Prediction market purveyor Kalshi fined three federal candidates for wagering on themselves. One, a former reality TV star running in Virginia, said he did it on purpose as a viral marketing stunt and wants to regulate the industry. www.wired.com/story/us-sen...

Inbox: Conservation Voters of PA is critical of a potential agreement from the Shapiro admin to keep open two western PA power plants. "While other states...are lowering their energy prices by moving aggressively to bring new wind and solar energy online, Pennsylvania remains stuck in the past."

In a Broad & Liberty story attacking the Philly Inquirer's editorial decisions, Stacy Garrity's campaign stated their comms strategy for the coming months:

ghoulish

The state Senate Education will consider a bill today introduced three days ago to force schools and colleges to classify sports teams by sex while privatizing enforcement through lawsuits. www.palegis.us/legislation/...

ICYMI: The House State Government Committee passed two bills earlier today with bipartisan support to allow counties seven days of pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots and require the electronic filing of campaign finance reports. They move to the full state House.

Stacy Garrity has taken credit for federal laws benefiting her company, which sells materials used in arms manufacturing. Ethics experts say she may have broken (mostly self-enforced) lobbying law; her campaign says that misunderstands her job's duties. whyy.org/articles/sta...

Individual journalists of all stripes are pushing back on efforts by news publishers to prevent WebArchive aka The Wayback Machine from archiving work done by reporters they employ. As someone who often uses the archive, I whole heartedly agree. www.wired.com/story/the-in...

Crypto entrepreneurs, trade unions, a January 6 defendant, a turkey farmer, an influential nursing home owner and an AI-enabled defense contractor are a small sampling of the donors @spotlightpa.org identified on Josh Shapiro and Stacy Garrity's campaign finance reports.

should I use Polymarket to bet on how likely Congress is to ban stock trading

Pennsylvania's budget included $50 million to help pull off some of the America 250 sporting events this year. Policymakers say they will be an economic boon. Economists are less sure.

AI in politics: At the bottom of the final answer to the last question of Philly congressional candidate Ala Stanford's candidate questionnaire for an urbanist PAC is a Claude tag. t.co/qc0BgGQsW7

And Gov. Josh Shapiro brought in $10.5 million and has $36 million on-hand.

News: Pennsylvania state Treasurer and GOP gubernatorial Stacy Garrity raised $1 million since the beginning of the year and moves forward with $1.5 million in cash on-hand.

With the primary slate in Pennsylvania (almost) set, here is a set of interesting, competitive, or otherwise noteworthy state legislative primaries to watch: www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/03...

Inbox: Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed SB 1218 into law, allowing Philadelphia liquor license holders to apply for a permit to stay open as late as 4 a.m. between June 11 to July 20 this year alongside the World Cup, All-Star Game and America 250 events.

News: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has struck down a state law mandating life sentences without parole for individuals found guilt of second degree murder -- i.e., being a getaway driver in a fatal robbery. Via @dtohl.bsky.social www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/03...

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House passed a bill 127-72 to repeal a state law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. That's 6 fewer yes votes than when the body passed the same bill last session.

News: A bill to allow Philadelphia bars, restaurants and other liquor license holders to apply for a permit to stay open for an extra two hours every day during America 250 celebrations this summer is on its way to Gov. Josh Shapiro's desk. It was introduced just 12 days ago.

Update: Rabb said in a text message that "due to a miscommunication on a vote by proxy," meaning the House's remote voting system, "I was incorrectly recorded as a no vote on HB 2189. I look forward to continuing the fight for a living wage for all."

The Pennsylvania House has passed another bill to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029 with future hikes tied to inflation 104-95. It now heads to the Republican-controlled state Senate, which has expressed openness to a wage hike but has not yet acted.

The most talked about thing in Pennsylvania politics rn is the special election happening today in Altoona's 79th House District. Democrats feel (self-consciously!) bullish on their chances of an upset, and Rs are also taking notice. I'll put any tidbits here:

why did Team USA bring in Robert J O'Neill to talk to the team? manager Mark DeRosa said it was his idea.

Highly suggest the new Sy Hersh documentary on Netflix. So many chestnuts about American journalism and government in it!

Something to look for: Republicans and Democrats I talk to are increasingly keeping an eye on next Tuesday's special election in Altoona. One Pennsylvania Democratic source told me they are "cautiously optimistic" about the race in a central PA district Trump won by 30+ points, the 79th.

Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity put $45 million in taxpayer money into Israel Bonds. The firm invited her to a thank you gala with other investors, but she attended for political purposes. She paid for the event with campaign funds; still, ethics experts have questions.

"As a society, we are making an enormously risky bet: that we can reap the rewards of a runaway gambling industry without paying any price; that, unlike every civilization that came before us, we can beat the house." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

ICE asked nine south central Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies last fall if they wanted to cooperate on a 30 day immigration enforcement surge. Local officials said no, citing either limited capacity or need. www.witf.org/2026/03/09/i...

Gov. Josh Shapiro has sent a letter calling for AG Pam Bondi to investigate the death of Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a 19 year old Palestinian-American from Philly who Isreali settlers shot and killed in the West Bank last month, per @whyynews.bsky.social whyy.org/articles/pal...

Pennsylvania has billions sitting in a bank account for transit. The Senate GOP say it's a sign that agencies aren't making use of those dollars even as they ask for more. But two former PennDOT chiefs say the truth is nuanced due to how capital projects financing actually works.

Some gubernatorial CF takeaways? Stacy Garrity would need 7,000 more donors than she's had over her entire career giving $250 to match one Mike Bloomberg check to Josh Shapiro. And Shapiro dropped $84k on "presidential-level service in private aviation." www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/03...

A Silicon Valley lending firm offered its customers gift cards to oppose a Pennsylvania bill that they oppose. Lawmakers in both parties who want to regulate them say it's unethical and needs scrutiny. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/03...

"There is a familiar bait and switch with a lot of buzzy Democratic candidates—that something about their identity will unlock a prodigal base that has strayed and needs merely to be shown the way." These candidates "are invariably white and male." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Gov. Josh Shapiro says in a statement he questions the Iran war's legality & strategy. "By taking unilateral action, without a broad coalition of international partners, [Trump] is putting our brave servicemembers at greater risk and undermining our national security interests."

ICYMI: Gov. Josh Shapiro this week promised to use "every tool at his disposal," namely lawsuits and permitting, to block the federal government from locating proposed ICE detention centers in Pennsylvania. www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/0...

State Sen. Maria Collett (D., Montgomery) wants to ban Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies from buying personal information through data brokers and instead require a search warrant to acquire any digital data.

In a Pennsylvania state House special election yesterday, the Democratic candidates won with less than 7% turnout, per the county election board. In a district of 60,000+ people with 32,000 voters, just 2,250 decided the outcome. This was a race that could have flipped the chamber.

New: Pennsylvania's nonprofit rape crisis centers, which provide support groups, counseling, legal aid, and crisis intervention hotlines, have been flat funded in 6 of the commonwealth's last 10 budgets. Now they say they are at their fiscal limit. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/02...

Frederick Douglass, one of America's greatest agitators and orators, passed away 131 years ago today.

New: Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a sales tax exemption for data centers in 2021. Its exact cost is unknown, but new estimates released by the Shapiro administration this month say it will have cost the commonwealth $2 billion by 2031. W/ @katehuangpu.bsky.social

Good morning everyone. Today is the start of the three week petition period in Pennsylvania, during which hopefuls for elected office can gather signatures from people in their districts to get on the ballot.

This is blackout poetry to me

What does collaboration with ICE look like in PA? ICE can access state data without a warrant. Troopers cannot ask about immigration status, but can and do tell ICE if they otherwise discover someone is undocumented. And prisons honor some ICE detainers. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/02...

News: Gov. Josh Shapiro pitched a $53.3 billion spending plan Tuesday that puts more money into education and transit (in 2027) while asking policymakers to tackle housing and energy affordability in earnest. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/02...

New: Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to address housing costs, energy demand, and unfinished business like education funding and transit in his budget pitch tomorrow. W/ @katehuangpu.bsky.social www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/02...

News: Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is building a new manufacturing plant in the Lehigh Valley to produce weight loss drugs, the firm announced today. Pennsylvania is kicking in $75 million in grants and $25 million in tax credits to the project.

News: State Rep. Seth Grove (R., York), a vocal conservative who led Pennsylvania Republicans efforts to review the 2020 election while simultaneously factchecking Trump, has resigned. He was under fire for taking a second job as head of a trade group for concrete manufacturers.

New: Pennsylvania policymakers passed a law last year, similar to ones passed in 11 other states, to crackdown on illicit vapes and fight teen smoking. But public health experts are skeptical it'll do much, citing loopholes and limited state funding. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/01...

Pennsylvania state law enforcement currently cooperates with ICE, per Shapiro's public comments and an administration statement. It is unclear if this tweet signals a policy change or not.

State Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware) wants to ax the commonwealth's data center equipment sales tax exemption.