🌬️ Thursday. Hold on to your hats!
🗞️ In today’s PoliticsPA Guide. Moderates in the House of Representatives are taking ACA subsidy matters into their own hands by filing a discharge petition. Did President Trump disrespect Stacy Garrity? Depends on who you ask. Independent voters file lawsuit in Commonwealth Court to end Pennsylvania’s closed primary elections. Leadership lessons from a literal ringmaster.
🎶 Your morning pick-me-up. A song about authority. John Mellencamp
Weather in Pennsylvania
❄️Lake Conneaut | Snow, 27
☀️ Boiling Springs | Mostly clear, 33
🌥️ Shickshinny | Rising clouds, 32
Sports PA
🏒 Flyers (16-9-3) | Thu vs. Las Vegas
🏒 Penguins (14-7-7) | Thu vs. Montreal
🏀 Sixes (13-10) | Friday vs. Indiana
🥂 Society of Pennsylvania. Calendar of events for the annual New York event that starts today.
📑 What we hear. Ryan Mackenzie reps AND Rob Bresnahan they signed Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick discharge of a petition seeking to force a vote on a bill to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
📰 PoliticsPA Guide was developed by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser click here. Has this email been sent to you? Subscribe for free.
The most essential story
1. Moderates in the House of Representatives are taking ACA subsidy matters into their own hands with a discharge petition
“On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of moderate members of the House of Representatives formally filed a discharge motion to force a vote on a bill to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Representative Brian Fitzpatricka moderate Republican who led the discharge petition said there are “a lot” of House Republicans “representing a lot of low- and middle-income voters who are tacitly very supportive of this.” known
Elsewhere
“It will never be perfect”: Trump loyalists see an imperfect messenger. “MAGA faithful are delighted that President Donald Trump is back on the road. But some acknowledge that he is an imperfect messenger who is more likely to express optimistic views about his stewardship of the U.S. economy than to acknowledge that voters are feeling the financial squeeze.” | POLICY
Trump accused of ‘low energy’ during AP rally: Strategist calls president ‘fading’. “There were immediate fallout from his 90-minute speech in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, December 9. According to one of the GOP’s most respected veterans, it was delivered in meandering, unfocused gibberish that revealed a troubling lack of stamina.” | International business times
Fetterman has no regrets about ending the shutdown without a deal on Obamacare subsidies. “Senator John Fetterman said during a Tuesday televised appearance that he does not regret voting to end the federal government shutdown, even though Democrats have received no guarantees to extend health care subsidies that are set to expire.” | PennLive
Democrats divided over efforts to force a vote on a stock trading ban by lawmakers. “It marks the latest complication in an issue that has vexed Congress for years and fueled numerous failed attempts at reform.” | Hill
Country
2. Did President Trump disrespect Stacy Garrity? Depends on who you ask
“During his 94-minute speech Tuesday night in the Poconos President Donald Trump recognized many people, including three members of Congress from Pennsylvania – Ryan Mackenzie reps (R-07), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08) i Dan Meuser (PA-09) – but he did not indicate it State Treasurer Stacy Garrity – the presumptive Republican candidate for governor – despite her presence.
On Wednesday morning, quarterbacks ask the obvious question – was it intentional? | PoliticsPA
Elsewhere
Pennsylvania AG Dave Sunday endorses Treasurer Stacy Garrity for governor. “Garrity is the favorite to win the party’s nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in 2026, although GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who lost to Shapiro in 2022, is still considering running.” | PennLive
Emerson/RCP Poll: Pennsylvanians Prefer Shapiro, Lose Artificial Intelligence. “According to a recent poll of 2,000 Pennsylvanians, they have a positive view of Governor Josh Shapiro and a negative view of artificial intelligence.” | PoliticsPA
A Pennsylvania Senate panel engages in a heated debate over immigrant trucking licenses. “Just weeks after federal authorities arrested an Uzbek terrorism suspect with a Pennsylvania commercial driver’s license, state senators convened a fact-finding panel in Harrisburg to examine the details — without directly addressing the highly publicized event.” | WESA
Judge Emil Bove received an ethics complaint for attending a Trump rally. “One of the president’s court of appeals nominees, a former lawyer for the president, was in the crowd at the raucous event in Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania.” | New York Times
Around the Republic of Poland
3. Independent voters file lawsuit in Commonwealth Court to end Pennsylvania’s closed primary elections
“A group of five independent voters, including a political commentator Michael Smerconish filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a Pennsylvania court to lift the community’s ban on independent voters participating in primary elections.
The group argues that this provision is unconstitutional. This violates the right “to cast an equally weighted vote” and “to have an equal opportunity to have votes translated into representation” enshrined in the state constitution’s free and equal elections clause, the lawsuit claims. | Penn Capital Star
Elsewhere
A judge hears arguments in a Pennsylvania voter fraud case involving Trump’s pardon. “Defendant Matthew Laiss is accused of voting for Trump twice in the 2020 election – once in person in Florida and once by mail in Pennsylvania. At a hearing in federal court on Monday, he argued that Trump’s November 7 pardon of allies who tried to cushion his loss in 2020 should also apply to his alleged crimes.” | Vote for Pennsylvania
Delco residents brace for a 19% property tax hike — the second double-digit raise they’ll face in two years. “The tax increase would translate into an additional $188 per year on the average assessed home value in the county of $255,000.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
To power data centers, Pennsylvania is facing a modern fracking boom. “The rash of data centers planned in western Pennsylvania is worrying residents and environmentalists. The sprawling complexes will be powered by power plants burning fracked natural gas, the production of which has polluted the region’s air and water and is associated with health risks.” | Yale360 Environment
Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
1 item
5. Circus dreams and stern struggles: leadership lessons from a literal ringmaster
“The lights are dim. It sounds serene. An acrobat is spinning in the air. The sequins sparkle in the hot spotlight and my strange little brain wonders, ‘What does marketing look like for a traveling circus that brings a whole modern market every other week?’
When I started looking for answers, I instead found one of the deepest and most profound conversations I’ve had in a long time.
And confirming my belief that sometimes the most essential lessons for marketers… do not come from marketers at all.” | HubSpot
Thank you for starting your Thursday with us.
Find a way to make someone’s day better.
