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Headlines. McCormick on Iran, Permitting Reform & His Fetterman Bond. NEPA DAs Rally Behind Baker Bill On Felony Murder. How Threat of an ICE Detention Center Galvanized a Trump-Country Coal Town. Utz to Go Private.

🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Who Are You. The Who

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🌤️  Pittsburgh | Decreasing Clouds, 76
☀️  Harrisburg | Mostly Sunny, 83
🌤️  Philadelphia | Partly Sunny, 86

PA Sports 
⚾  Phillies (56-46, 3 GB, +3.5 GB WC) | LA Dodgers 1-2 | Wed vs. LA Dodgers
⚾  Pirates (52-49, 11 GB, – GB WC) | NY Yankees ppd | Wed at NY Yankees (2)
⚽  Union (1W, 3D, 11L) | Wed vs. NY Red Bulls

What’s Happening Today. The PA House convenes at noon in a non-voting session. The U.S. Senate will vote at 2 p.m. to advance Antonio M. Pozos’ nomination to be a judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

What We’re Hearing. Sen. David McCormick is in line to take the gavel of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee next Congress.

Voices of Reason. In the latest episode of Voices of Reason, PoliticsPA’s Steve Ulrich and his guests discuss Election Integrity. What does Election Integrity mean to you? Does it require an ID to vote? Is it making sure that non-citizens do not vote? Do you want the government to have Pennsylvania’s voter rolls? Mercer County Director of Elections Thad Hall and Committee of 70 Senior Advisor on Election Administration Tim Benyo share their thoughts on mail-in ballots, the SAVE Act, and more.

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.   McCormick on Iran, Permitting Reform & His Fetterman Bond

“Like many successful senators, Dave McCormick has honed his expertise on a few pet issues—in his case, U.S. energy dominance and permitting reform. We talked about whether Congress can actually pass reforms to unleash energy development, now stalled for three years and counting, and how the war in Iran is impacting those goals.

Plus, he dished on his unique relationship with Sen. John Fetterman, and got pretty testy when I asked him about President Trump’s primetime spiel on election security.” | Puck

Elsewhere

Fetterman Joins Colleagues in Reintroducing Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill. “U.S. Senator John Fetterman joined his Senate Democratic colleagues in reintroducing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, comprehensive legislation that would end the harmful federal prohibition of cannabis by removing cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and empowering states to create their own laws.” | PoliticsPA

Former PA Gov. Corbett Co-Authors Column Criticizing Fellow Republicans’ SAVE Act. “Corbett wrote the column with former Republican U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin for Time magazine. It was shared by Yahoo! News this month after President Donald Trump refused to sign a housing bill until Congress passes the SAVE Act.” | PennLive

Thune Says GOP Would Welcome Fetterman If He Leaves the Democratic Party. “Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Tuesday that Republicans would welcome Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) into their caucus if the maverick lawmaker opted to leave the Democratic Party.” | Washington Examiner

What You Need To Know About PA-07’s Spending Race, Already Ahead of 2018. “National Republicans and Democrats are treating PA-7 as a top-tier race, four months before the general election even starts.” | Lehigh Valley Public Media

State

2.   NEPA DAs Rally Behind Baker Bill On Felony Murder

“A contingent of district attorneys and lawmakers from across Northeast Pennsylvania converged on the Luzerne County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon to rally behind legislation that would amend the state’s murder sentencing framework as a looming deadline imposed by the state Supreme Court approaches.

Last month, the state Senate passed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Lisa Baker that would address the court’s ruling and authorize a sentence of 35 years to life for second-degree murder. But the bill has not yet cleared the House.” | Citizens Voice

Elsewhere

Shapiro Highlights Startups and Commonwealth’s Innovation Network in Philly. “Speaking in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro highlighted the investments that the 2026-27 budget is making in innovation, including $125 million to create “Innovate in PA 2.0.”” | PoliticsPA

Doug Mastriano’s Slovakian Ambassadorship Bid In Question After Senator Threatens To Withhold Vote. “Sen. John Cornyn, who sits on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Semafor he would block Mastriano’s nomination unless the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding is released.” | abc27

New PA Law Fights Back Against the Billions of Robocalls People Get. “Do you dread phone calls from unknown phone numbers that seem legitimate? Is it someone you need to speak with or another telemarketing call that might be an outright scam? A piece of legislation that became law this week might help with that.” | PennLive

State Supreme Court Rules Warrantless Searches By PA Game Officials Are Unconstitutional. “Property owners have a greater right to privacy on their land under the Pennsylvania Constitution than under the U.S. Constitution, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.” | Penn Capital-Star

Around The Commonwealth

3.   How the Threat of an ICE Detention Center Galvanized a Trump-Country Coal Town

““What we’ve heard is jobs, jobs, jobs,” Joe Wiscount recounted on a recent afternoon in the couple’s living room. But no one seemed able to explain how the town—not much more than a Family Dollar, a pizzeria, and a few blocks of twin houses—could support an immigrant jail with five times its population. Nor could anyone answer why the federal government had chosen this town, of all places.

The Schuylkill County population, mostly working class and white, has been falling since 1930. Tiny local governments are desperate for revenue, making them vulnerable to corporate exploitation, Brianna DelValle argues. Normally, “there’s not a lot of political will to push back on things,” she said. “People are tired and busy and just don’t have the wherewithal.”” | Mother Jones

Elsewhere

Pennsylvania State Police Hiring Effort Begins After $16M Investment. “Gov. Josh Shapiro made hiring more troopers a state budget priority, and the final version provides around $16 million to fund four new cadet classes. It will allow the state to hire around 380 troopers beyond those already covered across multiple classes.” | USA Today Network

Pennsylvania Neighbors Rally Against Data Center Boom, Warning, ‘This Is Not A Testing Ground’ “A steady rain in downtown Wilkes-Barre didn’t deter a handful of Pennsylvania residents and political candidates from calling for a pause on the region’s fast-growing wave of data center proposals. Among the concerns raised at the protest were utility strain, heavy water use, air pollution, noise, and harm to wildlife.” | The Cool Down

President Donald Trump Denied Johnny Doc’s Request To Be Let Out of Prison Early. “Convicted former Philadelphia labor leader John J. Dougherty has taken a variety of steps to try to cut his six-year prison term short, including by taking the witness stand this spring to tell a federal judge about the unique health challenges faced by his wife. But one other avenue he pursued last year — an appeal to the White House for mercy — apparently hit a dead end.” | Philadelphia Inquirer

Editorial

4.  What Do You Think?

• Government Intervention, Not Free Markets, Made Your Housing and Healthcare Unaffordable | Nathan Benefield 
• Pennsylvania and 19 Other States Trap Workers In Poverty With a $7.25 Minimum Wage | Holly Sklar
• Pennsylvania Farmers Can’t Afford A Weakened Farm Bureau | Chris Torres
• Paige Cognetti Isn’t Being Transparent With Voters About Work With National Democrats | Amy Curtis

1 Thing

5.   Utz To Go Private In Deal Valued At $2.9B

“Utz Brands Inc. plans to go private in a deal with a German company that values the snack maker behind “The Crab Chip” at $2.9 billion.

Intersnack Group, which owns about 30 snack brands sold in Europe and Oceania, will pay $14.25 per share in cash for all of Utz’s publicly held stock. When the deal closes, Intersnack will own 50% of the Hanover, Pennsylvania-based chip and pretzel manufacturer, and its founding family will own the other 50%.

Utz was founded in 1921 in Hanover, and Baltimore was one of its first major markets. The snack company sells potato chips, pretzels and cheese puffs under its own brand, and owns about a dozen other brands, including Bachman, Boulder Canyon and Vitner’s. Utz also produces snacks for TGI Friday’s.” | Baltimore Business Journal

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