As early as May 18 s primary election, Pennsylvania voters could be asked to overhaul how they elect state Supreme Court justices and appellate court judges. The amendment would end the practice of judicial candidates running for 10-year terms in statewide elections and, instead, sort those seats into districts equal in population where candidates must live.
It would seem to guarantee a new set of faces that Republican lawmakers contend will provide better geographical diversity and better court rulings.
Such a change almost assuredly would cut short the high court’s 5-2 Democratic majority that might otherwise last well beyond 2030.
For one, four high court justices hail from Pittsburgh, but carving up the state into districts would likely leave room for just one justice from the area. Meanwhile, heavily Democratic areas could be squeezed into two or three districts, leaving a majority that favor Republican candidates.
Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight to remake Democratic-majority Pennsylvania Supreme Court
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Presidential election hostilities could fuel fight over courts
Published article
HARRISBURG - The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day.
Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump accused the court of acting illegally or, baselessly, conspiring to steal the election.
That prospect is propelling a constellation of liberal groups, good-government groups, labor unions and others to organize against the proposed amendment, and stoking fears of an expensive public campaign fueled by dark money for control of the battleground state’s highest court.
Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over courts
By MARC LEVYDecember 24, 2020 GMT
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day.
Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump accused the court of acting illegally or, baselessly, conspiring to steal the election.
That prospect is propelling a constellation of liberal groups, good-government groups, labor unions and others to organize against the proposed amendment, and stoking fears of an expensive public campaign fueled by dark money for control of the battleground state’s highest court.
Employers worry Pa. Gov. Wolf’s $145M pandemic relief plan could cause more problems than it solves
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
Gov. Tom Wolf announced on Wednesday he is transferring $145 million from the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Security Fund to the state s general fund for the General Assembly to make available to businesses hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dec. 23, 2020
Screenshot from governor s website
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Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest proposal to ease some of the economic pain that the coronavirus has inflicted on businesses across Pennsylvania is not being widely accepted as the right medicine.
Wolf is proposing to transfer $145 million from Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Security Fund, a fund that ensures injured workers receive workers’ compensation benefits, and place it into the general fund for the General Assembly to decide how to distribute as either grants or loans to businesses.
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