This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

The state treasurer’s most recent move is as good as gold – at least for one family. Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity reconnected gold records that have been in the treasury’s unclaimed property vault with their rightful owners: the family of legendary Philadelphia radio personality Jimmy Bishop Sr. Bishop’s family, including his widow Louise, received three gold records Bishop earned during his time as a disc jockey, producer, and host at WDAS, where he helped names like The Jackson 5, The Temptations and more break into the music business. 

Candidate debates, once par for the course, are no longer a given in the current campaign climate. But the policy discourse between U.S. Senate candidates Bob Casey and Dave McCormick will go on, with both nominees agreeing to participate in three debates – in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg – ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

Democratic state Rep. Scott Conklin scored a big legislative achievement this week when the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, along party lines, narrowly voted to approve a bill that would give county election boards more time to process mail and absentee ballots ahead of Election Day. Gov. Josh Shapiro expressed support for the bill, urging lawmakers in the state Senate to vote on the bill and send it to his desk – but whether that will happen remains to be seen.

A firm that contracted with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to conduct COVID-19 contact tracing during the pandemic will pay the U.S. government $2.7 million as part of a settlement agreement for its reported failure to secure the private medical information of Pennsylvanians. The staffing firm, Insight Global, was hired by the department in 2020. According to the agreement, between November 2020 and January 2021, Insight Global managers “received complaints from Insight Global staff that such information was unsecured and potentially accessible to the public,” though Insight Global has denied the allegations outlined by the U.S. Department of Justice.

It’s game over for the executive director of Pennsylvania’s Game Commission. Bryan Burhans, who has served as the wildlife resource agency’s director since 2017, resigned Monday partly over questions about business dealings he had with employees. Game Commissioner Scott Foradora said Burhans received income through several business relationships with Game Commission employees, not resulting in any ethical violations but potential conflicts of interest, which ultimately led to Burhans’ resignation. The commission didn’t have to hunt long for new leadership, however, as Stephen Smith was named the new executive director. 

Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler gave her annual report on the state of city finances this week, revealing that the city’s revenues are outpacing expenditures and adding that it would be “unrealistic” for the city to keep spending at current levels without new revenue, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The remarks drew a response from Pittsburgh Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak, who said in a statement that the city has “long known that 2025 and 2026 would present financial challenges for the city due to the deadline for spending federal relief funds,” while stressing that the city is “not at risk of returning to financial oversight.”