6/5 Playbook: Senate Funds ICE For Three Years
😎Good Friday Morning. Charging into the weekend.
Headlines. Senate Passes ICE Funding. Defeats Ban On Trump Settlement. PA Budget Talks Underway. What Springsteen Tells Us About Ourselves. The No-Admission Amusement Park.
🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere. Alan Jackson
PA Weather
☀️ Presque Isle | Sunny, 83
☀️ Raystown | Mostly Sunny, 88
☀️ Lake Harmony | Mostly Sunny, 85
PA Sports
⚾ Phillies (33-29) | San Diego 6-4 | Fri-Sun vs. Chicago White Sox
⚾ Pirates (34-29) | Houston 5-1 | Fri-Sun at Atlanta
What We’re Hearing. A key liberal group, Demand Justice, is planning a six-figure ad buy in Pennsylvania attacking Sen. John Fetterman for his decision not to veto the Antonio Pozos nomination for federal judge.
Tips. PoliticsPA is Pennsylvania’s premier source for nonpartisan political news and analysis. Tips or press releases can be sent to [email protected].
The PoliticsPA Playbook is compiled by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser, click here.
Top Story
1. Senate OKs $70B Immigration Bill After Rejecting Efforts To Permanently Ban Trump’s Settlement Fund
“The Senate passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies early Friday, after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill.
Senators voted 52-47 to pass the $70 billion legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years.
The final vote came just before 5 a.m., after Republicans narrowly defeated multiple attempts by members of both parties to add language to the bill that would permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund for allies who believe they’ve been politically persecuted.” | AP
Elsewhere
Fitzpatrick Joins Democrats To Pass War Powers Resolution. “Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) sent another shot over the bow of President Donald Trump, joining three other Republicans to vote for the House’s War Powers Resolution that requires the end of hostilities with Iran.” | PoliticsPA
Fetterman Allows Trump Judge To Advance. “Sen. John Fetterman is allowing President Donald Trump’s nomination of a federal judge in Pennsylvania to go forward, waiving his right to block the selection.It’s the first time in Trump’s second term that a Senate Democrat has turned in a blue slip for one of Trump’s judicial picks.” | Punchbowl News
Trump To Pump $700M Into Coal Power In PA and Other States, As He Again Blasts Renewable Energy. “President Donald Trump said he was invoking the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, which gives the president authority over domestic industry, to save 13 existing power plants and build two new ones. He said the move would save 14,000 coal jobs and lower energy costs, though the spending will not lower the price of gasoline or diesel fuel.” | Penn Capital-Star
Fetterman Says “No” On Blanche. “Sen. John Fetterman says he will vote “no” on the confirmation of Todd Blanche for Attorney General.” | PoliticsPA
State
2. Budget Talks Underway As PA Annual Deadline Approaches
“Pennsylvania’s annual budget deadline approaches, and leading lawmakers say negotiations are ongoing.
Whether a budget for 2026-27 is adopted by the June 30 deadline remains to be seen. Each of the past four budgets has been adopted late, and a missed budget deadline is something that has occurred more often than not across the past two decades.” | New Castle News
Elsewhere
Pennsylvania Moves To Regulate Home Equity Investment Industry. “Pennsylvania lawmakers delivered a strong message this week to a fast-growing industry that critics say has operated for too long in the shadows.” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pennsylvania’s Governor Has A Plan To Make Data Centers Bring Their Own Energy. Now Comes The Hard Part. “For months, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro promised a plan to blunt fast-rising energy costs in the state by pushing power-hungry AI data centers to pay their own way. Now his office has formally released details on how he intends to turn BYOE — “bring your own energy” — into more than just a slogan.” | Inside Climate News
Should Pennsylvanians Get $250 to Celebrate America’s 250th? One Lawmaker Thinks So. “Would you like $250 for America’s 250th birthday? That’s what one Pittsburgh-area state lawmaker is proposing. In Harrisburg on Wednesday, Republican state Rep. Eric Davanzo from Westmoreland County put forth a proposal that could help curtail rising inflation costs.” | CBS Pittsburgh
Shapiro Releases First Campaign TV Ad. “And so it begins. The Shapiro for Pennsylvania campaign released a new television and digital ad highlighting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s work to make universal free breakfast for all Pennsylvania public school students the law in the Commonwealth.” | PoliticsPA
Around The Commonwealth
3. What Bruce Springsteen Tells Us About Ourselves
“Maybe you were there. Last Saturday night in Philadelphia was the final show of the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
What did I learn from the evening? I hope I have that much energy when I’m 76. What a performer. What a band. What a show!
But I also learned that as much as we would like music to bring us together, even the E Street Band can only take us so far.” | PoliticsPA
Elsewhere
Pennsylvania Fruit Growers Face Catastrophic Losses After Historic Spring Freeze. “At a century-old farm in Franklin County, more than 400 young plum trees were expected to produce their first commercial crop this year. The grower had spent four years expanding his orchard for a specialty buyer who promised to purchase every plum he could grow. Then came the April freeze.” | Penn State News
Democrats Saw Relatively Strong Turnout For PA’s Gubernatorial Primary. What Does That Mean For November? “Turnout was much higher among Democrats than Republicans in May’s uncontested primary elections for Pennsylvania governor, a strong sign for the party heading into the general election.” | Spotlight PA
Students Across Pennsylvania Step Up On Election Day To Keep Democracy Working. “If you’ve voted in person in Pennsylvania recently, you may have noticed that one of the poll workers checking you in was a high school student. And if you ask one of them why they wanted to be a poll worker, most will give a similar answer.” | Votebeat
Environmental Officials Say Contamination Cleanup In Nanticoke, Across Pennsylvania, Needs State Funding To Continue. “There are more than 200 contaminated sites around Pennsylvania, like the Lower Broadway Recreational Complex in Nanticoke. They are areas where heavy industry left behind dangerous chemicals in the soil that poison the ground and surface water — and where environmental officials say state funding is needed to remediate land for future generations to enjoy.” | WVIA
Editorial
4. What Do You Think?
- The Boss Shows The Way | Larry Platt
- Shapiro’s Billionaire Bonanza | Greg Maresca
- From Nazi-Hugging Greg Bovino to the Supreme Court, the Hood Is Coming Off MAGA | Will Bunch
- Bad Energy Policies Threaten Jobs, Discourage Critical Infrastructure Investment | Jon O’Brien
- Even Legal Immigrants Aren’t Safe From ICE Detention Anymore | Joyce M. Davis
- Why Switching Philadelphia To An Elected School Board Would Be Very Complicated | Dale Mezzacappa
- A Shocking Betrayal of Black Americans | Mara Gay
- PA’s Older Adults Being Shortchanged; Skill Games Can Fix That | Rebecca May-Cole
- 17,000 EMS Professionals Keep Pennsylvanians Safe With Multimillion-Dollar Investments | Dr. Debra L. Bogen
- Small Colleges Will Close. With Courage, We Can Turn Them Into Workforce Dynamos | Jeff Ritter
1 Thing
5. Nearly 100 Years Later, Beloved Amusement Park Still Refuses To Charge Admission
“In an era of pricey theme parks and gated admission, one Pennsylvania amusement park is still letting guests in for free.
Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg has been admission-free since it opened nearly a century ago.
Many of the earliest amusement parks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries operated without admission fees, especially so-called “trolley parks,” which made money from charging guests for rides, food and drink.” | Fox News
Thanks for starting your Friday with us.
Enjoy your weekend. See you Monday.
