????  Monday. Monday.

????️  In Today’s PoliticsPA Playbook. Trump Set To Visit Mount Airy Casino Resort. Shapiro’s Strategy For 2028 White House Run Starts With 2026. Billions In Rural Health Funding Hinge On States Passing Trump-Backed Policies. The End of Billable Hours?

????  Your Morning Pick-Me-Up. I Love Rock ‘N Roll. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

PA Weather
????️  Brockway | Partly Sunny, 24
☁️  Enola | Mostly Cloudy, 28
????️  Darby | Increasing Clouds, 32

PA Sports
????  Eagles (8-4) | Mon at LA Chargers
????  Steelers (7-6) | Baltimore 27-22 | Dec. 15 vs. Miami
????  Sixers (13-10) | Milwaukee 116-101 | LA Lakers 108-112 | Fri vs. Indiana
????  Flyers (15-9-3) | Colorado 2-3 | Tue vs. San Jose
????  Penguins (14-7-6) | Dallas 2-3 (SO) | Tue vs. Anaheim
????  Pitt (8-4) | Dec. 27 vs. East Carolina
????  Penn State (6-6) | Dec. 27 vs. Clemson

????  What’s Happening Today. House (Non-Voting), 12:00 | Senate, 3:00. And, the Annual Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony takes place at 2 p.m.

????️  Voices of Reason. House Appropriations Chair Rep. Jordan Harris and Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Scott Martin join host Steve Ulrich for a candid, bipartisan look at Pennsylvania’s budget battles. Together, they dig into the state’s fiscal outlook, the pressures shaping this year’s negotiations, and why passing a budget has become more challenging than ever.

????  The Pennsylvania Society. The calendar of events for Dec. 11-13 can be found here. 

????  The PoliticsPA Playbook is compiled by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser, click here. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe for free.

Top Story

1.   Trump Set To Visit Mount Airy Casino Resort In Monroe County To Talk About Economy, Inflation

“Generations of New Yorkers were lured to the Poconos in decades past by the famed “beautiful Mount Airy Lodge” advertising jingle.

President Donald Trump is set to follow in their footsteps.

The lodge is now a casino resort — and Trump spends more time in Washington and Florida than his native New York nowadays — but the president will visit the Monroe County landmark on Tuesday to kick off what an Axios report called “a year of heavy stateside travel that’s focused on selling his economic agenda ahead of the midterms.”” | WVIA

Elsewhere

‘Doing Nothing Is Not An Option,’ Says Fitzpatrick On GOP Affordability Agenda. “Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is carving out a lane that is seeing him butt heads with GOP leaders.” | PoliticsPA

Swing District Republicans Brace For Political Fallout If Health Care Subsidies Expire. “For a critical sliver of the Republican majority, the impending expiration of what are called enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 is a pressing concern as they potentially face headwinds in a 2026 midterm election that will be critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. One of those is first-term U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., whose victory for the Allentown-area seat last year was among the narrowest in the nation.” | AP

The GOP Can’t Agree On A Healthcare Plan. Some Republicans Are Panicking. “Republicans have yet to coalesce around a healthcare strategy just days before an expected vote on extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies, triggering concerns from some GOP lawmakers about a voter backlash.” | Wall Street Journal

McCormick Reflects on His First Year in Office. “In an interview, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick listed his accomplishments in his first year in office, including the “Big 5”: the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, the $20 billion Amazon data centers investment, the Energy Summit bringing $92 billion in investments to the commonwealth, and the $5 billion deal bringing Korean firm Hanwha to the Philadelphia Shipyard.” | RealClearPennsylvania

State

2.  Shapiro’s Strategy For 2028 White House Run Starts With 2026

“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has a plan that could give him an edge in the 2028 presidential primary: Engineer a blowout for his state’s Democrats in next year’s midterms to prove he can turn the electoral college’s biggest battleground blue again.

Why it matters: Shapiro has quietly and methodically tightened his grip on Pennsylvania’s Democratic machine in recent months — recruiting key congressional candidates, clearing the field for them and remaking the state party.

The moves, insiders say, are designed to maximize Democratic wins while positioning Shapiro as the party’s most electable presidential contender.” | Axios

Elsewhere

Josh Shapiro and the Politics of Faith. “The 2028 presidential race is still well over a year away from beginning in earnest. But if there’s any indication about whether Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, long considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, is seriously considering running, it’s that the moderate swing-state governor recently sat down for interviews for two major magazine features — in The Atlantic and The New Yorker — both published in the last week.” | Jewish Insider

When Feds Block PA Funding, Should State Bite Back? Dems Say Yes. “Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing for the ability to intercept federal payments in response to presidential administrations that withhold or pause funding to the commonwealth.” | Erie Times-News

AI Poised To Play Increased Role In PA Elections In 2026 And Beyond. ““There’s no question AI is the future of campaigns,” said Vince Galko, a GOP strategist based in northeastern Pennsylvania. “Just like social media was the future 20 years ago. With AI, you don’t embrace it at your own peril.”” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PA Election Directors Call For Reforms To 3rd-Party Registration Drives. “Not fraud, but incompetence, hinder an essential voting service, officials say.” | WITF

Around The Commonwealth

3.   ‘Sort Of Blackmail’: Billions In Rural Health Funding Hinge On States Passing Trump-Backed Policies

“The Trump administration offered states a deal: pledge to enact White House-favored policies for a chance to win a bigger share of the $50 billion aimed at transforming the nation’s struggling rural health care systems. The battle for those funds is now underway.” | POLITICO

Elsewhere

Oz, Bresnahan, McCormick in Separate NEPA Visits Discuss ACA Tax Credits, Rural Health Transformation Fund. “U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan said Friday that he’s in favor of extending the Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of this year.” | WVIA

As Dan Miller Prepares For A Seat On Common Pleas Court, He’s Not Quite Done In Harrisburg Yet. “In a recent interview, the Pittsburgh-area Democrat said he preferred not to look back on his legislative career, which began in 2013. “I’m still looking forward,” he said. But he did concede that the legislature has changed since he took office, and not entirely for the better.” | WESA

GOP Lawmakers Get Heated Over College Football and Money. “The booming business of college sports is getting out of control, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree, but whether Congress should intervene and how to effectively level the playing field between premier universities and smaller schools is a heated debate on Capitol Hill.” | The Hill

Editorial

4.  What Do You Think?

• How We Can Have School Choice For Everyone, Not Just Rich People | Sen. David McCormick
• If ‘Skill Games’ Cannot Be Banned, Harrisburg Must Act To Regulate And Tax | Philadelphia Inquirer 
• Kids Don’t Need Their Cell Phones In School | Devlin Robinson, Vincent J. Hughes and Steve Santarsiero
• Why Did John Fetterman Write A Memoir? | Adriana E. Ramírez
• America’s Healthcare Crisis Isn’t About Money – It’s About Greed | Shawn Crowell
• ObamaCare Is A Mecca For Fraud | Wall Street Journal
• Why A Deal Isn’t Coming Together On Health Care | Steven Pearlstein
• Chester County Keeps Choosing Excuses Over Accountability | Beth Ann Rosica
• State Lawmakers Must Fix Sunshine Act, As It’s Been Weakened By State High Court Ruling | LNP

1 Thing

5.   The End of Billable Hours?

“Is the billable hour about to become a thing of the past?

It seems inevitable, at least for lawyers and other professional-services firms, because as artificial-intelligence capabilities accelerate, the fundamental logic of charging for time spent rather than value delivered is becoming increasingly untenable.

The billable hour as the fundamental unit of business for professional services is so widespread that it’s difficult to remember that it is a fairly recent innovation, becoming prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. Before that, many lawyers and other professionals billed for outcomes achieved or services rendered, not for time.” | Wall Street Journal

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