June 18 Playbook: A Pessimistic Pennsylvania
🤠 G’day Thursday.
Headlines. Pennsylvanians Pessimistic About Trump, Economy and State of Federal Government. PA’s Rainy Day Fund and 2026-27 Budget. U.S. Steel Workers Remain Divided Over Benefit of Nippon Steel Takeover. The Curse of the Rocky Statue
🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Here and Now. Letters to Cleo
PA Weather
☂️ St. Marys | Mostly Cloudy, AM Showers, 75
☔ Mechanicsburg | Cloudy, AM Showers, 87
🌂 Levittown | Partly Sunny, Chance of Showers, 91
PA Sports
⚾ Phillies (40-34) | Miami 4-12 | Thu vs. NY Mets
⚾ Pirates (38-37) | Athletics 12-4 | Fri at Colorado
⚽ USMNT (1-0) | Fri vs. Australia
What We’re Seeing. The latest F&M poll shows Gov. Josh Shapiro with a 50-28% lead over State Treasurer Stacy Garrity in the race for governor.
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. F&M Poll: Pennsylvanians Pessimistic About Trump, Economy and State of Federal Government
“What a difference three months can make.
Pennsylvanians are pessimistic about President Donald Trump, the state of the economy, and his handling of the federal government in a survey of 546 registered Pennsylvania voters by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.
F&M last polled statewide voters in March, just after the beginning of hostilities with Iran on February 28. Since that survey, a number of important indicators have shown a downward turn showing disenchantment with the direction that the country has taken under Trump.” | PoliticsPA
Elsewhere
The Clock Is Ticking For PA Lawmakers To Regulate Skill Games. Here Are The Hurdles In Their Way. “A court-imposed clock is now ticking for state lawmakers to regulate skill games after years of failure to come to a deal. Lawmakers had said they were waiting for a ruling on skill games to act, and this week they got it: In a scathing decision Monday, justices said skill games are, in fact, slot machines subject to gambling laws.” | Spotlight PA
Dean Says She Was Blocked From Speaking to Detainees During Oversight Visit to Pennsylvania’s Largest ICE Detention Center. “Three weeks after members of Congress listened to and then publicly shared concerns from inside of Pennsylvania’s largest immigrant detention center for the first time, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean said she was blocked from speaking with detainees while visiting the same facility on Wednesday.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
McCormick Hopeful Shapiro Will Opt Pennsylvania Into National School Choice. “As U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick continues to advocate for a federal school choice program, he expressed optimism that first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro would opt Pennsylvania into it.” | The Center Square
State
2. What to Know About Pennsylvania’s Rainy Day Fund and 2026-27 Budget
“Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to use reserves to balance Pennsylvania’s 2026-27 budget would be the largest savings draw in state history.
His request to move almost $4.7 billion from the state’s Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund, called the rainy day fund, is required to balance his proposed $53.3 billion spending plan, which would be 5.4% more than the state spent in the 2025-2026 budget year that ends June 30.” | USA Today Network
Elsewhere
Senator Says State Losing Out Because of Shapiro-Backed Price Cap. “Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward thinks the state is getting the short end of the energy stick because of a “cap” put on a portion of the electricity market, and she assigns some blame to Gov. Josh Shapiro.” | The Center Square
As PA Data Center Development Surges, Legislature Fast-Tracks Bills To Address It. “Three bills aimed at regulating data center development passed out of state House committees Wednesday, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the need for oversight and setting the stage for debates over how best to implement it.” | PennLive
PA House Approves Bill to Force Advertisers to Tell You When Ads Are AI-Generated. “What happens to the “buyer beware” concept when the buyer isn’t sure what constitutes reality itself?” | PennLive
Shapiro’s Latest Campaign Ad Highlights Investments In Apprenticeship Programs. “Gov. Josh Shapiro’s second TV and digital ad of the general election campaign features a Western Pennsylvania man who says he benefited from the administration’s investments in apprenticeship programs.” | Tribune-Review
Around The Commonwealth
3. A Year Later, U.S. Steel Workers Remain Divided Over Benefit of Nippon Steel Takeover
“On the one-year anniversary Thursday of a $15 billion deal that put Japan’s Nippon Steel in charge of iconic American manufacturer U.S. Steel, union workers remain divided about the takeover even as they prepare for critical contract negotiations.
Perhaps the most promising project Nippon has announced during the past year: a new hot strip mill at U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Plant, the company’s massive, 151-year-old facility that straddles Braddock and North Braddock.
Don Jackson said this week he’s not holding his breath.” | Tribune-Review
Elsewhere
PA Bills Would Tie Data Center Tax Break to Transparency, Sustainability. “Data center developers would be required to pledge transparency in Pennsylvania communities where they want to build in order to get a sales tax break on computer equipment, under legislation aiming to prevent secrecy around the massive computing hubs.” | Penn Capital-Star
Blair County Commissioners Approve ‘Budget Impasse Policy’ In Case of Another State Funding Delay. “Blair County commissioners now have a policy outlining how they’ll control spending in case of a prolonged state budget delay, a common occurrence in Harrisburg that has an outsized impact on certain government agencies.” | WPSU
Chester County Hires New Voter Services Director After a Series of Controversies at the Department. “Michele DiCaprio, a consultant for a telecommunications company and a former foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, will begin her tenure on July 20.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Editorial
4. What Do You Think?
- Platner, Fetterman, and the Myth of the Working-Class Politician | Jonathan Zimmerman
- Pennsylvania’s High Court Gets It Right On Slot Machines | Broad + Liberty
- The Shapiro Education-Reform Sellout Continues in Pennsylvania | Jack Fowler
- Shapiro Abandoning 30,000 Children as PA Democrats Push to Strip School Choice | Virginia Grace McKinnon
- The Next Flood Is Coming. Will FEMA Be There For Pennsylvania? | Ben Smilowitz
- We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know What’s Happening at Moshannon | PennLive
- No Skills Games for You | Mensah M. Dean
- Shapiro Walks His Talk to Make a Better Future For Pittsburgh and PA | Donald Bonk
1 Thing
5. Why World Cup Teams Should Stop Putting Jerseys On Rocky
“In Philly, putting a jersey on the Rocky statue is like poking the “Eye of the Tiger.”
Why it matters: To Brazil and Haiti we say, please do not FAFO.
The big picture: Sports curses are as old as the games themselves — a way for superstitious fans to seize back a sense of control over the action on the field, pitch or court and find an easy scapegoat when things go wrong.
And in the sportiest city in the world, we love our hexes.” | Axios Philadelphia
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Smile a little bit more today. See you tomorrow.
