Tag: pennsylvania
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Toomey announces he won’t run for re-election to U.S. Senate in 2022
On Oct. 5, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) announced that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate and would be retiring from Congress. Toomey also stated that he would not run for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. At a press conference, Toomey said, “I will not be running for reelection in 2022 and…
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Federal judge finds Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 orders unconstitutional
On September 14, 2020, Judge William Stickman IV, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, struck down some of Penn. Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) COVID-19 orders as violations of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Various Pennsylvania counties, businesses, and elected officials brought the lawsuit County of Butler v. Wolf, which…
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U.S. Senate confirms two U.S. District Court nominees
The U.S. Senate confirmed Christy Wiegand to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Brett Ludwig to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The Western District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Wisconsin are two of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts…
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Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice expresses misgivings about judicial deference
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David N. Wecht on July 21 issued a concurring opinion in Crown Castle NG East LLC and Pennsylvania-CLE LLC v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission expressing what they called “deep and broad misgivings” about the court’s practice of deferring to state agency interpretations of statutes and regulations. The case challenged the Pennsylvania…
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U.S. Senate confirms Hardy to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
The U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Hardy to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by a vote of 65-30 on July 27. The Western District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. After Hardy receives his judicial commission…
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Pennsylvania House Speaker Turzai Resigns
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R) resigned from the legislature on June 15 to take a job in the private sector. He was first elected as a state Representative in 2001 and had announced in January that he would not run for election in 2020. Turzai had served as Speaker of the House since January…
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announces stay-at-home order to end June 4
On June 3, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced that he would let the state’s stay-at-home order expire on June 4 at 11:59 p.m. There are currently 10 red-phase counties under the stay-at-home order. Wolf announced on June 3 that those counties could move into the yellow-phase on June 5. When that happens, all counties…
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Philadelphia voters approve two charter amendment ballot measures
Voters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approved two amendments to the city’s charter on June 2. Question 1 created a Philadelphia Department of Labor, along with a Board of Labor Standards, to administer and enforce citywide labor laws and collective bargaining agreements. According to election night results, Question 1 had 80 percent of the vote. Question 2…
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Pennsylvania extends absentee ballot receipt deadline to June 9 in six counties; postmark deadline remains June 2
On June 1, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) issued an executive order extending the absentee ballot receipt deadline for the June 2 primary to 5:00 p.m. on June 9 (with a postmark deadline of June 2, 2020) in Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. In all other counties, a return deadline of June 2 remains in…
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Pennsylvania extends stay-at-home order for parts of the state through June 4
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced Thursday that he was extending Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order through June 4 for counties in the red phase of the state’s reopening plan. The order was passed on April 1 and was originally scheduled to expire on April 30. Wolf extended the statewide order through May 8 on April 20. Counties…