Josh Shapiro has served as Pennsylvania’s 48th Governor since 2023. His career in public service includes roles as the state’s Attorney General, Chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, and a State Representative. Raised in Montgomery County by a pediatrician and an educator, he is a graduate of Georgetown Law. During his first term as Governor, he has focused on increasing public education funding, expanding apprenticeship programs, and implementing universal free school breakfast. He and his wife, Lori, are raising their four children in the same community where they grew up.
“Right now, Democrats, the thing they want the most is a winner, and a very close second is a fighter,” said Paul Begala, a Democratic campaign strategist.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the visits with local leaders in Tremont and Upper Bern townships were made to understand where the local leaders stand in these communities, along with the negative impacts should ICE detention centers be constructed in them.
But will the Republican-controlled state Senate actually answer the call to pass reforms that could potentially generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue?
“We have all witnessed as a nation the unrelenting cruelty of ICE as they physically brutalize people and their blatant disregard of the constitution and people’s rights,” said Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition.
Some Democrats and environmental advocates argue that the governor has essentially given away the store.
“As we near the four month mark without a state budget, the consequences are no longer looming – they are here,” said Brad Whitman, executive director at Northwest Tri-County IU5.
“Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have refused to agree to a long-term solution that provides certainty and does not also unfairly raid mass transit capital dollars for unrelated expenditures,” stated Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll.
“There are no dollars available at the state level to make up for these cuts at the federal level. So if they cut someone off Medicaid, they’re off. We will not be able to fix that for them,” said Shapiro.
“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other,” Shapiro said. “It has to stop.”
As energy demands increase in the commonwealth, the governor has called on PJM to clear a huge backlog of clean energy projects.
Money from these programs is currently being held hostage by Trump to benefit the billionaire oil and gas CEOs who funded his campaign.
“Pennsylvanians who want to buy cannabis are just driving across the border to one of our neighbors,” says Governor Josh Shapiro.
An interactive tool provided by the Committee of Seventy in collaboration with the Bucks County Beacon.
An interactive tool provided by the Committee of Seventy in collaboration with the Bucks County Beacon.
