🤠 Good morning Thursday.
Headlines. Pennsylvanians are cynical about Trump, the economy and the state of the federal government. AP Rainy Day Fund and 2026-27 Budget. U.S. steel workers remain divided over the benefits of the Nippon Steel takeover. Curse of the Rocky Statue
🎶 Your morning, pick me up. Here and Now. Letters to Cleo
Weather in Pennsylvania
☂️ Blessed Virgin Mary | Mostly dull, with a few showers in the morning, 75
☔ Mechanicsburg | Cloudy, airy rain showers in the morning, 87
🌂 Levittown | Partly radiant, a chance of rain, 91
Sports PA
⚾ Phillies (40-34) | Miami 4-12 | Thu vs. NY Mets
⚾ Pirates (38-37) | Athletics 12-4 | Friday in Colorado
⚽ USMNT (1-0) | Friday vs Australia
What we see. This is according to the latest F&M survey Governor Josh Shapiro with an advantage of 50–28%. State Treasurer Stacy Garrity in the race for governor.
Tips. PoliticsPA is Pennsylvania’s leading source of unbiased political news and analysis. Tips and press releases can be submitted [email protected].
PoliticsPA Guide was developed by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser click here.
The most critical story
1. F&M Poll: Pennsylvanians are cynical about Trump, the economy and the state of the federal government
“What a difference three months can make.
Pennsylvanians are cynical President Donald Trumpthe state of the economy and his attitude toward the federal government in a survey of 546 registered voters in Pennsylvania conducted by the Opinion Research Center at Franklin & Marshall College.
The last F&M survey of statewide voters was conducted in March, just after hostilities with Iran began on February 28. Since that survey, many critical indicators have declined, showing disappointment with the direction the country has taken under Trump.” | PolitykaPA
Elsewhere
The clock is ticking for PA lawmakers to regulate skill games. These are the obstacles in their way. “Now, a court-imposed clock on state lawmakers has regulated skill games after years of no agreement. Lawmakers said they were waiting for a ruling on skill games, and this week they got it: In a scathing decision issued Monday, the justices said skill games are actually slot machines subject to gambling laws. ” | PA reflector
Dean claims that during an inspection visit to ICE’s largest detention facility in Pennsylvania, she was prohibited from talking to detainees. “Three weeks after members of Congress first heard and then publicly shared concerns from inside Pennsylvania’s largest immigration detention center, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean said she was blocked from speaking to detainees during a visit to the facility on Wednesday.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
McCormick Hopeful Shapiro will choose to allow Pennsylvania to participate in the National School Choice program. “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 will select Pennsylvania for it.” | Central Square
Country
2. What to know about Pennsylvania’s rainy day fund and the 2026-27 budget
“Governor Josh Shapiro a proposal to utilize reserves to balance Pennsylvania’s 2026-2027 budget would be the largest savings sweep in the state’s history.
His request to transfer nearly $4.7 billion from the state’s Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund, known as the rainy day fund, is required to balance the proposed $53.3 billion spending plan, or 5.4% more than the state spent in the 2025-2026 fiscal year ending June 30.’ | USA Today Network
Elsewhere
The senator says the state is losing because of the Shapiro-backed price cap. “Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward believes the state is missing the short end of the energy stick because of a ‘cap’ placed on part of the electricity market, and assigns some of the blame to Gov. Josh Shapiro.” | Central Square
As PA data centers expand rapidly, the Legislature is accelerating legislation to address the problem. “On Wednesday, House committees advanced three bills to regulate data center development, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the need for oversight and setting the stage for debates on how best to implement it.” | PennLive
The House of Representatives has approved a bill requiring advertisers to tell you when ads are generated by artificial intelligence. “What happens to the concept of ‘buy beware’ when the buyer is not sure what constitutes reality itself?” | PennLive
Shapiro’s latest campaign ad highlights investments in apprenticeship programs. “Governor Josh Shapiro’s second television and digital campaign ad features a western Pennsylvania man who says he has benefited from the administration’s investment in apprenticeship programs.” | Grandstand overview
Around the Republic of Poland
3. A year later, U.S. steel workers remain divided over the benefits of the Nippon Steel takeover
“On Thursday, the anniversary of the $15 billion deal that put Japan’s Nippon Steel in charge of iconic U.S. manufacturer U.S. Steel, union workers remain divided over the takeover even as they prepare for key contract negotiations.
Perhaps the most promising project Nippon announced last year: a modern heated strip mill at US Steel’s Edgar Thomson Plant, the company’s massive, 151-year-old facility located between Braddock and North Braddock.
Don Jackson he said this week that he’s not holding his breath. | Grandstand overview
Elsewhere
PA bills would tie the data center tax credit to transparency and sustainability. “Data center developers will have to commit to transparency in Pennsylvania communities where they want to build to get a tax break on the sale of computer equipment, under rules aimed at preventing secrecy around massive computing nodes.” | Penn Capital Star
Blair County commissioners approve ‘budget gridlock policy’ in case of another delay in state funding. “Blair County Commissioners now have a policy on how they will control spending in the event of a prolonged delay in the state budget, which is a common occurrence in Harrisburg and has a huge impact on some government agencies.” | WPSU
Chester County is hiring a modern director of election services after a series of controversies within the department. “Michele DiCaprio, a telecommunications company consultant and former U.S. Agency for International Development foreign service officer, will begin her term on July 20.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
(*18*)Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
- Platner, Fetterman and the myth of working-class politics | Jonathan Zimmerman
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is right on slot machines | Wide + Freedom
- Shapiro Education Reform Sale Goes On in Pennsylvania | Jack Fowler
- Shapiro abandons 30,000 children as AP Democrats call for strip school choice | Virginia Grace McKinnon
- The next flood is coming. Will FEMA have a presence in Pennsylvania? | Ben Smilowitz
- We can’t say we didn’t know what was going on in Moshannon | PennLive
- No arcade games for you | Mensah M. Dean
- Shapiro delivers speech to create a better future for Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania | Donald Bonk
1 item
5. Why World Cup teams should stop putting on Rocky jerseys
“In Philadelphia, putting a T-shirt on a Rocky statue is like poking the Eye of the Tiger.”
Why it matters: To Brazil and Haiti we say: please no FAFO.
The huge picture: Sports swearing is as vintage as the game itself – it’s a way for superstitious fans to regain a sense of control over events on the field, field or court and find an basic scapegoat when something goes wrong.
And in the sportiest city in the world, we love our hexes. | Axios Philadelphia
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Smile a little more today. See you tomorrow.
