State lawmakers are calling into question whether the Department of Health should be jumping into another, more expensive contact tracing contract after a severe data breach with the last company.
Spotlight PA
Redistricting reform in Pa. is dead for now, advocates say. So what’s next?
Anti-gerrymandering advocates are relying on promises from those in charge of drawing the state’s political maps to hold hearings and allow citizen input.
Pennsylvania governor vetoes GOP-led election overhaul citing voter ID restrictions
Republican lawmakers are likely to use the constitutional amendment process to take the issue to the voters.
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh move ahead with plastic bag bans as Pennsylvania’s preemption nears its end
The Republican-controlled legislature did not renew a statewide preemption on single-use plastics, opening the door for cities and municipalities to institute their own bans.
Failure by Pa. officials to clarify rules around medical marijuana, addiction treatment had serious consequences
Tyler Cordeiro was denied funding for treatment despite a state program offering help for anyone, even without insurance. The problem: his medical marijuana card.
Pa.’s $40 billion budget includes more money for poorest school districts, saves bulk of federal relief funding
Republicans said squirreling away $5 billion in federal money was smart planning for the future, while Democrats lamented the investments that might have been.
Panel agrees to put guardrails on how Pa. lawmakers draw congressional maps, but not their own
The decision diminished anti-gerrymandering advocates’ hopes of preventing Pennsylvania’s most powerful lawmakers from drawing maps that unfairly benefit one political party.
As Pa. House advances doomed election overhaul, Senate GOP charts different course to voter ID, other changes
Voter ID has emerged as a partisan sticking point in Harrisburg, with Gov. Tom Wolf vowing to veto any measure that includes stricter requirements.
How one Pennsylvania lawmaker billed taxpayers $1.8 million in expenses
Mileage, meals, lodging, travel, and a special perk called per diems are part of the hidden costs charged to taxpayers to support Pennsylvania’s legislature.
Key Pennsylvania state senator backs Arizona-style election audit
Despite two audits and assurances from every level of government that the election was free of widespread fraud, Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill) told Spotlight PA he does not see the “damage in doing it one more time to try to answer the concerns that people have.”
Money, power, scandal: The PSERS saga, explained
The Public School Employees’ Retirement System, or PSERS, saga is sprawling and complicated. Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know — and why you should care.
Fired Pa. contractor seeks to secure contact tracing data after learning personal info still online
After Spotlight PA found that Insight Global, the company handling contact tracing for the state, had not secured its data breach issues, the company called on former and current staff for help.
Wolf, Pa. Democrats again push for passage of LGBTQ discrimination protections
Similar legislation has failed to move out of Republican-controlled committees, and it’s unclear if this year will be any different.
Pa. Republicans’ major election overhaul advanced in the state House as Democrats called it a ‘farce’
The bill — dubbed the Voting Rights Protection Act — includes stricter voter ID, signature verification requirements for mail ballots, and limits on drop boxes.
Wolf again vows to veto any bills that limit abortion access in Pa.
House Republicans this week passed a bill that would ban abortions on the basis of a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis as well as one on the handling of fetal remains.