Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
City & State
Students from Joe Biden’s home state are in need of his promised debt relief more than ever. According to the financial site WalletHub, the commonwealth ranked first in the nation with the most student debt of any state – specifically topping the list in “Student-Loan Indebtness.” Adding fuel to the fire: Amid education funding troubles, several universities across the state expect to raise tuition yet again this year.
Keep reading for more of this week’s Winners & Losers!
Kim Ward -
More than a month after its original deadline, the state budget impasse seems to be over and the state’s appropriations are headed to Gov. Shapiro’s desk for signing. Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward dragged the upper chamber back to Harrisburg this week to resolve the standoff over school voucher funding and the commonwealth’s budget package for the fiscal year. Thanks to her push, it looks like the state can finally move forWard.
John Vento -
For a man who has met every Democratic president since Harry Truman except Lyndon B. Johnson, the accolades are still piling up for John Vento of Penn Hills. The longtime labor leader and former Democratic politician ended the month of July by celebrating his 100th birthday. Vento, who also served in the Army in the Pacific during World War II, was key in raising money for the war memorial on the North Shore in the Pittsburgh region.
IUE-CWA Pension -
Roughly 2,400 Pennsylvanians saw some positive pension news this week. The Pittsburgh-based IUE-CWA plan is slated to get $260 million under President Joe Biden’s pandemic relief funds, which would allow the fund to pay full benefits for an extra two decades. The workers and retirees – many of whom come from the manufacturing industry – could be the first of many pension plans to get a dose of federal dollars.
Trump’s fake electors -
Several Pennsylvanians’ roles in former President Donald Trump’s scheme to organize a slate of fake electors in the commonwealth were exposed this week with unsealing of Trump’s latest federal indictment. Although it’s unlikely they’ll face legal repercussions, Republicans – including Lou Barletta, Sam DeMarco III and Charlie Gerow – were among signees of a false electors list on Dec. 14, 2020. It’s safe to say Pennsylvania was a keystone in Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election.
Devlin Robinson -
If you’ve been in the business long enough, you know that hot mics lead to sound bites. State Sen. Devlin Robinson is learning that lesson this week after a video emerged from a Senate hearing where Robinson is heard calling a member of Pennsylvania Task Force 1 a “dick” before the first responder was set to testify before the committee. Robinson tweeted an apology, stating that he let his “frustrations get the better” of him.
Aon Investments USA Inc. -
If there’s any indication of July being a slow news month in politics, it’s the fact that we have two pension stories this week. The state’s Public School Employees Retirement System, known as PSERS, filed a civil complaint Monday against Aon Investments USA, the company PSERS officials say cost the fund millions of dollars due to calculation errors that caused the fund to approve incorrect membership contribution rates from 2021 through 2023.