Guide 12/16: The price of health care

🧣 Tuesday. Ready to hot up.

🗞️ In today’s PoliticsPA Guide. Fitzpatrick and GOP centrists hope to link the extension of ACA subsidies to eligibility reforms. Sunday says he will defend state AI laws against the Trump administration. See how much Pennie premiums could escalate by county. The Bucks County Bell Factory is unique and one of the last of its kind.

🎶 Your morning pick-me-up. Don’t humiliate me. Electric Orchestra of Light

Weather in Pennsylvania
🌤️Waterford | Partly bright, 29
🌥️ Bellefonte | Rising clouds, 32
☀️ Cornwall | Sunny, 30

Sports PA
🏈 Steelers (8-6) | Miami 28-15 | Sun in Detroit
🏒 Flyers (16-9-6) | Tuesday in Montreal
🏒 Penguins (14-8-9) | Tuesday vs. Edmonton
🏀 Sixes (14-11) | Friday in New York

📅 What’s happening today. Vice President J.D. Vance will speak at Alburtis at 10:00 a.m. in the House of Representatives calls a voting session at 11:00

🔈 What we hear. GoodPower, a leading research, strategic communications and campaign organization promoting policies that support an affordable, sustainable future, today announced a recent $250,000 Holiday Responsibility Campaign targeting three GOP representatives in PA-07, 08 and 10.

📕 PoliticsPA Guide was developed by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser click here. Has this email been sent to you? Subscribe for free.


1. Fitzpatrick and GOP centrists hope to link ACA subsidy extensions to eligibility reform

“A Don Quixote moment? Or maybe a fight on behalf of the voters?”

Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) and other Republican centrists plan to introduce an amendment in the House Rules Committee on Tuesday that would link a two-year subsidy extension to eligibility reform. | PoliticsPA

Elsewhere

Inside Pennsylvania Society: Power Schmoozing, Budget Ballads, and Midterm Jockeys in Manhattan. “Last weekend, Pennsylvania’s political class strolled through midtown Manhattan, moving from cocktail parties to elegant receptions organized to attract the elite ahead of an important midterm election year.” | Questioner from Philadelphia

Top Pennsylvania Republicans provide relative serene amid 2026 National Party panic. “The same week, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said history predicted “almost certain defeat” for his party in the 2026 midterms, and Pennsylvania Republicans partying in midtown Manhattan predicted relative serene for the election cycle. | Questioner from Philadelphia

Hardiman appointed Republican member of the National Committee. “The Republican Party of Pennsylvania has named Lori Hardiman as a new member of the RNC National Committee for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” | PoliticsPA

House overwhelmingly approves Thompson’s Whole Milk for Healthy Babies Act. “The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act gives schools the flexibility to offer flavored and unflavored whole milk and 2% milk, helping to ensure children receive the nutrition they need to grow, thrive and succeed in the classroom.” | PoliticsPA


2. AP Attorney General Dave Sunday says he will defend state AI laws against Trump administration

Attorney General Dave Sunday

“Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday on Monday said he would defend any artificial intelligence legislation passed by the General Assembly against the Trump administration’s efforts to block it in court.

Artificial intelligence policy is one of the few areas where Sunday, a Republican elected with Trump last fall, has taken a public stance against the administration.” | WITF

Elsewhere

Trump’s order discouraging state AI laws is an ‘abuse of power,’ says Senator Costa. “President Donald Trump’s new executive order that puts pressure on states to stay away from regulating artificial intelligence or face litigation raises questions, vigilance and outrage.” | Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper

Voices of reason: What makes a good budget in Pennsylvania? “We are meeting with House Appropriations Chairman Jordan Harris (R-Philadelphia) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Sen. Scott Martin (R-Lancaster/Berks) for an honest, bipartisan look at the budget battles in Pennsylvania.” | PoliticsPA

PA-07: Brooks gains Shapiro’s endorsement. “The crowded race for the Democratic nomination for the 7th Congressional District may have gained some distinction on Monday when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro endorsed Bob Brooks for the seat.” | PoliticsPA


3. See how much Pennie premiums could escalate by county in 2026

“Federal tax credits that have lowered the cost of Pennie insurance will expire at the end of the year. The state estimates that premiums for enrollees will be about twice as high next year unless Congress decides to extend the subsidy.”

Estimated premium increases will vary depending on the enrollee’s age, income level and location. However, the state has released county-by-county average numbers. Percentage-wise, average monthly premiums will escalate the most in Juniata County (485%), Fulton County (411%), and Northumberland County (280%). | USA Today Network

Elsewhere

Trump Administration Efforts to End DOE Receive Failing Grades from PA Educators. “When Andrea Fink, a 17-year public education veteran who leads the Southeastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, heard about President Donald Trump’s proposal to disband the U.S. Department of Education — transferring its programs and resources to other federal agencies — she immediately thought of all the services her district could lose.” | City and state

Democrat on ousting Republicans in Pennsylvania’s ‘busiest’ county: ‘Cooperating with ICE is a losing proposition’. “The defeat of Danny Ceisler in the race for sheriff, who signed a cooperation agreement with ICE, signals a contentious debate in the US on immigration policy.” | Guardian

EleXa launched as part of an 11-state election integrity initiative. “Voter roll-sharing agreements are beginning between Ohio and 10 other states from Texas to Pennsylvania, the secretary of state said Monday. EleXa, as the project is called, uses a symbolic “X” to denote the removal of ineligible or illegal voters identified through interstate election data-sharing agreements. ” | Central Square


4. What do you think about it?


5. Unique and one of the last bell factories in Bucks County

“In the bell industry, bronze is critical.

“The king of resonators,” he said Darek Mohrthird generation handbell manufacturer in Plumsteadville.

Handbells can also be made of copper, aluminum or with an admixture of nickel and tin. Regardless of the mix, Mohr said, the basics of creating a single jingle haven’t changed for thousands of years.

Mohr shows two guests around Malmark Bellcraftsmen, his family-owned shop on Easton Road. You cannot miss this place, because at the top there is a giant bell. It is also only one of two manufacturers of handbells in the USA Bucks County Courier Times


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