State House Sound Bites Podcast

With the legislature on an indefinite recess and budget negotiations effectively paused, this week we focus on a different—but ever-present—part of state politics: the often-tangled web of money and influence that, to a considerable extent, shapes policy. Veteran reporter Brad Bumsted, who does investigative works for L&P’s The Caucus, talks us through a few stories … Continue reading "Episode 17: Money, power, and not many rules"

  This week, we left our usual low-fi home in Little Amps coffee shop to record the podcast at WITF’s studio. It first appeared live on-air as an episode of Smart Talk. But never fear—if you miss the sweet sounds of latte machines in the background, they’ll be back next episode. A lot happened over … Continue reading "Episode 16: A fiscal change of heart"

It has now been several days since an unbalanced budget became law in Pennsylvania, and state government still hasn’t been able to agree on a way to balance it. After a flurry of unsuccessful negotiations that went on night and day and through the weekend, lawmakers have now taken a break from Harrisburg for an … Continue reading "Episode 15: Greetings from an empty Capitol"

The state budget was due a week ago, and lawmakers still haven’t come to an agreement on how to pay for it. If they don’t figure something out by midnight on Monday, the unbalanced spending plan becomes law without Governor Tom Wolf’s signature. The House and Senate GOP are driving negotiations. Both caucuses have staked … Continue reading "Episode 14: Lines in the sand"

As of this writing (around noon on Friday, 6/30), the legislature is on track to send a spending plan for the 2017/18 fiscal year to Governor Tom Wolf’s desk by the end of the day, which means they’ll successfully meet their budget deadline. Kind of. The spending plan is a bipartisan compromise—no easy thing for … Continue reading "Episode 13: When is a budget not a real budget?"

With five voting days to go until the state budget is due, we still have very few specifics about what it will look like. ABC27’s Dennis Owens and Karen Langley of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette join us to recap what we know so far–and to ask whether lawmakers are even trying to meet the deadline. … Continue reading "Episode 12: Do deadlines even matter?"

With two weeks until the budget due date, lawmakers are staying mostly mum about negotiations. So unlike last week—which saw a major pension bill pass to the governor, and an omnibus gaming bill get through the House—the last few days have primarily been full of legislative odds and ends. The Caucus’s Brad Bumsted and PennLive’s … Continue reading "Episode 11: The calm before the storm"

Pennsylvania’s legislature is kicking off the month of June with a bang. This week, all four caucuses (and governor Tom Wolf) were able agree on something that’s been evading them for years: a new structure for the state’s two biggest pension systems. Some lawmakers are calling the plan historic. Others are saying it’s an ineffective … Continue reading "Episode 10: Did we fix the pension system?"

Even if you don’t typically keep up with all the latest nuclear energy news, you’re probably familiar with Three Mile Island. The infamous Dauphin County nuclear plant partially melted down in 1979, in what is still the most severe nuclear accident in US history. So why are we talking about it now? Officials at the … Continue reading "Episode 9: Goodbye TMI"

After a few quiet weeks, the last three session days brought with them some notable legislative action. The Senate passed a long-awaited bill to expand gambling and provide the commonwealth with needed revenue; the governor signed a measure to bring PA’s IDs into federal compliance; and there are whispers that it might soon be possible … Continue reading "Episode 8: It’s protest season!"