First Read – Jan. 9, 2024

WEATHER: Philadelphia: rainy and breezy, high of 53; Harrisburg: rain and snow, high of 51; Pittsburgh: rain and snow, high of 50.

FROM CITY & STATE:

* From our partners at Route Fifty: To improve health outcomes for new mothers and their babies, various states have passed or are considering legislation in support of labor doulas, who are trained to offer numerous resources during the labor and delivery process.

* From our partners at Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Advocates who won a historic court ruling declaring Pennsylvania’s education funding system unconstitutional said Thursday that they’re ready to go back to court if lawmakers fail to make a significant down payment on a solution.

NEW THIS MORNING:

* Twelve state House lawmakers didn’t cash at least one of their paychecks during Pennsylvania’s six-month budget impasse last year, as the legislature struggled to agree on the last pieces of the state’s $45.4 billion spending plan, Spotlight PA reports.

* The National Park Service has withdrawn a proposal to permanently remove a statue of William Penn as part of its rehabilitation of Welcome Park in Old City, saying the plan “had not been subject to a complete internal agency review,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. 

* DuBois has spent at least $274,000 in taxpayer money to cover the legal bills of former City Manager Herm Suplizio, who is accused of stealing roughly double that amount from the city, its annual festival and a local nonprofit over nearly a decade, Spotlight PA reports.

* President Joe Biden framed his reelection bid as a “sacred cause,” to save democracy, striking one of the most urgent notes of his 2024 campaign as he compared his position to General George Washington ushering troops through the winter at Valley Forge in their battle for freedom nearly 250 years ago, the Inquirer reports.

* On the second floor of Philadelphia City Hall, a work crew was replacing a lock on the city spokesperson’s door Friday, a row of large wooden desks was lined up outside the policy team’s room and a senior staffer in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s new administration pushed a chair down the hallway, the Inquirer reports.

* Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology’s attempt to be the first private company to land on the moon appeared to fail yesterday, after a critical fuel leak was reported just hours after launch, LancasterOnline reports.

* During a pit stop Saturday at the 2024 Farm Show, Sen. John Fetterman called the upcoming presidential election among the most crucial issues facing the country, PennLive reports.

* Pennsylvania’s presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick raised $5.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and kicked in another $1 million of his own money, according to his campaign, PennLive reports.  

* Pittsburgh City Council embarked on a new legislative term yesterday by choosing a new council president, as the body positions itself for the second half of Mayor Ed Gainey’s term in office, WESA reports. 

* Laurie MacDonald, president and CEO of Center for Victims, has added her name to the growing list of candidates for the Democratic nomination for the 12th Congressional District seat currently held by Rep. Summer Lee, PoliticsPA reports. 

* Philadelphia saw the biggest drop in sweetened beverage sales among five cities that implemented soda taxes, a new study found, the Inquirer reports.

* Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, the first Black lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania, is slated to speak at a Martin Luther King Jr. event in Indiana County, the Indiana Gazette reports.

EDITORIAL PAGES:

* The Inquirer writes that amid Philadelphia’s measles outbreak, the actions of anti-vaxxers threaten to erase decades of public health gains and reintroduce long-dormant diseases to vulnerable populations.

* The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes that every community needs more active participants. In the end, every January is about who is responsible for what is happening – and keeping our leaders accountable by our own involvement.

NATIONAL POLITICS:

* A lawyer for one of the defendants charged along with former President Donald J. Trump in the Georgia election interference case said in a court filing on yesterday that the district attorney overseeing the case, Fani T. Willis, had engaged in a “clandestine” relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to help handle it, The New York Times reports. 

* Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, whose failure to disclose his need for emergency hospitalization has ignited a firestorm, was moved out of intensive care yesterday, as officials at the White House and Pentagon struggled to defuse the uproar, The Washington Post reports.

MOVING ON: AmeriHealth Caritas announces Kelly A. Munson as president and chief executive officer … Have a career change or life event to announce? Email us: editor@cityandstatepa.com.

TODAY’S SKED:

11 a.m. – Pennie Executive Director Devon Trolley, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh and state Sen. Sharif Street will announce a deadline extension for Pennie's Open Enrollment period until Jan. 19, Beckett Life Center, 410 N 16th St., Philadelphia. 

12 p.m. – Gov. Josh Shapiro will join state Rep. Carol Hill-Evans, the York County Economic Alliance and the YWCA York to highlight the major expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for over 200,000 families. Watch here.

KICKER: 

“The decision by President Biden and his administration to try and cancel William Penn out of whole cloth is another sad example of the left in this country scraping the bottom of the barrel of woke-ism to advance an extreme ideology and a nonsensical view of history.” – House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler, via the Inquirer