🎁 Christmas break. The last guide before Christmas. We’ll be back next week on Monday and Friday for a full recap. Merry Christmas to those celebrating.
🗞️ In today’s PoliticsPA Guide. Shapiro organizes a book tour. Former Speaker Cutler will not run for re-election next year. PA still has to reckon with its radioactive waste. Bourbon producer suspends production.
🎶 Your morning pick-me-up. Do they know it’s Christmas? Help with wristbands
Weather in Pennsylvania
🌧️ Plum | AM Rain, 48
☔ Hollidaysburg | Rain, 49
🌨️ Bethlehem | Winter Mix, 38
Sports PA
🏈 Eagles (10-5) | Sun in Buffalo
🏈 Steelers (9-6) | Sun in Cleveland
🏈 Pitt (8-4) | Saturday vs. East Carolina
🏈 Penn State (6-6) | Sat vs. Clemson
🏒 Flyers (18/10/7) | Vancouver 5-2 | Tuesday in Chicago | Sun in Seattle
🏒 Penguins (15-11-9) | Tuesday in Toronto | Sun in Chicago
🏀 Sixes (16-11) | Tue vs. Brooklyn | Friday in Chicago | Sun in OKC
🔈 What we hear. AND survey conducted among Democratic Party voters in PA-07 finds a wide open race. In the preliminary voting test, 53% are not sure who they will support with 17% support. Lamont McClure. After providing biographical information Bob Brooks moves to the beginning of the line at 30%.
📕 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 critical story
1. Shapiro Hosts a Book Tour for Reelection and Builds His Profile for 2028
“Just days before his memoir hits shelves in Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro On January 24, she will begin her book tour at the Parkway Central Library in Philadelphia.
During the last week of January, Shapiro will visit Philadelphia, New York and Washington to promote his book Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service, according to events posted online.
The tour and book, scheduled for release on January 27, will fuel speculation about a potential 2028 presidential run as Shapiro works to expand his national profile while also seeking re-election in Pennsylvania next year.’ | Questioner from Philadelphia
Elsewhere
U.S. cities are preparing for World Cup rush hours. “When fans disembark at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station for six games, including the July 4 cup game to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States, they will be relying on the help of one of America’s most struggling public transit agencies.” | POLICY
McGovern takes part in a town hall tour of a GOP district in Pennsylvania. “Some Democratic lawmakers say Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr., the Republican congressman elected this year to serve Pennsylvania’s 8th District, is missing in action – there are no town halls, no public forums, no public engagement. That’s why Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern and a group of other Democrats jumped at the opportunity to speak to Pennsylvania voters on December 13 as part of their ongoing Progress for the People tour.” | Greenfield Recorder
Country
2. Cutler, the former PA House Speaker, will not run for re-election next year
“State Representative Bryan Cutlerformer speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a veteran lawmaker with 20 years of experience representing southern Lancaster County, told party officials on Monday that he will not seek re-election next year.
In a note to Republican County Committee members, Cutler wrote: “After much prayer and discussion with my family, I have decided not to seek endorsement or re-election to represent the 100th House District.” LNP
Elsewhere
Thousands of Pennsylvanians are opting out of health insurance every day. “While most people are renegotiating their budgets to cover the surge, a significant proportion are unable and will enter 2026 without insurance, forgoing essential surgeries and medications while straining state care systems.” | Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper
Penn State trustees lost access to the Board’s file-sharing service after a PA Spotlight records request. “Penn State has revoked at least two trustees access to an online file-sharing platform that is central to the ongoing lawsuit between Spotlight PA and the university, creating a two-tier system for sharing information with members of the governing body and potentially closing the door to public transparency.” | PA State College Spotlight
Cozza becomes the second Republican seeking to replace Kulik in a potential House battleground. “A second GOP candidate has entered the race to replace Coraopolis state House of Representatives Democrat Anita Kulik, who says she will not run for re-election next year.” | THAT’S ALL
AP House Hope Calls for Public Debate Before Democrats Decision on Allentown Seat. “A city councilor running for the state House of Representatives is pushing for a chance to debate her opponents before a small group of Democrats choose the likely next holder of the seat.” | LehighValley News
Around the Republic of Poland
3. Twenty years of fracking in Pennsylvania has yet to deal with its radioactive waste
“New research from the University of Pittsburgh suggests that wastewater from fracking in the Marcellus Formation, an historic gas field beneath Pennsylvania, is much more radioactive than previously thought, and there is evidence that some of it is leaking into the environment.
However, the state has hardly changed its approach to waste regulation. “Nothing significant has been done,” he said John Quigleyformer secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, who left in 2016. “Nothing has really changed.”” | Penn Capital Star
Elsewhere
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk will veto City Council’s 2026 budget, saying a 4% tax raise is necessary. “If the City Council fails to override Tuerk’s veto or find another budget compromise by December 31, Tuerk’s proposed budget that includes a 4% tax increase will take effect next month.” | Morning talk in Allentown
Erie Mayor Joe Schember ‘serene’ with political exit. “Joe Schember didn’t need the top job at Erie City Hall. More than eight years ago, Schember was a retired PNC Bank vice president and former Erie city councilman who had quietly left politics. But the lure of local politics and a desire to help grow his hometown brought Schember back.” | Erie Times-News
Feds pull in passport services, threaten finances, access to some PA libraries. “The federal government is abruptly ending nongovernmental passport service programs across the country, eliminating much-needed funding for more than two dozen Pennsylvania libraries that assist thousands of residents looking to travel abroad each year.” | PennLive
Supreme Court Justice Alito grants post-press time to fight Third Circuit panel’s decision. “On December 22, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito granted an emergency request by the owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to delay a federal appeals court ruling that would send them back to the bargaining table with union workers.” | Trib LIVE
Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
1 item
5. Bourbon’s gloomy future forces Jim Beam to close his Kentucky distillery for a year
“Bourbon maker Jim Beam is suspending production at one of its Kentucky distilleries for at least a year as the whiskey industry copes with tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and declines in demand for a product that requires years of aging before it is ready.
Jim Beam said the decision to halt bourbon production at the Clermont facility in 2026 will give the company time to invest in improvements at the distillery. The on-site bottling plant and warehouse will remain open, as will the James B. Beam Distilling Co. visitor center and restaurant.
Bourbon producers must look to the future. Jim Beam’s flagship bourbon requires a minimum of four years of barrel aging before it is bottled.’ | AP
Thank you for your support last year.
From all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas.
