⚽ Good Morning. Team USA plays its final group stage match tonight. Have you got USMNT fever? 

Headlines. Why Lawmakers May Need to Tap PA’s Rainy Day Reserves. House Approves Bills Allowing Data Center Moratoriums, Restricting Tax Benefits. What Does Pittsburgh’s Mayor Do All Day? How Do You Butter Your Corn on the Cob?

🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Taxman. The Beatles

PA Weather
🌂  Grove City | Afternoon Showers, 79
🌤️  Bellefonte | Partly Sunny, 84
☀️  Pottsville | Mostly Sunny, 83

PA Sports 
⚾  Phillies (44-36) | Washington 5-4 | Thu at Washington
⚾  Pirates (40-40) | Seattle 11-1 | Thu vs. Seattle
⚽  USMNT (2-0) | Thu vs. Türkiye

What’s Happening Today. Both the state House and Senate convene at 9:30 AM.

What We’re Hearing. President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Dave McCormick for missing Tuesday’s war powers vote — in spite of the fact that McCormick was absent because he was in Macungie with Trump.

What We’re Also Hearing. The Keystone Partnership Fund has formed, combining joint fundraisers for Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Rob Bresnahan. 

And One More. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee today designated Mark Pinsley as a Target Race candidate in Pennsylvania’s 16th Senate District.

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.  Why Lawmakers May Need to Tap PA’s Rainy Day Reserves to Balance This Year’s Budget

“A rainy day is looming over the state Capitol. 

As Pennsylvania lawmakers approach the June 30 deadline to pass a budget, they’re facing mounting costs for obligations like healthcare and education. There’s also a multibillion-dollar gap between how much the state expects to spend and what it expects to bring in, even with new revenue options, like taxing soon-to-be-illegal skill games, on the table.” | Spotlight PA

Elsewhere

PA Lawmakers Want to Keep Feds Out of Polling Places in November. “President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into crowded airports to ease wait times raised the specter he could deploy federal agents to polling places on Election Day.” | USA Today Network

PA-10: Stelson Rips Perry For His Latest Vote Against Bipartisan Housing Affordability Bill. “U.S. Rep. Scott Perry has again voted against a bipartisan housing affordability bill and his Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson wasted no time assailing him for it.” | PennLive

Fetterman Says ‘Democratic Party Is Expecting For Israel to Grovel’. “Sen. John Fetterman, a pro-Israel Democrat, said Wednesday that the “Democratic Party is expecting for Israel to grovel” a day after Israel-skeptical candidates swept their New York congressional primary races.” | Washington Examiner

Trump 250 Gala Takes Humiliating New Turn as More States Pull Out. “Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania exclusively tells TNR that his state will not take part in Trump’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Here’s the important point Shapiro’s action proves.” | The New Republic

State

2.  PA House Approves Bills Allowing Data Center Moratoriums, Restricting Tax Benefits As Backlash Grows

“In broadly bipartisan votes on Wednesday, the state House passed a pair of bills that would condition data centers’ tax benefits and allow municipalities to enact a six-month moratorium on new data center development.

Further, the House is expected to pass a bill Thursday that would completely end data centers’ tax breaks; the bill was voted out of the Appropriations Committee Wednesday evening.

The votes represent a relatively rapid paradigm shift in Harrisburg. Until recently, the conventional wisdom was that Republican lawmakers would be friendlier to data centers, viewing them as economic growth engines and not wanting to impinge on the free market by overregulating them.” | PennLive

Elsewhere

States That Won’t Obey Trump Order Will Have Their Mail Ballots Halted, Postmaster Says. “If the rule takes effect and Democratic-led states refuse to comply, the requirements would effectively limit mail voting to Republican-led states.” | Penn Capital-Star

‘A Fundamental Freedom’: Shapiro Defends Abortion Rights in PA on Anniversary of Dobbs Decision. “Gov. Josh Shapiro marked the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion by reiterating his defense of access to reproductive care in Pennsylvania.” | PennLive

Democrat’s Withdrawal From 46th Senate Race Paves Way For Independent. “The Democrat running against state Sen. Camera Bartolotta in the 46th Senate District has withdrawn from the race, paving the way for an independent candidate to take his place on the ballot as the lone challenger to the three-term incumbent.” | Uniontown Herald-Standard

Around The Commonwealth

3.   What Does Pittsburgh’s Mayor Do All Day? His Public Schedules Offer a Glimpse

“Seventeen ribbon cuttings. Seventeen NFL Draft events. Ten visits to senior centers. Two Lenten fish fries. And 21 rounds of cold calls to business owners.

Those and more than 500 other public events paint a partial picture of Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor’s first five months in office. 

Unlike the prior administration, O’Connor’s office publishes a daily schedule at the start of each work day, including select meetings, press conferences and community events the mayor plans to attend.” | Public Source

Elsewhere

The PA Attorney General’s Office Seeks to Intervene in a Murder Case That Philly Prosecutors Helped Overturn Last Month. “The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday said it was appealing and seeking to intervene in a murder case that Philadelphia prosecutors helped overturn last month — the first application of a recent state Supreme Court ruling that gave state prosecutors more oversight over their city counterparts in appellate matters.” | Philadelphia Inquirer

1 in 4 Philadelphians Say Preserving Historical Sites Is City’s Top ‘Responsibility To The Nation,’ Poll Shows. “The poll comes amid the latest chapter in a legal battle between the City of Philadelphia and the Trump administration over the President’s House Site at Independence National Historical Park.” | Philadelphia Inquirer

City Council Passes Tax On Gaming Terminals, But Doubts Remain Over Whether They Can Collect. “Pittsburgh City Council passed a new tax on Wednesday that officials say could bring in millions of dollars in badly needed revenue — but whether they’ll actually be able to collect it next year remains to be seen.” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Editorial

4.  What Do You Think?

• Why Archie Bunker Voters Are Disillusioned With U.S. Politics | Alex Rosado 
• Shapiro’s $5.6 Billion Deficit Threatens Pennsylvania Families With Massive Tax Hikes | Megan Martin
• Shapiro’s Policies Have Put PA Economy On The Right Track | Pat Browne
• An Iraqi War Veteran’s Righteous Anger Over Iran Should Resonate With Every American | Joyce M. Davis
• There’s One Clear Reason Why Americans Are Gloomy About A.I. | Paul Kedrosky
• Pennsylvania House Democrats Just Voted To Abandon Educational Choice | Andrew Lewis
• Catholic Schools: Pennsylvania’s Greatest Bargain | Frank Ryan
• Just Ask Cops What They Think of Larry Krasner | Paul Davis

1 Thing

5.   The Right Way to Butter Corn on the Cob

“The responses ranged from practical to very specific. There were pastry brushes, butter baths, Mason jars, dedicated gadgets, and techniques that had apparently survived generations of family cookouts. Plenty of readers swore by rolling a hot ear of corn directly across a stick of butter. But one method appeared so often that it was impossible to ignore. And, as it turns out, that method has a surprisingly famous fan.” | Taste of Home