Friday Happy Hour: Back To Square One Edition

In case you had not heard, Pope Francis will be in Philadelphia today.  If you had not heard this news, you definitely have not been travelling on any major roadway in Pennsylvania, since the electronic road signs warning of Pope-related traffic delays begin popping up essentially at the Ohio border, all the way north to Erie.  This is not hyperbole; we saw the signs yesterday for ourselves. Listen, if Pope-traffic backs up to Presque Isle, we have big problems.   

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner sent shockwaves through the Beltway and beyond this morning by announcing he will resign from office at the end of October.  While we are sure there will be no shortage of “what does it all mean” stories in the coming days, it appears as though Boehner is no longer interested in playing some of the reindeer games that the far right flank of his caucus would like him to play.   

In the Pennsylvania version of the U.S. House (which is smaller but no less enjoyable to watch) this week, we all got to watch as a stopgap budget sailed through the chamber on its way to Governor Wolf’s wood chipper.  We also decided that “stopgap” is a dumb word, and will henceforth be employing the phrase “continuing resolution,” which sounds way more official and legislative. Stopgap sounds like it should be found in a plumber’s tool kit.

And so once again, happy campers, we are back to square one in the state budget process, which at this point can even barely be referred to as a process at all.  Schools and social service providers are now reaching the “desperate measures” point in the ballgame, we were reminded this week. If anyone reading this memo happens to be within shouting distance of Pope Francis this weekend, you may want to ask for a bit of Papal intervention to get this thing put to bed.

In rare good news, the state’s Medicaid expansion is expected to generate around 35,000 jobs, we learned this week.  If nothing else, this proves that natural gas may not be the only job-generator we have around these parts.  

Speaking of natural gas, there was something called a “shale insight conference” in Philadelphia this week, and at the confab, we were once again treated to the vision of Philly becoming an “energy hub,” largely because some people like to think of Philadelphia as the next Houston. Despite the fact that the energy hub concept relies on pipelines that may never be built, we really don’t know why anyone would ever aspire to be like Houston.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers this week unveiled legislation that would protect the identity of a police officer involved in a shooting until an investigation is complete.  In today’s world of hashtag justice, this does not seem to be a huge request.

Philadelphia City Council president Darrell Clarke this week gave us a preview of a very active city council agenda for the upcoming session. Suffice to say that council will play a huge role in a myriad of issues from school funding to economic development, which is yet another reminder that this ain’t your father’s city council.

One issue that council will no doubt need to wrangle with is the skyrocketing cost of pensions, which now represent a larger part of the city budget than actual active salaries do. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale sounded the warning bell this week, alluding to a potential state takeover of the city’s pension funds. We are tempted to make a “you break it, you bought it” analogy here, but we will instead wait to see how it all unfolds.

Over on the left side of the state, a group of restaurant owners has sued to overturn Pittsburgh’s new paid sick leave ordinance. This move shocked absolutely no one.  We are sure the judges are just thrilled to have this hot potato land in their robed laps.

Ride sharing may soon be legal and safe as sea salt in all 67 counties, thanks to a bill that is now winding its way through the State Senate.  It appears as though Pennsylvania will not have to wait until the 22^nd century to embrace 21^st century transportation options.  We will of course keep our eyes on the progress of this bill, because, you know…LYFT! 

The state is in the process of holding hearings on a proposed clean power plan that Pennsylvania must adopt to comply with EPA-mandated cuts in carbon emissions. The stakes could not be higher for Pennsylvania’s embattled coal industry, as coal-fired power plants across the state teeter on the brink of extinction. You do not want to miss the legislative battle that looms over this issue.  

A hedge fund manager turned pharmaceutical company owner came under a barrage of media fire this week for his decision to raise the price of an AIDS drug from thirteen dollars per pill to over seven hundred dollars per pill, and then bragging about it on television.  You know, we get the whole profit-motive thing, but c’mon, man.  All you are doing is drawing a whole lot of unwanted attention to an issue that you frankly do not want a whole lot of attention drawn to.  

Speaking of unwanted attention, Volkswagen executives are probably looking for the nearest cave to disappear into after it was discovered that the auto maker has been using technology to falsify emissions levels.  Our own crisis communications guru Rick Kelly weighs in on what appears to be the mother of all corporate crises’ here.  

Also on the Triadvocate this week, check out the details for the upcoming Gridiron dinner, which raises money for the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association internship program.  Help an aspiring journalist, won’t you?  They will no doubt curse you for it later.

In our We Can’t Make This Up segment this week, Conde Naste is reporting that selfies have actually killed more people this year than shark attacks.  We assume that the Discovery Channel is already busy producing episodes for Selfie Week.   

That’s what passes for news around here as September winds down and we say goodbye to the Summer of Budget Discontent.  Check back with us next week for all the news you can shake a selfie stick at!  From all your friends at Triad, have a great weekend!