Lawmakers will again wade into a tricky debate over taxing skill games this session. The slot-like machines are currently unregulated.
Spotlight PA
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Blacksmiths forge unorthodox biz inside struggling Pa. mall’s vacated Victoria’s Secret
As shopping malls nationwide see traditional retailers depart, businesses like the Drunken Smithy in Lebanon are making creative use of the vacancies.
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A new Pa. legislative session starts today
Every legislative session starts with Pennsylvania lawmakers passing rules to govern the movement of bills and more. Here’s what’s on the table.
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Lawmakers tease their plans to address high child care costs, low pre-K attendance in Pa.
Legislative memos addressing paid leave, pre-K access, and child care costs preview how Pennsylvania lawmakers plan to approach caregiving issues in 2025.
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Lawmakers passed fewer laws than in other recent sessions, but leaders say quality is better than quantity
Despite partisan challenges, lawmakers managed to pass some notable bills in 2023 and 2024 including a major education boost.
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Josh Shapiro wasn’t on the ballot this year, but still spent millions campaigning
Pennsylvania’s governor traveled extensively as a Democratic surrogate in 2024, spending money on consultants, private flights, ritzy hotels, and more.
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Persistent problems with a Pa. grant for beer promotion led to headaches, layoffs for awardees
The grant program promised money to people promoting Pennsylvania’s beer industry. But awardees were routinely denied their full grants, and now the state is quietly making changes.
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America’s future depends on a thriving free press, and it’s time we take it back
We must restore journalism to its constitutional role as an independent check on power and influence that answers to no one but the people.
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Bipartisan bill to boost nonprofits’ fundraising abilities stalls in Pa. House
Pennsylvania lawmakers did not vote on a proposal that would let the state’s nonprofits accept cashless payments for raffle ticket sales.
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New limits, oversight for Pa.’s medical marijuana doctors proposed in response to Spotlight PA investigation
The bill would give the Department of Health discretion on which doctors in the medical marijuana program would receive extra scrutiny.
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Breaking rules intended to keep Pa.’s older adults safe is rarely met with state sanctions
Despite chronic issues, the Department of Aging has never taken punitive action against county agencies that don’t meet state standards.
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How Pa.’s attorney general candidates plan to approach gun crimes and violence
Pennsylvania’s next attorney general will have the discretion to focus on gun crimes they deem important. Here’s where Democrat Eugene DePasquale and Republican Dave Sunday stand.
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Pennsylvania’s 1861 fortune-telling law faces modern legal challenge
An 1861 law banning fortune telling for money remains on the books in Pennsylvania, and is affecting modern-day tarot readers and merchants. One is challenging the statute in federal court.
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As problems roiled Penn State Health’s transplant programs, unknowing patients kept hope. Then they were blindsided.
Already sick, former patients of the failed kidney and liver transplant units face rejection and despair as they look elsewhere and grapple with the one thing they cannot afford to lose: time.
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Shapiro administration floats rewrite of unused energy tax credits
A union-backed rewrite by the Shapiro admin would subsidize energy production as well as lower the bar for investment.
