating a fixed-route problem.

We're advocating that part of the transit solution be a redesign. The shared-ride program began in 1980 and hasn't been touched – it is time to revisit it. It could do better for communities, and we need to change how it's funded structurally. And it's not just us – every shared-ride provider in the state is having the same issue.

Bob Fiume: We haven't made any cuts or fare increases in the last few years. Across the state, every agency has a different timeline for reaching its fiscal cliff. In November 2024, we implemented some route changes and added micro-transit (on-demand shuttles). That was a result of our transit development plan – it had been a while since the routes were really overhauled and looked at. We wanted to become more efficient, so we shifted service from some areas.

We are currently gathering information and assessing ridership. We're looking at our authority as a whole, where we could be a little more efficient and where we can cut back a little to save some funding and last a little longer before we hit a fiscal cliff. That's why we're working with our peers across the state to try to get our legislature to adopt some of the funding requested and the funding principles the governor requested.

Greg Downing: We're probably at, right now, about 80% of what our pre-COVID ridership was. We’ve been gradually improving over the years. We did not put out a lot of new service because we were waiting on our transit development plan, which was completed last March. We were then able to combine some routes to be more efficient … We were able to right-size our routes, transport people more efficiently with fewer resources, and still provide the same level of service. That has pushed our fiscal cliff out a good little bit. If we didn't get any more funding, we would probably be a little less than two years away from meeting a fiscal cliff.

Owen O’Neill: We were on this path prior to COVID, when we probably would have been in this position in 2020 or 2021. But then many of the systems received COVID relief funding, so we were able to use those dollars to push the timeline back a few years – but those dollars have been expended and exhausted.

We received some stabilization funding from PennDOT, so we were able to bridge most of that gap for this year and the coming year, too. We have adjusted our service level to keep expenses in line so we can get through the next year, and we expect a new funding bill for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2027.

The phrase we’ve been hearing a lot is that you’re “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Is that the case within your system?

RF: That's what we're doing. It's really awful, and the shared-ride program is really important. It's how seniors remain independent, and it's how individuals with disabilities get to work. We have to fix it.

BF: We could use that phrase. We're taking fixed-route funds to run the shared-ride program, but shared-ride is very, very important, too. We’re helping a lot of people – you've got seniors, you've got persons with disabilities, you've got medical assistance, and these people have to get out to their doctor appointments and to the grocery store. Especially when their shared-ride goes into the more rural counties, it's a lifeline for people. It keeps them independent and moving – it's a bridge for them, just as fixed-route transit is for a lot of people.

GD: We had a deficit of over $3 million with our shared-ride program last year. That's a difficult pill to swallow because if we could fix our shared-ride problem, there would be no fixed-route problem for me. SEPTA is totally different from SCTA: We run in Lancaster and Reading – that is basically just West Philly, to put it in perspective.

How do you fix the shared-ride problem? That's the million-dollar question.

What are the biggest budget challenges your system is facing?

RF: For the larger systems, the pandemic and the loss of fare revenue had a huge impact on their budgets, which will take them forever to recover from. The shared-ride program is fee-for-service – it's not deficit-funded like the fixed-route – so, no trips, no money. We used almost all of our CARES Act funds to support the shared-ride program; very little was needed for the fixed-route program. We were able to weather the storm with those federal funds.

OO: Our fare increases weren't necessarily tied to the funding issue. We were going to generally return to base fare every five years or so. We're actually required under state law to ensure we're doing things to keep increasing the revenue we get from fares and non-grant sources. We were going to raise our fare in 2020, and then COVID hit, so we decided to put it off. We've waited a few years to support the recovery of ridership and the system, so we feel like this is the time to go ahead and make that adjustment to our fare structure. We're trying to make sure that we are adjusting our service level so that even if we do get a fare increase or a new funding bill, it's going to have to last a while.

BF: There's no doubt that since the pandemic, the ridership has decreased. It is coming back in a lot of areas here, both in fixed-route and shared-ride. We're still not at the level we were pre-COVID in terms of ridership, but those fares wouldn't make the total funding difference we need. Every year, everything goes up. You have contracts with drivers, healthcare and insurance – all the expenses to run an agency are increasing every year.

GD: We were in a very good financial state coming out of the pandemic because we got COVID relief funding and we were able to stay with the service that we were providing. Our ridership dropped to roughly 25-30% of our pre-COVID level, so we were holding on and we are still able to provide the same level of service.

PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll meets with transit leaders during an annual transit conference in Lancaster. Photo credit: Commonwealth Media Services

Are rising wages a concern?

RF: We were paying our Commercial Driver’s License drivers $15 an hour. They ripped the flyer off the front door of the Dunkin Donuts, where they are paying people $17 an hour to pour coffee, and said, “I have a CDL, that person is pouring coffee, and they're making more than me.” We raised their wage by $1.50 in the rural counties – it was a $4 million hit to my budget.

We are all wages and benefits. We're a service industry, so the wage war that everybody experienced hit us hard: The cost of parts, the cost of goods and services we buy to operate, all of that has increased more than the rate of inflation. The culmination of all those pieces, and the fact that we haven't had regular fare increases because the people who buy our services, such as the Area Agencies on Aging and the Department of Aging, haven't seen meaningful increases in their budgets in decades. So if we raise our rates, we price out the seniors for whom the program is intended. It is really a menagerie of a mess – a multilayered problem that I think we can solve by going back to the foundation of the shared-ride program.

OO: Obviously, wages have gone up since the end of COVID, along with the cost of people's benefits, medical care and things like that. But the parts we use for our vehicles have also gone up in cost, and fuel prices go up and down. There are many components of our costs that have made the cost structure more difficult, given the amount of funding … It's especially hard on the paratransit side, because those are non-CDL drivers, so those wages tend to be a little lower – in some of the more rural parts of the region, the paratransit system struggles to maintain a driver staff. You're right in that wage level, where there's a lot of competition, especially in the Lehigh Valley, where you have a lot of warehouses and logistics centers that are paying the same, and so there's a lot of different places that people can go.

Transit systems across the commonwealth face tough decisions amid growing fiscal constraints. Photo credit: Commonwealth Media Services

How do you make fare decisions while still maintaining adequate, accessible service?

RF: It usually is a combination of the two. We can never raise our fares to get us out of a deficit. If you look at our fixed-route bus in York and Harrisburg, the typical rider is a female between the ages of 24 and 40, earning $20,000 a year and with two children. That's who we're raising the fares on, so we have to be mindful. We’d be targeting the folks who need it most, who need help maintaining their livelihoods. By the way, it doesn't solve the problem. We can implement service reductions, but, fortunately, we have another year and a half before we have to make a decision … I'm going to have to pull the money out of the shared-ride program and put it back in the fixed-route program, so I don't have a fixed-route problem. Then, I'm going to have to double the fares on the shared-ride program and reduce service. So if you live in X community right now and you have a weekly service, you'll get service on Monday and Wednesday. So if you need to go to the doctor, you'd better make it on Monday or Wednesday, because that's where this is headed. This is taking us back to the 1980s, when the program started. It's going to be very difficult for consumers to live in that world.

BF: A fare increase would be part of it. However, you have to realize that a fare increase is nominal and doesn’t generate much revenue. I'd have to check what percentage of our budget is fares, but it's not that great compared to the rest of the operating budget. So just by increasing fares by, say, a quarter, you’re not really bringing a lot of money into the system. It obviously would help, but it's not going to be a fix. So it would have to be a combination of some sort of tightening the belt, such as cuts in service, along with fare increases, to make a difference … We have to balance our shared-ride department with money from fixed-route funds. Things are changing, and more people are riding a lot of different programs for longer distances, so there needs to be some sort of either streamlining or funding for shared-ride.

GD: Fixed-route service is not where SCTA has a problem. We are bleeding money on our paratransit service. The intention of the paratransit program was to pay for trips at a clip – some at 70, 75% or 85% at most – so that they pay for the trip. You have some people who need paratransit but don't have a program to help them pay, so they pay 100% for the trip … So when PennDOT makes us charge, we can only charge a certain amount for the trip. That said, gas prices have risen significantly over the last week. Well, that means the trip will cost more. Who pays that? That's the transit agency. And how do we pay for it? We pay it using the fixed-route money.

Rich Farr, executive director of the Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority, speaks at a press conference. Photo credit: Commonwealth Media Services

Where do funding conversations stand in Harrisburg now and what are your thoughts on Gov. Shapiro’s budget proposal?

BF: The governor’s proposal is to move an additional 1.75% of the sales tax over to public transit. Public transit is funded by a formula, and a couple of factors go into it: your hours, your ridership, your miles, etc. That's how you determine what your allocation from the state is for operating and it's held harmless, so you're not going to get any less next year than you did this year.

That 1.75% increase would be applied statewide based on your formula and what you're currently receiving. So everyone would get their share that way. So that's one way to help us with the fixed-route system. The other way, again, is some sort of a fix with shared-ride.

RF: If I’m an entry-level, low-income worker who's not disabled, clearly not a senior, there's no transit for me in rural Pennsylvania. If we're out picking up Mabel, why can't we pick up Joey across the street and take him to work? The current program doesn't allow you to do that because it's a fee-for-service. It's a huge fare, and the lottery buys down the fare so seniors can afford it. We need to restructure this where we take the money away as a fee-for-service and just give it to us as a block grant of some sort, to charge a universal fare for everyone and provide service to those who need it. That is easier said than done.

The second part of our plans is to identify potential service delivery models that could be used and potentially piloted to see how they work. That study is stalled in the governor's office. We need authorization to get that relief so we can get working on it. That's how we will collectively – state officials, transit providers and community stakeholders – sit around the table and talk about how we can make this as effective as possible at the lowest cost possible. That's what needs to happen, and it's not happening.

OO: It's very encouraging that it's still a priority for the administration. This will be the third year in a row that the governor has proposed a similar funding package, so it is obviously very encouraging that he still sees this as a priority in the budget talks.

GD: I have been a loud proponent of Gov. Shapiro’s budgets in the past, and I still am a loud proponent of his budgets. I do understand the other side of it – that it costs for these things. But I would definitely tell you that to be efficient and smart with everything we're talking about, we do need to come up with a plan for a shared-ride program … We need to figure out how to transport our most vulnerable populations without them losing their life savings on transportation. The governor's budget talks a lot about money for transit, and it's allowing us to look at the problem and fund solutions. But in all actuality, we really need to be searching for a solution to that problem.

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Pennsylvania faith leaders denounce violence one year after governor’s residence attack

Justin Sweitzer — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:42:55 -0400

Nearly a year after an arsonist targeted Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family in an attack that set their Harrisburg home ablaze, Shapiro and his wife, Lori, welcomed religious leaders into the same room that was set on fire during that arson, hosting a discussion on faith and how to discourage political violence in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

Shapiro opened the discussion on Wednesday – the first night of Passover – by expressing how prayer and support from different religious communities helped his family heal in the aftermath of the attack.

“What has been so important to us and so healing to us have been the prayers, and the offerings of strength, and words of healing that we have received from people … who don’t worship like us, and who come to their religions with different practices, different approaches, but with the same throughline in our faiths, in our shared humanity,” he said. “Those prayers have truly strengthened us.”

“I’ve always been a person who prays, a prayerful person, but I never felt the strength of other people’s prayers in the way that we have throughout this process, particularly in the hours and the days and the weeks thereafter,” Shapiro added.

The interfaith roundtable, held in the State Reception Room in the Governor’s Residence, featured leaders from local religious institutions, all of whom condemned political and religious violence and called for unity across faiths.

Bishop Timothy Senior of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg said political violence is becoming “all too commonplace” in today’s world and noted how public discourse can play a role. “I think the bar is lowered, and it begins with our public discourse so often,” he said.

Others who participated in the roundtable included Penn Township Fire Company Chaplain John Wardle; Rabbi Ariana Capptauber of Beth El Temple in Harrisburg; Reverend Marshall Mitchell of Salem Baptist Church in Abington; Navtej Grewal, president of the Harrisburg Sikh Society; Imam Idris Zahir of the Masjidullah Islamic Center in Philadelphia; and Vibheeshan Gereddy, a temple founder at Sai Mandir of Harrisburg.

Attendees at the ecumenical gathering echoed a message of unity, especially in the face of divisive rhetoric and political violence.

“I think it’s a time of bridge-building,” said Zahir. “We have to continue to build bridges between ourselves, because those that want to divide us, those that want to continue to make the current discourse common, want to keep us apart.”

Capptauber, whom Shapiro noted led his son Reuben’s bar mitzvah, said that despite instances of religious intimidation and hatred, such events have a way of bringing people together.

“As horrible as it is when these things happen, there’s such an opportunity to go from disgrace to praise and to build moments of solidarity and strength out of those moments,” she said.

A year ago, an arsonist set fire to the governor’s residence in the early morning hours on April 13, just hours after Shapiro, his family and guests had finished a Passover seder.

The perpetrator, Cody Balmer, used a hammer to break into the governor’s residence and set fire to the building with Molotov cocktails before exiting the building and fleeing the scene. He later turned himself in and told police that he would have beaten Shapiro with his hammer if he had encountered him inside the residence. Balmer pleaded guilty to charges of arson, terrorism and attempted murder in October 2025.

Shapiro said Wednesday that he and his family are continuing to work through the trauma and aftereffects of the attack, while expressing gratitude for the support of the religious leaders who convened in Harrisburg.

“We have had the opportunity to take stock and to work through a number of things, both as parents and as public servants,” he said. “And, as I think I’ve said to many of you individually, that’s a process that’s ongoing, and we think that today is an important part of that process.”

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Power plays: The battle over data centers in PA

Justin Sweitzer — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:39:10 -0400

While the world’s tech giants are actively seeking primacy in the artificial intelligence economy, Big Tech seems to agree on one thing: Pennsylvania is a key location on the road to AI dominance, as evidenced by the flood of private investments into the commonwealth to build out data centers and other AI-related infrastructure.

But as the likes of Amazon and Google move to build data centers and infrastructure here to power the nation’s AI revolution, Pennsylvania residents haven’t been as quick to welcome them as their public officials have.

In the last year alone, leading tech, energy and investment companies have announced more than $100 billion in private sector investments specific to Pennsylvania – investments that have been championed by state and federal elected leaders.

Joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro, Amazon announced last June that it would invest $20 billion to build two data center campuses in Luzerne and Bucks counties, news that seemed to open the floodgates. Less than a month later, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick announced more than $90 billion in private investments for AI and energy-related projects across the state at his inaugural Energy and Innovation Summit.

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick discusses a $20 billion investment from Amazon to build data center campuses in Pennsylvania. Photo credit: Commonwealth Media Services

Both Shapiro and McCormick have said that Pennsylvania is uniquely suited to lead in the new AI economy thanks to the state’s diverse energy sources, leading research institutions, and regulatory and permitting environment – all of which have helped position the state to reap the benefits of the data center boom.

Data centers – the facilities that house the computing machines, servers, storage devices and other IT infrastructure needed to process and store vast amounts of data – are essential to the digital economy, whether it be generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, or the cloud computing networks that so many businesses rely on. According to an analysis by McKinsey & Company, by 2030, data centers will need $6.7 trillion in worldwide investment to keep pace with demand for computing power; the same report estimates that 70% of the projected demand for data center capacity will come from AI-based workloads.

“Consumers and businesses are going to generate twice as much data in the next five years as we did in the previous 10,” said Dan Diorio, the vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, a membership association for the data center industry that counts Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic among its members.

“The average household has 21 connected devices … all that requires digital infrastructure. When you get to the heart of it – data centers and digital infrastructure – it’s the heart of the 21st-century economy,” he told City & State in an interview.

Pennsylvania’s emergence as a new market for data centers didn’t happen by accident. Diorio noted that the availability of energy sources, power, land, a business-friendly tax and regulatory environment, and access to skilled labor are key factors that tech companies and data centers consider when choosing where to locate a facility.

“All of those factors, I think, have converged to help Pennsylvania emerge as a leading and really strong and growing market throughout the country,” Diorio said.

The Joint State Government Commission has estimated that there are 101 active data centers in the state – and with more being proposed in communities across the state, communities are beginning to push back.

Data center proposals are working their way through municipal planning and zoning processes in nearly every corner of the state, and residents are showing up en masse at local government meetings and organizing through Facebook groups to oppose projects in their communities.

A recent survey of 836 Pennsylvania voters by Quinnipiac University found that a majority of respondents oppose building a data center in their neighborhoods, with opposition to data center development coming from both Democrats and Republicans.

According to the poll, 68% of Pennsylvanians would oppose building an AI data center in their community, compared with 20% who would support it. When broken down by party, 53% of Republicans said they would oppose a data center in their community, 81% of Democrats said they would oppose it, and 67% of independents said they would oppose a data center where they live.

Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, a Chester County resident and senior organizer with Food & Water Watch, said opposition is evident at the community level.

“They are all drawing unprecedented community opposition. This is something that I have never seen in my 10 years of organizing – such an incredible turnout from community members to township meetings night after night,” Marcille-Kerslake told City & State in an interview. “They’re filling meeting rooms to standing-room-only, or overflowing to the point where meetings have to be adjourned and rescheduled in larger facilities.”

Marcille-Kerslake said community organizing has already halted several projects across Pennsylvania, including an effort to add data centers as an allowable use in an office park district in Hampden Township, Cumberland County, as well as another attempt to rezone land for a data center in Montour County. Additionally, last November, supervisors in Hazle Township, Luzerne County denied an application for a 15-building data center campus known as “Project Hazelnut”; that decision is now being appealed in court.

Residents in Montour County gather in November 2025 to oppose the rezoning of agricultural land for data centers. Photo credit: Ginny Marcille-Kerslake/Food & Water Watch

Concerns from residents with data center proposals in their communities range from light and noise pollution – including a humming noise from data centers and their associated transmission lines – to increasing electricity bills and decreasing property values, Marcille-Kerslake said.

Community concerns haven’t fallen on deaf ears. In his February budget address, Shapiro acknowledged that while data centers have the potential to bring new jobs and new tax revenue to the state, Pennsylvania residents “have real concerns about these data centers and the impact they could have on our communities, our utility bills, and our environment.”

He went on to outline a set of development guidelines – the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development, or GRID, standards – designed to hold data center developers accountable at the risk of losing permits and tax credits.

“If companies adhere to these principles, they will unlock benefits from the Commonwealth, including speed and certainty in permitting and available tax credits,” Shapiro said. “I know everyone in this room wants to see our economy grow and create more jobs and more opportunity. But I also know this is uncharted territory – so let’s come together, codify these principles, and take advantage of this opportunity.”

Lawmakers in the General Assembly have also introduced legislation seeking to address the rapid development of data centers occurring across the commonwealth. Some are seeking to boost transparency around proposed data center projects and limit the types of land on which developers can construct data centers, while others are seeking to halt development entirely – albeit temporarily.

Lawmakers in at least 12 states have introduced bills to establish a moratorium on data center construction, ranging from New Hampshire, New York and Vermont to Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia – even as far west as Oklahoma.

An aerial view shows cars passing a data center under construction in Ashburn, Virginia. Photo credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

State Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat who represents parts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, plans to introduce legislation that would establish a statewide three-year moratorium on data center development in Pennsylvania. She wrote in a co-sponsorship memo that elected officials “need more time to evaluate risk, enact protective ordinances, update their zoning regulations, and other critical measures to ensure public safety and well-being.”

Muth’s legislation, which has yet to be formally introduced, would place a three-year pause on hyperscale data center development, and also include new power-generating facilities and utility transmission infrastructure needed to power them.

“By enacting a three-year moratorium, this legislation would require Pennsylvania decision-makers to take time to do meaningful research and planning that should have been done before this data center development rush began,” Muth’s memo reads. She added that a moratorium on development would give local governments and emergency response personnel time to assess the impact of data centers and establish protections for residents and communities.

Food & Water Watch supports both a statewide and nationwide moratorium on the construction of new AI-driven data centers. “The three-year moratorium would allow time for municipalities to add this new use to their zoning ordinances and put the protections in place for their residents and the environment,” Marcille-Kerslake said. “Right now, they're scrambling to do that.”

Calls for statewide moratoriums on data center development have gained traction in a number of states, including Wisconsin. Photo credit: Joe Timmerman/Catchlight/Wisconsin Watch via Getty Images

Republican state Sen. Rosemary Brown, who represents Lackawanna, Monroe and Wayne counties, is one of several co-sponsors of Muth’s moratorium legislation. She told City & State she backed the bill because it would give residents and decision-makers time to better understand the ramifications of data center development.

“The reason for me signing on to the moratorium is basically making the statement that I still have questions, that people still have questions, and answers need to still be given so that we do the right thing,” she said.

Brown is also sponsoring her own “Residents First” legislative package that seeks to limit large-scale data center development to land that’s zoned for industrial use and require data center proposals to include a third-party analysis of the development’s anticipated water usage.

As part of the package, she’s also sponsoring legislation that would direct the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the long-term validity and viability of data center facilities.

State Sen. Rosemary Brown has introduced a legislative package that seeks to address community concerns about data centers. Photo credit: Commonwealth Media Services

Brown said it’s crucial that the state not rush to develop data centers but rather take a responsible, measured approach. “You have to do this type of development right,” she said.

A report released by the General Assembly’s Joint State Government Commission may also provide a roadmap for lawmakers. Released in January, it explored the adoption and use of AI in Pennsylvania, as well as the impact of data centers, which, the report said, “can exert a large pressure on the environment, public health, and natural resources through the manufacturing of their hardware, construction, and operations.”

The report made several recommendations on data center development, suggesting that the state ensure Pennsylvania municipalities “have the authority to engage in municipal planning and zoning activities that protect local community interests” when deciding on the location and environmental impact of data centers.

The advisory committee also recommended that data centers annually report their electricity and water usage to the state’s Public Utility Commission and Department of Environmental Protection, respectively.

Lawmakers at the federal level have also waded into the conversation surrounding data centers, with legislators in states spanning from New Jersey to Texas introducing bills to require data centers to generate their own renewable energy and push the federal government to collect data on environmental impacts and energy consumption.

However, others have said AI development in the U.S. is key to national security. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman recently pushed back against efforts to enact a nationwide moratorium on data center construction. “I refuse to help hand the lead in AI to China,” Fetterman said in a post on X responding to a moratorium bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. “The AI chassis can either come from China or the USA. That’s an easy choice.”

President Donald Trump has also sought to address the energy demands of data centers and the ramifications for electricity rates. He announced in March that some of the world’s biggest tech companies – Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI – signed a non-binding agreement to cover the cost of power generation for data centers.

“Big Tech companies are committing to fully cover the cost of increased electricity production required for AI data centers – and that would mean prices for American communities will not go up, but in many cases, will actually come down,” Trump said.

Regarding concerns raised by residents in Pennsylvania and beyond, Diorio said that data centers are efficient water users, citing a 2024 report from Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission concluded that while “some data centers use substantial amounts of water, most use similar or less than other large commercial and industrial water users.”

The data center industry, for its part, wants to be a good neighbor to Pennsylvania residents, regardless of the location, Diorio said.

“I think it is up to local leaders to determine what’s the best fit for their community when it comes to economic development projects – data centers strive to be that best fit,” he said. “Data centers look to support local priorities and ensure that they are building up the community, whether it be workforce development or other ways.”

“They’ve always done that, and they will continue to do that.”

This story has been updated to reflect that commissioners in Hampden Township, Cumberland County voted against a proposal to allow data centers in office park districts.

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Pennsylvania’s major 2026 events get a Philadelphia pep rally

Harrison Cann — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:57:42 -0400

Summer 2026 is the Keystone State’s time to shine – and state and local officials are optimistic about the commonwealth’s chances to deliver as a host.

At Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia on Tuesday, a Visit PA-led pep rally – featuring members of the Shapiro administration and organizers from across the state – promoted the commonwealth and the importance of the events to future tourism and community development.

The event, which featured appearances by the state’s unofficial mascot delegation – including the Hershey’s Chocolate Bar, Crayola Crayon and the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh team mascots – highlighted both the public and private sectors’ efforts to prepare the cities and host communities for their big events.

“Now you may have heard that Pennsylvania is the Great American Getaway, and it is, but in 2026 Pennsylvania, it’s a trip – and it is the trip of a lifetime,” Anne Ryan, state deputy secretary of tourism, said Tuesday. “And if this is our moment, then how we show up matters, and that is how we created something new, something bold, and something powered by people: the Visit PA Playmakers.”

Ryan said the “Playmakers,” also known as the state’s hype squad, is a group of creators, performers and storytellers working to bring the state and its summertime events into the national spotlight.

“We are not chasing business here. We are creating something, and people carry it with them – a memory and, most importantly, a reason to come back,” Ryan added. “As we step into this once-in-a-generation year and put Pennsylvania on full display for the world, this moment calls for someone who knows exactly what it takes to leverage its full economic impact,” she added, pointing toward Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger.

The state’s slate of major events begins in April with the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, followed by the PGA Tour Championship at Aronimink Golf Course in Newton Square. The itinerary only gets bigger through the summer months, with FIFA World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star game and America 250 celebrations all taking place in Philadelphia.

Siger said that with more than 200 million people expected to visit the aforementioned events in 2026, the economic outcomes for a proper host will be significant.

“In the short term, we’re anticipating nearly $55 billion in visitor spending in 2026 in the cash registers, small businesses across Pennsylvania, restaurants, hotels, shops, gas stations and more,” Siger said. “And importantly, just as Anne said, in the long term, we’re showing our state off to future tourism, to future businesses, to future residents, and taking advantage of this generational opportunity to elevate Pennsylvania on the global stage.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro also announced that the state is investing an additional $40 million in the 2026 events to ensure they “go off well.”

“We’re putting more money into the Fan Zone for the World Cup, the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, the All-Star game, and of course, the PGA Championship. We’re investing to make sure that these events are more open to the public, that there’s more opportunities for families to enjoy,” Shapiro said Tuesday. Adding that public safety is also top of mind, he continued, “I want to stress this: We are working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that these are not only fun events, but these are safe events for all to enjoy.”

The list of speakers included Jim Britt, vice president of sports events with Visit Pittsburgh; Jackie Endsley, championship director of 2026 PGA Championship; Meg Kane, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 CEO; Michael Harris, vice president of marketing and government affairs with the Philadelphia Phillies; and Michael Newmuis, Philadelphia’s 2026 director, appointed by Mayor Cherelle Parker.

Newmuis, who’s leading event organizing in the city, joked that Parker would consider signing an executive order to limit outside traffic entering Philadelphia from July 1 to July 4 – the peak of major summertime events, capped off by the America 250 celebrations and a World Cup match on Independence Day.

“There’s going to be no reason for anyone to leave,” Newmuis quipped.

Correction: The story has been updated to reflect that Newmuis’ comments were intended as a joke.

Note: Michael Newmuis is the chair of the City & State PA advisory board.

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PA’s next generation of farmers is finding their roots

Hilary Danailova — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:05:41 -0400

Agustin Salazar Cernas and his son, Austin, on their Perry County farm. Photo credit: Provided

As a teenager in Perry County, Jarrah Salazar Cernas had a job on a local organic farm – work she took for granted until, as a nurse-in-training, she realized how much she missed the sun on her face and her hands in the soil.

At a clinical rotation in a nursing home, “I was just looking out the window, like, ‘What am I doing?’” recalled Salazar Cernas, now 43, who had an epiphany: “I want to help people, but not this way.”

Back at the farm, Salazar Cernas met her husband, Agustin, now 38, a lifelong farmer who is originally from “the equivalent of Perry County in Mexico,” she said with a laugh. In 2009, the couple bought nine greenhouses from retiring farmers and started raising chickens.

Today – alongside their teenage sons and Agustin’s Mexican nephews, employed on work visas – the Salazar Cernases run Chicano Sol, a 20-acre certified organic operation known for its salad greens, which they sell at the bustling weekend farmers’ markets in and around Washington, D.C. (“Organic hasn’t really caught on in our area quite yet,” Jarrah explained).

She spoke to City & State on a cold, rainy week in early March – the kind of weather, she observed, that tests a farmer’s passion and resolve. But she’s never looked back: “It’s just a more fulfilling life – a very, very fulfilling job,” affirmed Salazar Cernas. “And I love that we were able to raise our kids beside us, on a farm. Not only do they have a work ethic, but they also know what it takes to produce food.”

Younger, more diverse and less resourced than previous generations of Pennsylvania farmers, the Salazar Cernases represent what is increasingly the new face of agriculture in the commonwealth, which has the nation’s highest percentage of farmers under 35.

Compared to previous generations, younger farmers are less likely to be white and male or to have inherited a multigenerational business. They are more likely to live in or near urban areas, and to sell face-to-face at farmers’ markets rather than in large wholesale and commodities operations.

Since many are first-generation agriculture workers, without the resources and relationships of legacy farmers, they struggle to secure land and credit to grow their businesses. And with smaller operations, their approach is typically grassroots in every sense of the word, prioritizing sustainability and community impact.

“We all have this vision of an American farmer as an old white guy on a tractor with a straw hat,” observed Adrienne Nelson, a Pittsburgh-based bean farmer and an Appalachia regional organizer with the National Young Farmers Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group. “But the upcoming generation is incredibly diverse … And the businesses that people build right now are so different from what a farm was 50 or 100 years ago.”

All told, this fresh new crop of entrepreneurs is reinvigorating an industry where the average farmer is close to 60 – but with record-high land prices, the barrier to entry is high for Pennsylvania’s startup farmers. Fortunately, the state’s deeply rooted agriculture sector is responding to meet the need, with robust policy and an array of new funding and programming aimed at bolstering startup farmers like the Salazar Cernases.

“This is all about investing in the people – and the earlier you can make that investment, the better,” state Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding told City & State.

At the 110th annual Pennsylvania Farm Show in January, Redding announced $600,000 in new Pennsylvania Farm Bill grants aimed at cultivating young Pennsylvania farmers – including investments in youth agriculture programs, workforce development and education for aspiring farmers.

Indeed, the commonwealth is the only state to have its own Farm Bill in addition to the federal Farm Bill, targeting the particular needs of commonwealth producers. “The real distinction here is that the state … (aims) to be inclusive of all of the diversity that we have inside of agriculture, versus (favoring) a crop or commodity,” Redding explained. “We’re completely agnostic as to who has access to it.

“We want to make sure that we are supporting the farms that are here,” he added. “You’ve got to support your base …But we’ve got to inspire somebody else to do it, too – to be recruiting and thinking and cultivating.”

The Chicano Sol crew. Photo credit: Provided

Lindsey Shapiro's daughters, Frankie and Alice, on their Berks County farm. Photo credit: Provided by Lindsey Shapiro

Old land, new blood

That’s because, amid a rapidly aging commonwealth, it’ll take a groundswell of youthful energy to maintain the vitality of an industry that contributes some $132.5 billion annually to the state's economy, supporting nearly 600,000 jobs on 49,000 farms and ranking among the top states in production of dairy, poultry and mushrooms.

But many of those born into multigenerational farms aren’t interested in taking over – or in doing things the same way their grandparents did. In that category is Ian Brendle, 44, a seventh-generation Lancaster County farmer who grows and sources a variety of culinary products for restaurant clients – from heirloom produce to local meats and cheeses – at Green Meadow Farm outside Gap, Pennsylvania.

Like many farm heirs of his generation, Brendle was initially uninterested in going into the family business. But after deciding college wasn’t his thing, he came home to work – and saw agriculture in a new light. “I like the freedom. I don’t answer to a boss. I don’t feel like I’m a cog,” he explained. “I feel connected to the whole food system, that I’m a part of it.”

With its emphasis on local varietals and sustainability, Brendle’s operation would be virtually unrecognizable to his grandfather, whose lineup of livestock and livestock crops – poultry, beef, corn, wheat, alfalfa – typified old-school farming.

The animals were sold when his grandfather died, and Brendle’s father took the family legacy in a new direction, emphasizing culinary tastes rather than bulk commodities. “The only crop that we grow that my forefathers would have grown is corn,” reflected Brendle. Even there, his grandfather grew standard feed corn; he grows milling corn, ideal for polenta.

Lindsey Shapiro and husband, Landon Jefferies. Photo credit: Provided by Lindsey Shapiro

Community impact

The wholesale farm-to-table business Brendle now runs – based on volume sales to restaurants – is viable because he works land purchased by his forefathers, when real estate was far cheaper.

But if, like so many of his industry peers, he’d had to start with just a few acres, he acknowledges that he’d be “more retail-oriented,” favoring the direct-to-consumer sales that yield maximum value for a given product.

That model describes today’s typical first-generation farmer – someone like Lindsey Shapiro, who grows produce on five acres at Root Mass Farm in Berks County and sells almost entirely at farmers’ markets and through the farm’s CSA (community-supported agriculture, a local-produce subscription model).

The new emphasis on grassroots retail “is a really important shift in marketing opportunities for smaller and midsized producers and first-generation farmers,” said Shapiro, who sells at two Philadelphia markets where clients often pay with federal nutrition benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“It’s a question of what people have more of – time or land,” she added of the equation parsed by startup farmers. “For first-generation producers… there’s definitely appeal to the low-capital requirements of getting started in vegetables. But if you’re in an area where land is cheaper, then there's the lower time requirements of getting started in a pastured livestock system.”

Shapiro’s fluency in agriculture is entirely self-taught: She grew up in the Boston suburbs, eating “a lot of microwave dinners,” she said, and studied sociology at Vassar College. After graduation, she moved to Philadelphia and took a job harvesting and selling produce for a farm, where she met her now-husband, Landon Jefferies. “I was really taken with how tangible the work was – how useful and productive,” she recalled.

So a few years later, when the Great Recession soured their job prospects, the couple decided to “go out on a limb” and try full-time farming. By 2011, they had launched Root Mass, where they live with their two young daughters; Shapiro is also an intake coordinator and former federal policy organizer for Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, a nonprofit for farmer-driven education, research and advocacy.

The family is making it work – but the margins for startup farmers are slim enough to dissuade all but the passionate. Shapiro said Root Mass grossed $145,000 in 2025, of which about $40,000 went toward expenses.

Still, the recent proliferation – and democratization – of the once-rarified farmers’ market scene has unquestionably opened up new avenues of opportunity for small-scale farmers.

“We always wanted to do farmers’ markets, because we wanted to have that connection with our customers … knowing who is getting our food,” said Jarrah Salazar Cernas. “In the market group that we’re in, when I started, I think they ran like 11 markets in the D.C. area. Now that same market is running like 30.”

Christa Barfield. Photo credit: Kristin Ann Photography

A rendering of Christa Barfield's planned CornerJawn farm retail store. Photo credit: Provided

Sustainability and profitability

Sustainability – environmental, financial, community – is a foundational ethos for Shapiro and her younger peers. Some of their businesses are certified organic; others, like Brendle’s, forgo the formal designation, but practice minimal-intervention agriculture with close-to-zero waste.

“So often, first-generation farmers … want to get into this business because they see it as a way to positively shape our environment,” said Shapiro, who is advocating for greater federal investment in conservation.

Embodying the movement is Christa Barfield, 38, who runs the nation’s largest Black woman-owned regenerative organic vegetable farm, FarmerJawn, on 128 acres in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

In Barfield’s vision, sustainable farms nourish both their workers and the communities they serve: filling critical gaps in urban nutrition access, promoting public and environmental health, and – not least – providing farmers with living wages.

Too often, she noted, young farmers “are so interested in working the land that they forget that they have to make the math make sense,” she noted. “The word sustainability became so buzzy that people actually forgot that in order to truly be sustainable, you have to be profitable. Sustainability and profitability go hand in hand.”

Drawing on her background in healthcare administration, Barfield models a new way to farm today – a dynamic enterprise driven by a responsiveness to what local communities want and need. It’s a far cry from what she describes as the outdated and unprofitable business model still prevalent at many farms: growing traditional commodity crops, and scraping by on federal subsidies.

“I want to move forward … not reacting to the system, but building a new one,” said Barfield, the vice president of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union. “If we don’t localize our food system and we don’t support our farmers, our public health crisis is going to continue to get worse.”

Her transition into agriculture was spurred by a 2018 vacation in Martinique, where she was inspired by how locals interacted with the natural environment. Back in her native Philadelphia, she realized how many urban neighborhoods lacked fresh fruits and vegetables.

Barfield’s new CornerJawn storefront model, which she’ll début this summer in Philadelphia, addresses that need with what she describes as “a food-as-medicine concept corner store.”

Through both her farm and her activism – Barfield sits on various state committees and is an organic ambassador for the Rodale Institute, a sustainable agriculture nonprofit – she hopes to inspire other young farmers to embrace a grassroots approach that sustains land, people and the bottom line.

“The farmer that is wanting to grow food for people … fruits and vegetables, the farmer markets – people who love to connect with community and want to see direct impact tend to go that route,” Barfield said. “And that’s what this younger generation is doing a lot of.”

Christa Barfield, who runs FarmerJawn in Southeastern Pennsylvania, examines her crops. Photo credit: Johnie Gall

Jarrah Salazar Cernas, center, with her sons Austin and Evin at Chicano Sol. Photo credit: Provided by Jarrah Salazar Cernas

Cultivating roots

As a young Black woman with no family legacy in farming, Barfield found it difficult to break into the industry. “It was trial by fire,” she recalls of launching her venture in 2020 with 10 families subscribing to her CSA; she has since fed more than 30,000 people. “I just started renting some land and jumped into it.”

Over the past decade, numerous state and local programs have launched or expanded, aiming to ease not only the financial burden for startup farmers, but also the logistical challenges. After all, unlike legacy farmers, first-generation entrepreneurs have no relatives or longstanding peer groups to turn to for advice or resources, such as used equipment.

Land access is far and away the biggest challenge for young farmers, especially those starting their own businesses. Year after year, land is the top concern cited by respondents to the annual survey of Farm Bill priorities conducted by the National Young Farmers Coalition, according to Nelson.

And it is a pressing concern for the Salazar Cernases of Chicano Sol, who find themselves at a crossroads: Their 15-acre land lease, the bulk of their operation, is coming to an end. With stiff competition from commercial real estate investors and the area’s long-established Amish farming community, Jarrah Salazar Cernas worries about how they’ll continue the business.

“I don't have a grandpa or a father who is willing property over to us,” she said. And after nearly two decades in business, they no longer meet the criteria for beginning farmers’ programs.

Farmland is also a concern for policymakers and local stakeholders in agricultural communities, who worry that retiring farmers’ fields and pastures will be converted into data centers and McMansions. If farmers do not pass on their land to heirs or other farmers – and if novice farmers cannot afford to buy it – Pennsylvania’s agricultural sector will gradually decline, while communities lose precious natural resources.

“You either sell a farm off for houses or warehouses or whatever, or else you find some way to get it to the next generation,” explained state Sen. Elder Vogel, a fourth-generation Beaver County farmer who chairs the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee.

He pointed to Pennsylvania’s Farm Link program as a model for addressing the issue. That nonprofit works closely with the state Department of Agriculture, connecting retiring farmers with their younger counterparts to transfer farmland seamlessly and without a tax burden – and preserving it for agriculture.

A few years ago, Vogel spearheaded the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit, a 2019 state law that provides tax credits to retiring farmers who sell or lease their lands to beginning farmers. “You give farmers a tax credit to work with the young farmer, to bring them on for two or three years and get them situated …You can still be hands-on, be a mentor. It’s a win-win for everybody, because that way, they get to keep the farm in farming, and a young person gets to start farming, and they get to use that knowledge … for 50 or 60 years.”

Supporting farmers is the rare issue with solid bipartisan support across the state legislature. Vogel praised his close collaboration with his House counterpart – state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, a Luzerne County Democrat who chairs the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee – as well as Secretary Redding and the Shapiro administration.

“As the secretary says, everybody likes to eat three times a day, Democrat or Republican,” mused Vogel, referring to the end goal of agriculture: food. “So we’re all in this together. We all get along great, and we work great together.”

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announces new young farmer grants at the PA Farm Show. Photo credit: Commonwealth Media Services

Conservation and continuity

For his part, Redding touts the Shapiro administration’s commitment to farmland preservation, an area where Pennsylvania is widely considered a national leader. The secretary praised programs like the state’s Farm Vitality Grant, which has thus far helped nearly 500 farms manage generational transition and expansion, one reimbursable $15,000 grant at a time.

Local municipalities are also part of the mix. Across Pittsburgh, for instance, vacant lots are being filled with tomato plants and sunflowers thanks to the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, which makes distressed urban plots available to would-be farmers to revitalize through its Farm-a-Lot Program.

At the federal level, advocacy groups are calling for renewed support for subsidized healthcare and nutrition programs like SNAP, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, all of which suffered cuts in last year’s federal spending bill – and which many farmers rely on for access to healthcare, food during the fallow months and farm revenues.

After federal seniors’ nutrition vouchers were halved in value last year, Lindsey Shapiro said the reduction was evident in her smaller market receipts. And after the Trump administration eliminated funding that enabled state governments to buy locally produced food last year, Redding said the impact on small farms was felt throughout the commonwealth.

“One hundred and ninety-one farms had been, for two years prior, growing product and putting it directly into the primarily charitable food citizen pipeline,” he said. “And when that was canceled, you saw immediately what it looked like for 191 farms who lost a market.”

With its vastly smaller budget, the state can only do so much to compensate. But when it comes to support for fledgling farmers, the consensus is that Pennsylvania punches above its weight.

State Rep. Pashinski, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, is especially proud of state Farm Bill provisions that help young farmers purchase equipment, get training, and access mental health services tailored to the particular stresses of modern farm life (farmers’ suicide rates, which have long been higher than the general population, have been rising).

“We need the young farmers. We want to continue our agriculture industry here in Pennsylvania. We’re very proud of it … I don’t want these commercial guys to come in and just take everything over,” Pashinski elaborated, referring to developers. “It takes away the personality that we have in Pennsylvania with your family farms. These people really care about their product.”

And, Shapiro said, they care about each other.

“There’s a sense that we’re all working towards building up this local food scene – and creating an awareness and an appreciation for locally produced food,” she reflected. “We recognize each other as peers and collaborators and partners in this effort, sharing resources and knowledge – it’s very much a community.”

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The 2026 City & State Pennsylvania Above & Beyond

Hilary Danailova — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:50:00 -0400

This year’s City & State Above & Beyond honorees are leaders in fields as varied as healthcare, business, law, education and construction. But they have something in common: mentorship, which virtually everyone on this list has mentioned as central to their success. As they shape Pennsylvania's future across myriad sectors, these women are now mentors themselves, cultivating the next generation of leaders through professional and civic engagement.

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Q&A with SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer

Harrison Cann — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Few know transit like Scott Sauer.

The general manager of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Sauer took over the role in an interim capacity in late 2024 – a time when the system faced dire financial straits.

Sauer wasn’t new to SEPTA. He followed in his father’s footsteps, beginning as a trolley operator in 1990 before working his way into transportation management and system safety. Fast-forward to 2026, and Sauer was given a three-year contract to remain permanent GM of the system he’s now worked at for more than three decades.

Sauer spoke with City & State about his time at SEPTA, the ongoing challenges transit systems are facing and how state funding can play a role in righting the ship.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve spent 30-plus years with SEPTA. Looking back, what would you say to your younger self about the position you’re in now?

I waited a long time to make the leap from the front line to management – about 13 years. And over the years, I thought I waited too long and thought I should’ve done it sooner. But looking back now, I’m actually very happy I waited as long as I did, because I see those experiences really helped me in this job. They help me see things through a lens I think is rather unique because I spent 13 years in the union, doing frontline work and working directly with our customers and frontline employees. If I were to give my younger self any perspective: Soak up everything you can, because you’ll need it.

There have been financial concerns related to you having to use funds typically slated for capital projects to meet operational needs. How is that impacting your service and your ability to keep up with ongoing capital projects?

The goal was always to have a dedicated source of operating funding. But when that didn’t materialize, we were faced with 20% service cuts and looking down the road at 25% more and we had a court order to restore service. So knowing that all that was going to happen, we made a really tough decision to tap into capital funding. This was a capital budget that was already constrained. We had already shaved off $2 billion of a $14 billion program to start the fiscal year, so now we were looking at a $394 million shortfall.

We had to make some tough choices, and we couldn’t affect safety. So where we wound up shaving off is we took another five projects. We had already deferred 44 projects at the start of the year; the most impactful project was our bus procurement. We typically will procure about 100 or so buses a year. Now we are going to defer that to the next procurement, which would have started probably this year. So the oldest buses in the fleet will be close to 20 years old by the time we do another procurement. And that gives us pause, because we’ve had problems with older equipment, like our Silverliner fleet.

We now have to dip into more operating money, because we have to give these buses extra maintenance to make them safe and reliable for the next several years. That’s kind of where we are today. As far as operations are concerned, the flex of capital dollars makes us whole enough to run the service as people expected us to, prior to the cuts in August last year. So we’ve been running normal levels of service since September. It’s good for the riders because it gives them the reliability of knowing the service is going to run for the next couple years. But for us, it creates yet another problem for capital funding, and then the operating budget is still unresolved.

The phrase we’ve heard a lot when talking about transit funding is you’re “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Is that still accurate?

I stopped using that phrase, it was overused. But that's essentially the reaction you're going to get when you use your left hand to take money out and put it in your right hand, more or less.

You mentioned the issues you had with your Silverliner fleet. Can you elaborate on that situation and where you stand as it relates to replacing older rail cars?

This is another part of the capital funding crisis for us. We have the oldest rail fleet in the country, and the Silverliner is the oldest of our rail fleet because they’re 50 years old. But we also have a 40-year-old Broad Street line fleet, a 40-year-old trolley fleet, a 30-year-old Market Frankford line fleet and a 30-year-old Morristown high-speed line fleet. Our cars are ready for replacement, and the reason why they’ve gone this long is because of the historic underfunding of our capital program. The Silverliners are an unfunded replacement project, but we’re essentially using debt to replace those cars. We’ve applied for a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan with the U.S. Department of Transportation, and we’re a strong candidate to get it. We meet all the criteria, so we’re fairly confident that we’ll receive the loan. But what that does is add a lot of debt service over the life of the loan, which is about 30 years. It just adds another strain to the capital program because we now have to use capital funds, essentially to pay for debt service on a loan, and the replacement of these vehicles is about $2 billion for 230 cars or so.

In Harrisburg, pushback against increased transit funding has coincided with the argument that most Pennsylvanians may never use a particular transit system if they’re not living in that community. What’s your response to that?

I hear that argument a lot. “We don’t ride SEPTA, so why should I care?” As the largest transportation agency in the commonwealth, in the largest city in the commonwealth, we contribute to the tax base in astronomical ways, and I think that's what gets lost sometimes. As a commonwealth, we share, so we contribute for folks that are on roads and bridges that I’ll never use in my life. And at the same time, they’re contributing to the transit system they may never use. But that’s just the way taxes work, and that’s the way those contributions work … It’s just all part of being part of that system.

Where do funding conversations stand in Harrisburg now?

We were pleased, certainly, that we’re still in the discussion. The governor has a virtually identical proposal this year, with the nuance that funding wouldn’t be needed until next fiscal year. That is certainly true, because we have the capital funding that we were able to transfer for two years. We’re encouraged that we're still in a conversation, and in the conversations I’ve had with lawmakers thus far, I think everybody acknowledges that transit needs funding.

But it has to be part of a larger transportation funding package. I think that people have also acknowledged that it's needed for all the transportation infrastructure in the commonwealth, and we're not going to disagree with that. We just want to make sure that we continue to be in the conversation.

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PA House passes minimum wage, paid family leave bills

Justin Sweitzer — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:08:03 -0400

With budget hearings now in the rearview mirror, lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House closed out March by voting on a series of high-profile bills addressing everything from data centers and marriage equality to the minimum wage and paid family and medical leave.

Below, City & State recaps some of the major votes from a busy week in Harrisburg.

Lawmakers pass bill to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15 by 2029

Pennsylvania House lawmakers passed a major budget priority of Gov. Josh Shapiro this week, approving a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2029.

The bill, House Bill 2189, is sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Jason Dawkins and passed by a vote of 104-95. If signed into law, the bill would phase in increases to Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, which hasn’t been increased since 2009.

Four Republicans – state Reps. Joe Emrick, Joe Hogan, Natalie Mihalek, and K.C. Tomlinson – voted in favor of the bill along with all but a few Democrats.

Shapiro called for an increase in the state’s minimum wage during his February budget address, arguing that in addition to raising wages, an increase in the rate could “save this commonwealth $300 million a year on entitlement programs like Medicaid.”

Following the House vote on HB 2189, Shapiro put pressure on the Senate to hold a vote on the bill.

“We need to raise the minimum wage so Pennsylvanians have a real shot at getting ahead,” the governor said. “The House has answered the call and passed legislation to raise the minimum wage three separate times – now it’s time for the Senate to follow their lead and get this done.”

House lawmakers pass same-sex marriage bill

House lawmakers also approved legislation this week that would repeal language in state law defining marriage as a civil contract between a man and woman. The bill, House Bill 1800, is sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and would change language in Title 23 to define marriage as a civil contract between two individuals.

The legislation would also repeal language that stated that same-sex marriages performed elsewhere would be void in the commonwealth.

Kenyatta said on the House floor that HB 1800 would bring state law in alignment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license and recognize marriage between same-sex couples.

“Our commonwealth and our laws have not kept up with the court decision, and so as important as HB 1800 is for me, for my family, it's also a very simple bill that ensures that our laws reflect the law of this land as held in Obergefell,” Kenyatta said in a floor speech.

GOP state Rep. Bryan Cutler voted against the bill and cited a dissenting opinion from the Obergefell decision that “warned that the result of the decision would undermine people's ability to adhere to a traditional view of marriage in the public square.” He then went on to reference a lawsuit filed against Arlene’s Flowers of Richland, Washington that was filed after the shop’s owner, Barronelle Stutzman, refused to arrange wedding flowers for a same-sex couple.

“This is not some idea that has not borne fruit,” Cutler said. “In fact, you can look no further than the florist, Baronelle Stutzman, who was pushed out of her business due to her own personal convictions on marriage.”

The bill ultimately passed with a 127-72 vote.

House passes paid family and medical leave bill

Another high-profile bill passed by House lawmakers this week was House Bill 200, legislation from Democratic state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara that would create a paid family and medical leave program in Pennsylvania.

Under the legislation, employers in the state would be required to offer paid leave benefits to eligible employees, with employers required to provide partial wage replacement for a maximum of 12 weeks to qualifying employees.

O’Mara said on the House floor that Pennsylvania lawmakers could take meaningful action on paid family and medical leave in the absence of action from Washington, D.C.

“If Washington, D.C. isn't going to get it done, then frankly, colleagues, it is our responsibility to deliver for the people of Pennsylvania,” she said.

Tomlinson, a Republican co-sponsor of the bill, voted for the bill and said she supported the concept of paid family and medical leave, but developed concerns with the bill once the bill text was amended, with new language that removed payroll deductions as the primary funding mechanism for the program.

“This bill has been reconstructed and thrown together very quickly for the sake of saying we did something, and that’s unacceptable to me,” Tomlinson said on the House floor.

The bill would create a mechanism for the Department of Community and Economic Development to award grants to qualifying employers to help cover the cost of providing paid family and medical leave benefits, though no funding for the grants is included in the bill.

The bill passed the House with a 107-92 vote and now heads to the state Senate for consideration.

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This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

City & State — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 16:01:50 -0400

You’ve probably read about the epic lines in Philadelphia lately. It’s all true: To get a table at Mawn, the South Philly restaurant that was the subject of a rave New York Times review, people queue up on the sidewalk hours before lunchtime. Meanwhile, at the Philadelphia airport, hungry travelers were recently delighted by a Guinness World Record-setting line of 1,291 cheesesteaks. It’s enough to make the FIFA officials who recently canceled 2,000 Philadelphia World Cup hotel reservations think twice about what they’re missing out on.

Keep reading for more winners and losers!

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Philadelphia officials, labor leaders rally against ICE presence at Philadelphia International Airport

Harrison Cann — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 11:08:53 -0400

Phillies fans are piling into the city for baseball’s Opening Day, but Philadelphia officials and labor and faith leaders want federal immigration agents ruled “out” and sent home.

Outside Philadelphia City Hall Thursday morning, City Councilmembers and community leaders held a rally in support of Transportation Security Administration agents working at the airport amid a partial government shutdown – and calling out the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around airport security.

“(TSA agents) have missed three paychecks. It’s unconscionable,” Phil Glover, District 3 national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said Thursday. “They’re dedicated to the safety of America, and we need to acknowledge that they sent ICE out there, who are getting paid.”

The Trump administration deployed ICE agents to airports around the country this week in what it said was an effort to ease the long airport security lines caused by the government shutdown and shortage of TSA employees.

Labor leaders lambasted the administration’s moves, arguing not only that ICE agents aren’t trained airport screeners who can help improve security, but also that the presence of ICE agents – who are paid while TSA agents work unpaid – creates a hostile environment for travelers and workers alike.

Glover said AFGE members claimed ICE agents aren’t assisting in security operations and “stand behind checkpoints or out in front of the lines – and they aren’t helping to even move the lines.”

“It’s all political theater. Our members are highly upset that they’ve been going for 40 days now” without pay, Glover added. “Hopefully, the public around Philadelphia, and those who use the airport, understand the stress that these people are under and they don’t like what’s going on.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner held a press conference at the airport Tuesday, where his comments telling ICE to “play nice” made national headlines. Krasner said he will prosecute ICE agents who commit crimes within his jurisdiction, prompting pushback from the federal administration and Department of Homeland Security.

“What Krasner is trying to do is unlawful, and he knows it. Federal officials acting in the course of their duties are immune from liability under state law,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Attacks and demonization of ICE law enforcement are wrong. Because of smears like this, our ICE officers are now facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.”

Local leaders had a different take.

“We do not need to have ICE working at the Philadelphia International Airport creating an atmosphere of fear, creating an atmosphere of confusion, creating an atmosphere of intimidation,” Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said at the rally. “It’s imperative that our leaders and Congress get back to the table to get a deal done because you have TSA workers working day in, day out without pay, (and) day in, day out without support.”

Keturah Johnson, international vice president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said Thursday that flight attendants and airport workers must be seen as safety officials.

“Flight attendants’ entire careers are about safety,” Johnson said. “I know flight attendants ask folks every single day if they are willing and able to assist in an emergency … Starting today and moving forward, I need you, Philadelphia and the labor movement, to be willing and able to assist each other in this emergency.”

Nene Diallo, an airport food service chef and member of the UNITE HERE union, shared an emotional story about the devastating impacts the federal administration’s policies have had on her family – including her husband’s deportation.

“Whether you are a citizen or a lawful permanent resident, the presence of ICE at the airport makes airport workers and passengers less safe … people are scared to even go to work,” Diallo said at the rally, adding that she’s been working full-time at the airport to provide for her family. “Trump has broken everything.”

As of this week, roughly half of the PHL airport’s TSA checkpoints remain open, and about 12% of TSA officers have not shown up for work.

City Council Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, a Working Families Party member, echoed sentiments from the labor leaders, saying that “ICE agents aren’t qualified to do their own jobs, let alone the jobs of the hardworking TSA agents who have been going without pay at our airport.”

“Sending militarized troops into our airport is not a solution. We have seen in cities across the country, and right here in Philadelphia, it’s a recipe for violence, chaos and fear,” Brooks said. “It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Earlier this year, Brooks and fellow at-large Councilmember Rue Landau introduced an “ICE OUT” legislative package aimed at restricting immigration activity in the city. The measures seek to prohibit ICE agents from using face masks or unmarked vehicles, restrict the agency’s access to city data, and codify existing practices that restrict collaboration between city law enforcement and ICE agents.

ICE agents are reportedly at numerous major airports across the country, including in Pittsburgh, Newark, New York City and Chicago.

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House GOP lawmakers introduce ‘tax holiday’ bills to address affordability concerns

Justin Sweitzer — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:47:00 -0400

Republican lawmakers in the state House of Representatives on Wednesday introduced a series of bills to address ongoing affordability concerns through temporary tax holidays that would eliminate or reduce state tax burdens for a set period.

The bills, which GOP lawmakers referred to as their “Freedom Through Affordability” initiative, seek to provide relief to Pennsylvania taxpayers at a time when roughly 30% of voters say economic issues are the top problem facing the state.

State Rep. David Rowe, the chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, was joined by a host of other GOP lawmakers to unveil the plan.

“It’s really not a complicated issue,” Rowe said Wednesday at a Capitol press conference. “When families can afford the basics, when they can pay their bills, they can save a little, they can plan for the future – they have freedom, freedom to have choices, freedom to build a life here in Pennsylvania, and that’s what this is all about.”

Some of the tax holidays highlighted by Republican lawmakers on Wednesday include:

A six-month reduction of the state’s personal income tax rate from 3.07% to 2.99%
A six-month exemption of cell phone service and electricity from the state’s gross receipts tax
A six-month suspension of the state’s fuel tax that would require fuel retailers to reduce pump prices by the full amount of the suspended tax

GOP lawmakers have introduced a number of other bills that would create temporary exemptions from the state sales tax, including for purchases of back-to-school items, soccer and football equipment, gardening and lawn supplies, prom-related items like dresses and suits, and gold, silver and Bitcoin, among others.

A Franklin & Marshall College poll released in March found that the economy and finances were the top issue facing Pennsylvania voters, with 19% identifying it as the most important problem facing the state. Additionally, 11% listed taxes as their most important issue.

The survey also asked voters whether they felt better off or worse off financially than a year ago, with 20% saying they felt better off, 36% worse off, and 44% about the same.

State Rep. Kristin Marcell, who is sponsoring legislation that would create a tax holiday for cell phone service and electricity, said the bill package is designed to help Pennsylvanians with everyday costs.

“The simple truth is that everyone needs a break right now, and we can provide them with that relief, especially when it comes to the basics of today’s world,” she said.

One progressive organization questioned the GOP proposal on Wednesday. Felicity Williams, executive director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center, a progressive think tank, said the initiative “raises serious concerns.”

“This proposal is being framed as a multibillion-dollar relief effort built largely on a series of six-month tax cuts and tax holidays,” Williams said in a statement. “Temporary tax holidays and short-term cuts may sound appealing, but they risk creating the appearance of relief while setting us up for deeper cuts, higher costs, or both down the line.”

“We cannot cut our way to affordability. Real affordability comes from strong public investments, fair taxation, and an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top,” Williams added.

Rowe acknowledged that the tax relief wouldn’t be permanent, adding that the short-term nature of the tax holidays would provide immediate relief to Pennsylvanians, while giving lawmakers time to plan for longer-term solutions.

“The goal of the short-term tax cuts gives us flexibility, gives taxpayers their money back now,” he said, “but gives policymakers an opportunity to plan for the long-term ramifications, from a budgetary standpoint, of letting Pennsylvanians keep more of their money.”

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Artists, politicians join together in state Capitol in bid for increased funding

Hilary Danailova — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:02:14 -0400

It’s not often that politicians can be found dancing to Aretha Franklin in the Capitol Rotunda, but on Tuesday afternoon, toes were tapping to the Philly Pops’ instrumental rendition of “Respect.” The performance, capping off the annual PA Arts Advocacy Day at the Capitol, was a tangible demonstration of the point that advocates from across the state sought to convey to Harrisburg legislators: Pennsylvania’s $29 billion arts sector deserves greater support.

“It’s time for our citizens to stand up for the arts, and for the Pennsylvania Assembly to increase the budget for arts and culture,” said Kelley Gibson, the board chair of Creative Pennsylvania – the nonprofit advocacy organization that organizes the annual event – and the president of The Cultural Alliance of York County. “Pennsylvania ranks 33rd in arts funding per capita, yet we are in the top 10 nationally in arts vibrancy. State support should reflect this national standing.”

Specifically, Creative Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Legislative Arts and Culture Caucus – the bipartisan, bicameral group that supports the event – want the General Assembly to increase the line item to $12.6 million for grants to the arts in the state budget. They are also seeking an additional $2 million for the creative placemaking programs administered by Pennsylvania Creative Industries, the rebranded grantmaking entity of the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts.

The recent rollout of Pennsylvania Creative Industries, which currently distributes nearly $10 million annually, occasioned a financial restructuring of state arts grantmaking with a new emphasis on economic development – a move that has prompted anxiety and some outrage across the state’s arts community. “Without … additional funding, these changes risk undermining the cultural ecosystem the commonwealth has invested in for nearly three decades,” Gibson affirmed.

Creative Pennsylvania also called on the Arts Council to establish an operational grant pathway for arts organizations with annual budgets of $10,000 to $100,000; to restore $671,000 for programs previously funded by the state’s Preserving Diverse Cultures program; and to extend the statewide Arts in Education and Folk Arts partnerships through 2028.

State Rep. Joe Ciresi, a Montgomery County Democrat and a caucus co-chair, said a $2 million increase is the least the state can do for a sector that delivers such outsized economic returns.

“We are known across the world for arts, whether it’s the museum in Philadelphia or the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, the Philadelphia Orchestra, a world-renowned orchestra,” said Ciresi, who was joined by his co-chairs, state Rep. R. Lee James and state Sens. Jay Costa and Pat Stefano. “These organizations are what shape us as a nation … as humanity. Yet when it comes time to fund them, we say, ‘Oh, it’s just the arts.’

“You know, Taylor Swift … took lessons in singing. She had a music teacher, she had to have somebody teach her how to play piano. Yet we don’t think about the investment of what it takes to be a great artist.”

Swift, a West Reading native whose “Eras” tour generated an estimated $10 billion in economic impact – much of it through tourism and hospitality spending – is a good example of how the arts can bolster local economies. Ciresi noted that on a busy night in Philadelphia’s arts district, hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent not only on show tickets, but also on parking, dining and hotels.

Gibson pointed out that Pennsylvania’s cultural sector represents 3.2% of the state's GDP but barely 0.002% of the state budget – an estimated sevenfold return on each dollar invested.

“Why would you starve … the main driver of tourism … of recruitment and retention for our employers?” she asked the crowd, flanked by colorful posters with slogans like “Do your part, stand up for art.”

She noted that numerous arts groups – especially smaller ones – have lost funding, not only due to changes in state grantmaking but also to federal defunding of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. “So we’re not asking for an increase,” she explained. “We’re asking for an inflation adjustment.”

The case was made most lyrically by Kelly Armor, the folklorist in residence at Erie Arts & Culture, who had traveled from Northwest Pennsylvania to set her message to song. “Today’s the day the arts can show the way,” she sang, her alto echoing throughout the Rotunda. “To inspire all PA…So let’s fund the PCA.”

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PA House lawmakers approve data center regulation bill

Justin Sweitzer — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:36:34 -0400

Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 104-95 to approve legislation that would task the state Public Utility Commission with developing statewide regulations for data centers as local concerns grow over their effects on communities – and electricity bills.

The legislation, House Bill 1834, would direct the PUC to develop temporary and permanent regulations for commercial data centers to curb the effects that power-hungry data centers could have on electricity rates.

Among other provisions, the bill would require data center regulations developed by the PUC to bar electric companies from passing on costs of infrastructure updates and energy demands from data centers onto customers. HB 1834 would also require the PUC’s data center regulation to ensure data centers are responsible for costs associated with regional transmission, network upgrades, grid reliability and PJM emergency capacity procurement caused by commercial data centers.

The bill would also require commercial data centers to obtain a portion of their energy from clean energy sources. The portion required under the bill would start at 10% in 2027, then rise to 14.5% in 2030, and to 32% in 2035.

Democratic state Rep. Robert Matzie, the prime sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor on Tuesday that HB 1834 is “a data center ratepayer protection bill at its core.”

“It makes sure that the PUC controls costs attributable to the connection of data centers in our commonwealth and that those costs are not passed on to ratepayers – the burden of those costs falls entirely on the companies,” Matzie said.

States across the country are grappling with a data center boom prompted by recent advances in artificial intelligence. Estimates of the number of data centers in Pennsylvania vary, though one map cited in a January 2026 report by the Joint State Government Commission identified 101 active data centers.

A separate project dedicated to tracking data center proposals estimates that another 54 data centers are proposed for sites across Pennsylvania.

Republican lawmakers expressed a litany of concerns related to the bill.

State Rep. Craig Williams, a Republican representing parts of Chester and Delaware counties, said lawmakers should be looking to codify the data center development guidelines outlined in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget address, and said the bill does little to promote the buildout of more power generation in the commonwealth.

“It accomplishes nothing of the governor's four principles in the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development” standards, Williams said. “Not talking about generation to be built in Pennsylvania by the hyperscale data center companies themselves is the failing of this bill.”

State Rep. David Rowe, who represents Juniata, Mifflin, Snyder and Union counties, echoed Williams’s call for increasing power generation within the commonwealth’s borders.

“The solution to higher energy costs is more generation,” Rowe said. “If we are serious about lowering the cost of living for all Pennsylvanians, the solution is quite simple. The solution is more reliable energy generation, more jobs and more economic growth, not more mandates, more fees and more regulations.”

Other Republican lawmakers expressed reservations about the clean energy requirements included in HB 1834, though Matzie sought to downplay those concerns.

“There are easily met clean energy provisions, a 10% requirement to start from a variety of sources, including nuclear energy, near and dear to my heart, which already makes up 40% of our energy mix in Pennsylvania,” he said. “Put another way, under House Bill 1834, a data center could connect to our distribution system and get 90% of their electricity from fossil fuels – 90%.”

A 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that data center energy use across the U.S. reached 176 TWh by 2023, or 4.4% of the country’s total electricity consumption. That figure is expected to grow to between 6.7% to 12.0% of total U.S. electricity consumption by 2028, according to the report.

Matzie said that, with new data centers proposed in communities across the commonwealth, HB 1834 was drafted to prevent negative consequences for consumers.

“This legislation started with a simple premise that nobody's electric bill should go up 1 cent if a data center comes to Pennsylvania and connects to our distribution system,” he said. “House Bill 1834 does just that.”

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PA women continue to make political herstory

State House Speaker Joanna McClinton — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:16:12 -0400

This week, the Pennsylvania House welcomed two new members: Rep. Jen Mazzocco from Allegheny County and Rep. Ana Tiburcio from Lehigh County. Every time a new member joins the state House, it is a reason to celebrate, because new members mean fresh ideas and energy. But with these two new lawmakers, we also made history.

Not only are Reps. Tiburcio and Mazzocco “firsts” in their own districts, but now, with their addition, the state House has reached a new milestone for female representation, with 65 women lawmakers. This is more than ever before in the legislative body’s nearly 350 years.

While this occasion marks a new high, women have been serving in the state House for over 100 years. In 1922, just two years after women were granted the right to vote, Pennsylvania elected eight women – dubbed the Keystone 8 – to the state House. Then, in 1938, Crystal Bird Fauset, a renowned civil rights activist and social worker, became the first African American woman elected to the Pennsylvania House – or, for that matter, to any state legislature in the U.S.

Women have been contributing to Pennsylvania’s legislative debate ever since.

When I was first elected in 2015, there were only 41 women in the state House – out of 203 seats! Since then, we’ve experienced a 50% increase. This means more women in leadership positions, serving as committee chairs and leading delegations.

In 2026, Pennsylvania is full of history-making women leaders like Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, whose paths can be traced back to the achievements of some of our pioneers.

Between the state House and Senate, there are 84 women serving, which makes up about 34% of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. While this is a new record for the commonwealth, Pennsylvania still lags behind other states in women’s representation. In fact, in 2025, the Colorado and New Mexico legislatures became majority-woman for the first time.

But why does it matter? It matters because the state legislature should reflect the people it serves.

In Pennsylvania, our women lawmakers are lawyers, health care professionals, teachers, military officers, small business owners, journalists, caregivers, mothers, sisters, daughters and aunts. We each draw on our experience to champion policies that benefit everyone.

Take healthcare: Since 2023, when women were elected to lead the state House and the Senate, Pennsylvania has enacted more than a half-dozen laws to improve or protect women’s access to care. These measures include policies to expand access to lifesaving preventative care – like breast cancer screenings – and to collect data on Black maternal mortality to drive policy solutions. We’ve also provided more resources for new and expecting moms, like coverage for doula services and information about postpartum depression. We’ve prohibited pelvic exams without informed consent and have made menstrual products available in our schools.

Each of these legislative victories was led by a woman.

That’s not all. Women have also led the charge to make life more affordable for working families in the commonwealth by introducing initiatives like the Child and Dependent Care and Working Pennsylvanian tax credits.

Women have fought for justice reform, including an overhaul of Pennsylvania’s probation system to ensure it is grounded in fairness while reducing strain on taxpayer resources.

Finally, we mobilized stakeholders statewide to end hair discrimination, and the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair bill – known as the CROWN Act – was signed into law in November 2025.

All these measures earned wide bipartisan support, because public service doesn’t have to be partisan.

I’m proud to report that the state House is projected to swear in two new women members from Adams and Blair Counties next month, setting a record. I’m excited to see how all our new members will use their experience to improve Pennsylvania, because there is still a lot to do.

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Morgan Cephas’s millennial message in the PA-3 primary: Be bold

Harrison Cann — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:06:47 -0400

This is the latest in a series of interviews with Democratic candidates for PA-3. Other candidates interviewed include Chris Rabb, Ala Stanford and Sharif Street.

Morgan Cephas believes she’s the right millennial messenger to meet this moment.

“At 41, they refer to me as a geriatric millennial, but a millennial nonetheless,” Cephas told City & State in an interview, adding that the average PA-3 voter is in their 30s and looking for something new from their politicians. “Coming from a generation that potentially might not do as economically well as our parents, it’s deeply concerning,” referring to millennials as the “sandwich generation.”

The state representative-turned-congressional candidate is seeking the Democratic nomination for PA-3 in Philadelphia, a seat Dwight Evans has held for a decade.

A number of progressives and party establishment Democrats threw their hats in the ring to fill in the deep-blue seat, knowing the winner of the primary is in place to succeed Evans on Capitol Hill. But as the primary election gets closer, the field is beginning to narrow.

Cephas entered the year trailing her opponents in fundraising. Campaign finance reports from 2025 show Cephas raised about $85,000 in the last three months of the year and collected about $156,000 in the previous quarter. She had more than $100,000 in cash on hand at the start of 2026, well below the likes of Stanford and Street, who had funds of upwards of $400,000 and $500,000 on hand.

Labor unions and progressive organizations have begun to back her opponents, but Cephas still boasts endorsements from the likes of the All* In Action Fund and several Philadelphia-area state legislators, including state Reps. Ben Waxman, Gina Curry, Greg Scott, Heather Boyd, Jason Dawkins and Joe Hohenstein.

Cephas, one of the younger candidates on the ballot and the youngest among those with legislative experience, sees this moment as the time for the next generation of changemakers to get a seat at the table.

“We’re trying to afford childcare, but we’re also concerned about taking care of our parents and those expenses … That is one thing that makes me fundamentally different” in the campaign, she said.

Cephas said voters are looking for someone who not only understands the challenges they face in their communities, but also has bold ideas – from universal childcare and healthcare to investments in public transit and workforce development – to bring to the table.

“With an affordability crisis, with (Philadelphia) potentially closing 20 school buildings, with us fighting tooth-and-nail just to keep our transit system running – it’s important to me when you come from a safe seat like this, that you are transformative when you get an opportunity and when you fight for a seat at the table when it comes to power,” Cephas said.

Cephas said her mother, who had previously retired, has returned to work “so she can afford her health care, her heating costs and her mortgage … That’s the direction that this country is going in.

“When we’re talking about what we need down in Washington, D.C., it’s a conversation about how we’re going to fight in this existing climate,” Cephas added. “We have to ensure that we have bold ideas that we're talking about, that we’re running on, and that we have a bolder vision than what we’ve had for such a long time.”

Track record

Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Cephas went to Central High School before earning a political science degree from the University of Virginia, where she ran track and field for the Cavaliers.

Her entry into Philadelphia politics came when she worked under Philadelphia City Councilmember Curtis Jones, serving as his deputy chief of staff. She also worked with the Philadelphia Youth Network to support summer youth jobs programs, and continues to serve on community organization boards, including the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority – known as Pennvest – board of directors and the Community College of Philadelphia Board of Trustees.

Cephas set her sights on Harrisburg in 2016, running for the state House against incumbent state Rep. Lynwood Savage in the Democratic primary. After defeating Savage in the primary and winning the general election for West Philadelphia’s 192nd legislative district seat, Cephas has become a strong voice within the now Democratic-controlled state House and a consistent advocate for improving healthcare outcomes, particularly regarding Black maternal health.

When asked about the country’s healthcare system, Cephas said it’s “almost becoming a monopoly.”

“When you see CVS, not only in the pharmacy (space), but having doctors at Oak Street Health, having pharmacy benefit managers that are negotiating with insurance companies, and having an insurance company themselves with Aetna Health – we are absolutely going in the wrong direction,” she said. “Our healthcare is a reflection of how good our economy is going to do.”

Tying healthcare and affordability back together, Cephas pointed to how “Washington dysfunction is impacting us …We are creating an economy (and) a democracy that is not going to be able to work for everyone.”

She said federal cuts to Medicaid will be detrimental not just to consumers but also to hospitals and rural systems that rely on Medicaid payments to cover most of their operations.

“We have close to 20 to 25 hospitals in rural areas that are going to close as a direct result of what is happening with Medicaid,” Cephas said, adding that she is focused on “not just shaping the politics of Philadelphia, the politics of Pennsylvania and the politics of this country, but also our ability to be able to hone in on issues that everyday people care about.”

As the region’s transit system treads water financially, Cephas, who was elected chair of the Philadelphia House Delegation during the 2023-2024 legislative session, said her top priority this budget season will again be public transit funding.

“I’ve been elected by 25 of my colleagues to represent (Philadelphia’s) policy, investment and legislative interests in Harrisburg, and my top priority for the last two or three years has been to save our transit system,” Cephas said.

Growing up in West Philadelphia, Cephas said she relied on public transportation to get to school, work and more. And regarding education and economic opportunities, Cephas added that the conversation must return to mobility and accessibility.

“I didn’t have quality education access in my ZIP code or in my backyard, so I literally had to travel an hour outside of my community to access a quality education. I also had to use it to not only get access to my first job, but my second and my third jobs,” she said, noting that transit impacts every county in the commonwealth. “Mass transit is how I move throughout the city and how you access education and economic opportunity.”

Outside of healthcare and transit, Cephas said, bold ideas and newfound energy are needed everywhere – from challenging current immigration enforcement to providing tangible economic opportunities to those in need.

Cephas discussed one such “bold idea”: a universal basic income pilot program in Philadelphia to support pregnant women. Through the Philadelphia Joy Bank, the pilot program provides 250 eligible pregnant residents with $1,000 per month for 18 months – a direct way to support mothers, families and children during a key time in their lives.

“That’s the type of energy people want right now,” she said, opining that a bold vision is necessary to challenge the current system.

“We also have to acknowledge again that we’ve been teetering on the margins,” Cephas said. “We need to finally have a full conversation about what Medicare for All actually looks like, what universal child care looks like, and what it looks like to have a mass transit system where (we can) keep our economy moving.”

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As TSA staffing crisis deepens, Philadelphia International Airport lines get worse

Hilary Danailova — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 20:16:48 -0400

Facing an army of anxious travelers waiting to be screened at Philadelphia International Airport’s Terminal E last Friday afternoon, one security checkpoint worker – who declined to be named – embodied the current weariness and frustration of federal airport workers.

“I’m tired,” he allowed, and it wasn’t hard to see why. An employee of the Transportation Security Administration, he’d been on his feet manning the checkpoint since 3:30 a.m., some 11 hours earlier, working overtime to cover for colleagues who’d called out sick.

More and more of the airport’s roughly 800 TSA workers – the exact number was not available – have absented themselves as the partial federal government shutdown stretches into its sixth week, freezing paychecks for the TSA and many other employees of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The result is that as travel enters one of its busiest periods of the year – spring break – the thinning ranks of personnel are straining major airports like Philadelphia, the nation’s 21st-busiest, to the breaking point.

The crisis is heightened by the elevated security threat posed by America’s ongoing war in Iran – “It’s the perfect storm right now,” observed Joe Shuker, the regional vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing Philadelphia’s TSA workers. The union is calling for those employees to be paid so that they can afford to return to work – many are calling out sick to earn money at odd jobs – alongside their colleagues in air traffic control, who, as Department of Transportation employees, are unaffected by the shutdown.

Without a resolution, the impasse “is going to lead to some kind of disaster,” Shuker opined. “You’ve had to wait for an hour and a half, and nobody in this giant airport lobby with 1,000 or so people has been screened yet … Why isn’t somebody saying how dangerous that line is? Do you want to get on a plane where your X-ray operator, the one checking for guns and IEDs (improvised explosive devices), slept in his car last night because the agency isn’t paying them?”

Indeed, the stakes are high not only for travelers, but also for congressional Democrats – who have conditioned the resumption of DHS funding on reforms to the department’s controversial immigration-enforcement practices – and for congressional Republicans, whose federal administration is ultimately responsible for securing the nation’s transportation system.

Pennsylvania legislators from both parties have been trading online accusations over who was to blame for airport chaos.“Democrats have repeatedly offered to fund TSA and the rest of DHS while Congress negotiates reforms to ICE and Border Patrol. Republicans have refused,” wrote U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat whose Southeastern Pennsylvania district includes Philadelphia International Airport, in a March 19 post on X. “Last week, I forced a vote in the Rules Committee to fund DHS, except for ICE. Every Republican in the Rules Committee voted to block it.”The same day, Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick cast the blame at the feet of Democrats: “PHL is paying the price for the Democrats’ DHS shutdown,” he posted on X, using the acronym for Philadelphia International Airport. “Pennsylvanians are paying for Washington’s political games.”The next day, McCormick turned his attention to Pittsburgh International Airport, responding to a post about a food bank set up there to feed the families of TSA and other federal employees. “The heroic men and women who protect our homeland are going without a paycheck because Democrats are refusing to fund DHS,” he wrote.

On Sunday, White House border czar Tom Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the federal government would deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports to bolster security efforts – monitoring exits, for instance, to allow TSA personnel to focus on screening passengers.

“We will be at airports tomorrow, helping TSA move those lines along,” Homan said. In a March 21 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump vowed the ICE agents would “do security like no one has ever seen before.”

For now, the burden of shepherding some 83,000 daily travelers through PHL rests on the shoulders of employees like that weary TSA worker.

“It’ll go faster if everybody remembers to take your ID out of your wallet,” he calls out every few minutes, in between answering an unceasing stream of near-identical questions: Am I in the right place? Is this the line for PreCheck? Do you need my boarding pass?

The crowds were thick on Friday afternoon, but nothing like the pandemonium that greeted the worker when he arrived hours before sunrise. “You should’ve seen it at 3:30 a.m. – the lines were all the way down the escalators, wrapping around the baggage claim and back,” said a city-employed airport worker who gave only her first name, Benet.

By far the state’s largest airport by volume, PHL is suffering more than its regional counterparts across the commonwealth – especially during the morning rush, since the airport’s domestic flight schedule is front-loaded with early-morning departures. (A spokesperson for the airport declined to comment for this story.)

In contrast, the Lehigh Valley and Harrisburg airports have low callout rates, and along with Pittsburgh International, have reported minimal delays. But these airports are far smaller: Pittsburgh, the state’s second-largest, handles less than one-third of PHL’s annual volume of 30 million passengers.

Nationally, the DHS funding shutdown has affected airports to varying degrees, with some reporting recent TSA callout rates of nearly 40%; Houston’s rates topped 50% for several days in mid-March, according to the DHS. Since the shutdown began on Jan. 1, callout rates nationally have been more than triple the norm, around 6%, rising to roughly 10% in recent days.

“Americans are still facing HOURS long waits at airports across the country,” an unnamed DHS spokesperson told City & State via email on Friday. “Many TSA officers cannot pay their rent, buy food, or afford to put gas in their cars – forcing them to call out sick from work. They are struggling and being used as political pawns. Democrats must reopen DHS now.”

Lauren Bis, the department’s acting assistant secretary, said in a statement that TSA workers were bearing the brunt of repeated government shutdowns over the past year, including a six-week shutdown in October and early November. Employee morale has taken a hit, as evidenced by nearly 400 TSA agents across the nation quitting their jobs since the current shutdown began.

On Friday, Shuker told City & State that he wasn’t optimistic about a resolution anytime soon. A weekly national union leaders’ call on March 19 with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, “wasn’t coming across like she thought something was going to be agreed to,” said Shuker, who until December was the longtime president of AFGE’s Philadelphia Local 333. “It didn’t sound promising.”

Meanwhile, the situation at Philadelphia International is fast becoming untenable. “With the line the way it is for spring break, our guys are having to work overtime,” he said. “And then they’re going out and doing another job in order to get money to feed their kids … they’re driving for Uber, they’re doing gig jobs – so they can keep coming to work to a place that’s not paying them.”

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PA lawmakers advance SAFECHAT Act to protect children from AI chatbot interactions

Justin Sweitzer — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:19:30 -0400

Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania Senate advanced legislation this week that would establish safeguards for the use of AI chatbots by minors, which comes amid mounting concerns regarding “AI psychosis” and several lawsuits against tech companies alleging that AI chatbots have pushed users to suicide.

The state Senate voted 49-1 to approve Senate Bill 1090, also known as the Safeguarding Adolescents from Exploitative Chatbots and Harmful AI Technology Act, or SAFECHAT Act. Sponsored by state Sens. Tracy Pennycuick and Nick Miller, the bill seeks to address growing instances of people using AI chatbots for companionship by requiring companies that develop and operate companionship-focused chatbots to disclose the AI companion’s nonhuman status and implement safeguards to prevent suicide and self-harm.

Specifically, the bill would require AI companion operators to issue a “clear and conspicuous” notification to users that an AI companion is artificially generated, and would also require companies and individuals that operate AI companions to establish protocols to prevent the chatbots from producing content related to suicide or self-harm. Under the bill, such protocols should also notify users of crisis service providers and crisis hotlines if a user shows signs of suicidal ideation or self-harm.

The bill also seeks to address the use of AI companions by minors, requiring operators to disclose to users that they are not communicating with a human and to issue periodic reminders that users should take breaks from using the chatbot. The legislation would also require operators to prevent chatbots from engaging in sexually explicit conduct and producing sexually explicit images in conversations with minors.

The bill’s provisions would apply only to companionship-focused chatbots, not to broader AI tools.

The legislation comes amid several high-profile lawsuits alleging that interactions with AI chatbots and tools may have pushed some users to suicide. The technology news site TechCrunch reported last year that AI companion apps had been downloaded more than 220 million times globally as of July 2025, with the market for companionship apps anticipated to generate more than $120 million in revenue by the end of 2025.

Research released last July from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit devoted to digital safety for children and teens, surveyed more than 1,000 teens aged 13-17 on AI companions. The survey found that 72% of teens have used AI companions, 33% of teens use AI companions for social interaction and relationships and 34% of users reported feeling uncomfortable with something an AI companion has said or done.

Pennycuick, the prime sponsor of SB 1090, said in a statement that the state’s law must be updated to keep up with the rapidly evolving landscape created by more sophisticated AI models, particularly AI companions.

“As these tools become more common in classrooms, on smartphones and across social platforms, our laws must keep pace to prevent avoidable tragedies,” Pennycuick said in a statement. “Recent heartbreaking stories have come to light of vulnerable individuals, including minors, who have used AI chatbots to cope with trauma, mental health, depression and anxiety. Unfortunately, some of the responses they received have contributed to reported incidents of self-harm or even suicide.”

Miller said that the bill’s passage brings Pennsylvania “one step closer to establishing meaningful protections for children in the digital age.”

“With Senate Bill 1090 now advancing to the House, we are taking action that could save lives by ensuring users who show signs of self-harm are connected to critical crisis resources,” he added.

In his 2026 budget address, Gov. Josh Shapiro encouraged lawmakers to address growing concerns around AI chatbots and their effects on minors. He suggested new laws that would: require age verification and parental consent to use AI tools; require companies to detect when children mention self-harm or violence against others; require companies to remind users that AI chatbots are not human; and prohibit AI chatbots from producing sexually explicit or violent content featuring children.

The Senate’s passage of SB 1090 also earned praise from Attorney General Dave Sunday, who thanked Pennycuick and Senate lawmakers for advancing the bill, adding in a statement that the “potential dangers tied to the overreliance on artificial intelligence are very real, as we have seen online chatbots play roles in numerous tragedies across the nation.”

“We must do everything we can to keep children and vulnerable residents away from these toxic online interactions,” Sunday said.

The bill now awaits consideration in the state House of Representatives.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a trained listener, call 988. Visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or for more information.

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What to know about Pennsylvania’s 2026 special elections

Justin Sweitzer — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:43:00 -0400

Following resignations in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, multiple seats have been decided through special elections scheduled to fill vacancies in the chamber.

The resignations came after several lawmakers won elections for local office in November, and another resigned amid conflict of interest complaints. The lawmakers who have since departed the chamber are former state Reps. Torren Ecker, Dan Miller, Lou Schmitt and Josh Siegel and Seth Grove.

Dates for all of the special elections are set after House Speaker Joanna McClinton signed writs of election to fill the now-vacant seats.

Feb. 24, 2026: Democrats win in Allegheny and Lehigh counties

House District 22: The special election for House District 22 will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The seat was formerly held by Siegel, a Democrat who was sworn in as Lehigh County Executive on Jan. 5. The Lehigh County district represents parts of the City of Allentown and Salisbury Township.

Democrats nominated Allentown School Board director Ana Tiburcio for the Feb. 24 election, while Republicans picked Robert Smith, a former member of Allentown City Council as well as the Allentown School Board, as their nominee for the contest.

Tiburcio retained the seat for Democrats on Election Day, beating Smith by a margin of 67% to 33%.

House District 42: The special election for House District 42 will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The seat was most recently held by Miller, a Democrat who was elected as an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge in November. The Allegheny County district encompasses Baldwin Township, Castle Shannon Borough, Dormont Borough, Mount Lebanon Township and Upper St. Clair Township.

Both Republicans and Democrats have selected their special election candidates for the 42nd House District seat. Democrats picked Dormont Borough Councilmember Jennifer Mazzocco, and the GOP nominated recent law-school graduate Joseph Leckenby, who ran against Miller in 2024.

Democrats were also able to hold the 42nd House District seat, with Mazzocco securing nearly 82% of the vote, compared to Leckenby’s 18%.

March 17, 2026: Republicans hold onto seats in Central Pennsylvania

House District 79: The special election for House District 79 was held on Tuesday, March 17. The seat was previously held by Schmitt, a Republican who was elected and recently sworn in as a judge on the Blair County Court of Common Pleas. The Blair County District encompasses Allegheny Township, the City of Altoona, Logan Township and Tunnelhill Borough.

In the 79th House District race, Republicans nominated Andrea Verobish, a staffer for U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, as their nominee. Democrats picked registered nurse Caleb McCoy as their candidate in the special election to replace Schmitt.

Verobish defeated McCory during the March 17 contest, winning the race with 56% of the vote, according to unofficial election returns.

House District 193: The special election for House District 193 was also held on Tuesday, March 17. The seat was previously held by Ecker, a Republican who was elected in November as a judge on the Adams County Court of Common Pleas. The 193rd House District encompasses parts of Cumberland County and parts of Adams County.

The GOP tapped Catherine Wallen, Ecker’s former district director and the owner and operator of a family farm, as the party’s nominee, while Democrats nominated Todd Crawley, a Shippensburg resident who most recently worked as Harrisburg Area Community College’s director of public and environmental health and safety.

Wallen beat Crawley on Election Day by a margin of 59.7% to 40.2%, holding the seat for Republicans.

May 19, 2026: An election to replace former state Rep. Seth Grove

House District 196: McClinton scheduled a special election for the vacant 196th House District for Tuesday, May 19 following the resignation of York County state Rep. Seth Grove in January. Throughout his tenure in the General Assembly, Grove served stints as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, the House State Government Committee and the House Government Oversight Committee, among other roles.

Grove accepted a position as president and CEO of Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association while still in office, a move that drew scrutiny from some lawmakers and advocacy groups who worried that his acceptance of the position, coupled with his role as minority chair of the House Labor & Industry Committee, created a conflict of interest. His resignation took effect on Jan. 31. In a statement, Grove said serving the community he grew up in was “the honor of a lifetime.” The 196th House District encompasses parts of York County.

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Harrisburg leaders celebrate two new grants for downtown revitalization efforts

Justin Sweitzer — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 16:56:35 -0400

State and local leaders gathered at Harrisburg’s Strawberry Square complex on Tuesday to celebrate two new state grants that will support ongoing downtown revitalization efforts, including by bolstering local safety patrols and aiding in the development of a downtown revitalization plan.

Joined by Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Deputy Secretary Rick Vilello, state Sen. Patty Kim and state Rep. Dave Madsen announced more than $400,000 in grant funding from the state aimed at helping breathe new life into the city’s downtown, which has seen a number of businesses close in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kim noted that the health of downtown Harrisburg is vital to the broader region.

“It is not an exaggeration that as goes our downtown, so goes our region,” she said. “As Pennsylvania’s capital, a center for commercial, business and professional activity, and a destination for visitors, Harrisburg’s downtown and its health directly impacts whether people choose to visit our area, whether families decide to move here, and whether employers choose to do business here.”

Madsen acknowledged that while Harrisburg’s local economy has struggled in recent years, a turnaround is just around the corner. “While we’ve seen better days, we know now that better days are to come, and this is just the beginning of a series of wins that we are going to announce,” he said.

The grants announced include a $350,000 planning grant for the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation to assist with the development of a “unified, inclusive and actionable” revitalization plan, as well as a $75,000 grant for the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District to expand existing safety patrols that monitor the city’s downtown district during weekends and evening hours.

With a reference to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s “Get Stuff Done” mantra, Vilello joked that Shapiro is “isn’t the most patient person, so we have to start delivering quickly and get stuff done.”

Todd Vander Woude, the Downtown Improvement District’s executive director, said the safety patrols also help pedestrians who need directions and offer recommendations.

“It’s a community policing effort, and the purpose of this is really a police presence and visibility for downtown Harrisburg, the downtown district,” he said. “With this grant, now we can extend hours and days of the patrol.”

Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC President and CEO Ryan Unger said the development of a downtown plan is already underway, noting that stakeholder interviews are underway and focus groups are being scheduled. He also said the community will be able to offer input at a future public workshop that will be scheduled in the coming months.

Others in attendance at Tuesday’s press conference included Harrisburg City Council President Danielle Hill and Mischelle Moyer, the communications director for Mayor Wanda Williams.

Kim said Pittsburgh can serve as a model for how to successfully revitalize downtown Harrisburg. “We’ve seen firsthand in Pittsburgh how true collaboration and unified planning can lead to transformative investments,” she said. “We are just getting started.”

As part of ongoing revitalization efforts, city residents, business owners and people who work in downtown Harrisburg are able to offer input and opinions on the city’s downtown area through a Downtown Harrisburg Perception Survey, available at HBGSurvey.com.

The survey, which focuses on an area stretching from Front Street to 7th Street and from Mulberry Street to Forster Street, is designed to gather feedback on how people feel about the city’s downtown and to guide local leaders and organizations in their revitalization strategies.

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