State of the State

March 3 – March 16 The word “coronavirus” enters the lexicon: Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine holds her first press conference warning about the potential arrival of COVID-19. As the first cases are confirmed, Governor Tom Wolf’s administration moves to contain community spread — including ordering all non-essential business closed across the commonwealth.

March 18 – April 3 The state confirms the first death from COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. The rapid spread of the coronavirus leads to a rapid pace of events — bringing the state to a standstill as Governor Tom Wolf orders all Pennsylvanians to stay-at-home.

April 8 – May 12 The economic toll from the pandemic hits the state hard. At least 12 percent of Pennsylvanians file for unemployment, as Governor Tom Wolf faces a rebellion from some counties to re-open.

As the year draws to a close, the reporters at WITF and PA Post been looking back at some of the state politics stories that have shaped it. From legislative fights over guns and the minimum wage, to the closure of Three Mile Island, to election angst, to the return of hemp farming, we have … Continue reading "Episode 54: The headlines of 2019"

Lawmakers spent a packed four days in Harrisburg before leaving town for the holidays. Here’s what they did. Last week was a big one in Harrisburg. The House and Senate both convened for an unusual four-day session and passed a lot of bills—so many that we weren’t able to file stories on all of … Continue reading "Episode 53: Legislative avalanche"

This week, we’re re-airing five stories you should hear. In one, Governor Tom Wolf learns the FBI is looking into his administration’s environmental permitting practices. Plus, reporters in Philadelphia look into badly contaminated drinking water in a charter school, PA Post reports on a proposed community college in Erie, WITF follows up on problems with … Continue reading "Episode 52: Pipeline problems"

The last week was exceptionally busy both in and outside the Capitol—from major election reforms passing the legislature to big, controversial court decisions on constitutional amendments. This week, we have all the big stories you should get caught up on. First, Marsy’s Law—the proposed amendment meant to enshrine victims’ rights in the state constitution. A … Continue reading "Episode 50: The Marsy’s Law twists continue"

The House and Senate were both in session last week, resulting in a number of notable developments on issues our newsroom follows closely—from long-awaited election reforms to controversial abortion proposals. We’ll also bring you the latest on a proposed constitutional amendment being challenged in court, the one-year anniversary of a major shooting in Pittsburgh, and … Continue reading "Episode 49: Elections, abortions, booze and more"

This week we’re focusing on a topic that has come up a lot lately, and with good reason: Marsy’s Law. If you’re not familiar, Marsy’s law is a proposed amendment to Pennsylvania’s constitution that will be on the ballot for a statewide referendum on November 5th. Versions of the proposed law have been adopted in … Continue reading "Episode 48: More on Marsy’s Law"

In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of talk in Harrisburg about what the legislature might do to reform statute of limitations laws. It’s a discussion that’s been especially active in the last year, in the wake of a massive report on abuse and cover-ups in the commonwealth’s Roman Catholic dioceses. We bring you two … Continue reading "Episode 47: Abuse in the church, and other stories"

We take a look at some of our most important stories of the last week. This week, for your convenience, we have a roundup of the top stories we’ve been following lately. First, we hear from PA Post reporter Ed Mahon, who traveled to Erie last month to talk to the people who live there … Continue reading "Episode 46: Air quality, child abuse, and the Sacklers’ Pa. resort"

Last week saw the beginning—and end—of a brief whirlwind of activity in the state House and Senate. On this week’s podcast, we’ll recap two of the major developments: Republicans staking out a plan of action on guns, and the governor saying he wants to legalize marijuana. The gun conversations stretched over several days in both … Continue reading "Episode 45: Guns and weed and government regulation"

Former state senator Mike Folmer vacated his seat last week after an arrest for alleged child pornography possession. We discuss what happens now. Late last Tuesday, the state attorney general released a statement saying the office had arrested state Senator Mike Folmer and charged him with possession of child pornography. By the next afternoon, the … Continue reading "Episode 44: The senator has resigned"

If a person is given a life sentence in Pennsylvania, they can be fairly confident that—barring a commutation—they’ll be behind bars until they die. In the commonwealth, life in prison always means life without parole. And if a person is found guilty of non-capital first-degree or second-degree murder, life without parole is the only sentence … Continue reading "Episode 43: Without parole"

a The commonwealth’s lawmakers are still on their summer recess for another month. But a few are already laying out plans for their return—some more ambitious than others. One of those ambitious legislators? Frank Ryan. He’s a second-term Republican who represents part of Lebanon County and wants to get rid of property taxes once … Continue reading "Episode 42: The never-ending quest to kill property taxes"

Much of this week’s political conversation has been dominated by questions about guns. Questions like, who should be able to use them? What characteristics should we should allow them to have? And is it ever OK for the government to be able to take them away? The weekend of August 3rd saw two major shootings. One … Continue reading "Episode 41: Pennsylvania’s big gun debate"

The 2020 election is still more than a year away, but Pennsylvania’s eighteen congress women and men are already well into the fundraising that they hope is going to get them another two-year term. This week, we took a look at the quarterly reports the commonwealth’s incumbents and challengers have been filing to see how … Continue reading "Episode 40: Congressional cash"

By just about every measurement you can make, Pennsylvania is particularly susceptible to gerrymandering. At least, that was PA Post reporter Emily Previti’s conclusion after taking an extremely detailed look at the factors that lead to gerrymandering in various states. Pennsylvania is one of the only states that doesn’t have standards like compactness or contiguity … Continue reading "Episode 39: There’s a reason PA’s congressional maps are weird"

Pennsylvania is officially on track to take over the online marketplace that sells health insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act. It’s a move that will give the commonwealth more control of the exchange, and the state is predicting lower premiums, too. WITF health reporter Brett Sholtis joins us this episode to explain how … Continue reading "Episode 38: What a state-run insurance marketplace means for you"

Pennsylvania officially has a budget for the new fiscal year, and it was—mostly—signed into law two days ahead of deadline. As far as budgets go in Harrisburg, it was a breeze—after all just four years ago, an impasse over funding dragged on for nine months. But still, there were some hiccups this year. An argument … Continue reading "Episode 37: The (sometimes tumultuous) path to passing PA’s budget"