Capitol Report: 2025 Legislative Session recap, P&W strike update
Plus, News 8 political reporter Mike Cerulli breaks down the Pratt & Whitney machinists strike and other organized labor concerns.
Finally, the panel discusses the recent concerns of homeschooling advocates and a U.S. News & World Report poll that ranked Connecticut as the 15th best state.
Watch the full show above.
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New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Ex-AOC aide: Mamdani must run primaries against Dems resisting agenda
A former top aide to far-left 'Squad' member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said socialist Big Apple mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani — who has already sent Democrats into 'absolute panic' — should support primary challengers against lefty lawmakers who refuse to support his proposed $9 billion in tax hikes on millionaires and corporations. 'I think Mamdani has to support primary challengers. The big stick he has is the primary,' Corbin Trent told The Post. 'He's already facing resistance. The resistance is out there.' 3 A former aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling on Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to push for primaries against lawmakers who won't support his proposed tax hikes. Matthew McDermott Trent said no one should be immune from challenges in next year's state legislative and House races — including top House Dem Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres. 'Politics runs on fear. You don't have to take out that many,' he said. Trent was part of Ocasio-Cortez's brain trust when the Democratic Socialist shocked the political world by ousting longtime lawmaker and then-head of the Queens Democratic machine, Joe Crowley, in the 2018 Democratic primary, becoming the youngest woman elected to Congress. Trent is a co-founder of Justice Democrats, the progressive political action that backed Ocasio-Cortez's successful insurgency and boosts other lefty primary challengers against incumbents deemed too tied to the status quo and monied interests. He said Democratic incumbents beholden to the donor class and who cling to the status quo 'are like sitting ducks.' 3 Corbin Trent was part of Ocasio-Cortez' team during her campaign to oust former Queens Rep. Joe Crowley. William Miller President Trump and his MAGA movement have backed primary challenges when fellow Republicans stand in the way of their agenda, he noted. Tensions have erupted between Mamdani's far-left network of supporters — including the Democratic Socialists of America and Working Families Party — because prominent Democratic Party leaders, such as Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jeffries have shied away from endorsing the millennial in the mayoral race. Reps with DSA and the WFP have also suggested that some establishment Democrats and longtime incumbents could be vulnerable to primary challengers. 3 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is one of the Democrats Trent suggested could be targeted with primaries. AP A top aide to Jeffries, who is black, said the congressman's campaign would be ready for what he mockingly dubbed 'Team Gentrification.' Jeffries, however, will personally meet with Mamdani later this week, a source said. The House Minority Leader declined to comment on Trent's call for the socialist upstart to get behind primary challengers. Torres, meanwhile, said he was unfazed. 'House Democrats are strategizing about how to defeat Donald Trump and make Hakeem Jeffries the next Speaker. Donald Trump and DSA are strategizing about how to tear down Hakeem Jeffries. Strange bedfellows,' Torres told The Post. Unlike other parts of the city, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo carried Torres' South Bronx congressional district over Mamdani in the primary by 20 percentage points. In an exasperated column on Substack, Trent lambasted Dems for paving the way to another Trump administration. 'Democrats keep pretending Trump voters are moving right when the truth is much simpler: people are voting for whoever promises to blow up a rigged system. Same reason they voted Obama in '08, Bernie in '16, and Trump — twice now,' the political strategist wrote. 'It's not about specific policies. It's about wanting someone, anyone, to break through and deliver transformation,' he continued. 'Democrats either can't see this or won't admit it because their entire mission is maintaining the status quo for the donors and consultants who run the party. They'd rather manage decline than acknowledge that voters want revolutionary change — because admitting that would mean admitting they're not the leaders for the job.' Trent said Mamdani won the Democratic primary election for mayor because he offered sweeping change to help address the affordability crisis for many New Yorkers. Critics, however, question whether the socialist's lofty proposals — that he said he could pay for with sweeping tax hikes — are achievable. The proposals would require legislative approval.
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Miami Herald
There's hope again for Pennsylvanians who want recreational marijuana legalized in the state. Maybe
HARRISBURG - Recreational marijuana is back on the table for state lawmakers. But it's still a long way away from being legally sold in Pennsylvania. Adult-use cannabis came the closest it's ever gotten to being legalized in Pennsylvania in May, after the state House passed a proposal to allow state-owned stores to run a burgeoning legal marijuana market that nearby states have said has brought in tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue each year. But a state Senate committee quickly killed the bill, citing opposition from both Democrats and Republicans to the state-store model. Now, lawmakers are trying a different approach. State Sens. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, and Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, introduced their own proposal Thursday to legalize recreational marijuana by relying on current medical marijuana retailers to kick off the expansion of the market, while setting aside 15 licenses for small businesses to try to get a piece. The two lawmakers have worked on adult-use cannabis legislation in the past, the culmination of which came together in the bill introduced this week that Laughlin said was "years in the making." Under their bill, anyone in Pennsylvania who is 21 or older would be allowed to possess, consume, purchase, or transport adult-use cannabis. Senate Republicans have broadly opposed legalizing recreational marijuana, though Laughlin has remained a supporter for years. And support appears to be growing, Street said, noting that the bill has bipartisan support in the House and Senate. A similar bill will be introduced in the state House in the coming weeks, said Street, who last week launched his campaign for Congress. "There is legitimate representation and input from all four caucuses in the construction of this bill, and I think that's important to ultimately getting a bill that can get to the governor's desk," Street said. Under the bill, legalization of recreational marijuana would be monitored by a new, seven-member oversight panel of political appointees, titled the Cannabis Control Board, to be led by an executive director and chief medical officer. It would also move the Department of Health's current purview of the state's medical marijuana program to the new board. Senate Bill 120 also would allow nonviolent marijuana offenses to be expunged from a person's record, as well as try to target the benefits of the new industry to "disproportionately impacted areas" by the criminalization of marijuana. Among the other proposals in the 181-page bill introduced Thursday: -Edible forms of marijuana would be allowed to be sold in retail stores, which are currently unregulated in Pennsylvania. -Residents could have two mature marijuana plants at their homes. -Marijuana usage would be banned from all public places, including sidewalks and alleys. -Possession would be limited to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 1,000 milligrams of edible THC, or 5 grams of cannabis concentrate. -The proposal also suggests additional fixes to the state's medical marijuana law, including how employers should handle medical marijuana users in the workplace. Under the legislation, employers cannot fire or refuse to hire someone because they have a medical marijuana card, but can fire them if they are not doing their job properly due to their marijuana usage. They can also drug test if it is seen as necessary for "safety-sensitive positions." Laughlin said in an email that there is "no timetable" on when he will call up the bill for a vote. As the chair of the Law and Justice Committee, he previously fast-tracked the House recreational marijuana bill for a vote, where it ultimately failed to pass the committee and will not be reconsidered. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, threw cold water on any hopes that recreational marijuana could be legalized as part of this year's budget, which Gov. Josh Shapiro has repeatedly proposed as a new source of state revenue. Pennsylvania's state budget was due by the start of this fiscal year, and is now nearly two weeks late, with no budget deal in sight. In a statement, Pittman said he does not "see a prevailing view for legalization of recreational marijuana within our caucus as part of the current budget." Still, Street said he remains optimistic it could be part of this year's budget, or next year's. He pointed out that the state would receive approximately 25% of the funds generated by the licensing and sale of marijuana, which he said could help fund Pennsylvania's mass transit systems, as SEPTA and other agencies face a fiscal crisis. "Realistically, we need more revenue, and this is a good alternative," Street added, in reference to the state's $5.5 billion budget gap. Even boxing champion Mike Tyson, who in April was named CEO of a Las Vegas-based cannabis company, chimed in to voice his support of the bipartisan effort to legalize recreational marijuana. "Encouraging to see the PA GOP introduce a rec bill today," Tyson wrote on X Thursday. "This bill would ensure that PA residents have access to safe, tested cannabis as opposed to the unsafe, untaxed pesticide laden stuff the illicit cartel operators are selling." The Laughlin-Street proposal would also allow the behemoth multistate operators that control much of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana market to continue to do so, though the legislation would limit the number of storefronts a single company can have to 24. The medical marijuana industry broadly praised the bill on Thursday as one "poised to create thousands of jobs" that "ensures equitable access," according to a news release from the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition. Meanwhile, opponents of adult-use cannabis quickly rejected it. "Lawmakers should prioritize the public health and safety of Pennsylvania families, not hand over our children and neighborhoods to the marijuana lobby," said Dan Bartkowiak, chief strategy officer at the ultraconservative Pennsylvania Family Council, in a news release. Laughlin can call up the bill for a vote in his committee at any time, though sweeping policy changes or new revenue generators are usually negotiated as part of a final budget deal, Street said. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Democrat Ro Khanna Demands Vote To Release Full Jeffrey Epstein Files
Representative Ro Khanna (D‑CA) has announced plans to force a vote in the House of Representatives demanding the full, unredacted release of all documents related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Khanna said he will introduce an amendment this week that would require the House Speaker to bring the measure to a roll-call vote, putting every member of Congress on the record. Newsweek contacted Khanna's team via email and House Speaker Mike Johnson via online form for comment outside of usual working hours on Sunday. As reported by Newsweek, Epstein, who died in prison six years ago while facing sex trafficking charges, had maintained close ties with numerous high-profile figures around the world. Though his death was officially ruled a suicide, speculation has persisted for years that he may have been murdered to prevent the release of a so-called "client list," a roster some believe could implicate prominent political figures, including President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and the U.K.'s Prince Andrew. After being accused of sexual abuse connected to the Epstein scandal, Prince Andrew denied all accusations against him and resigned from royal duties in 2020. Clinton maintains that he did not have any contact with Epstein after the financier was accused of sex crimes, and never visited his now-infamous private island of Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The controversy was reignited last month when billionaire Elon Musk alleged, in a since-deleted social media post, that the government had withheld Epstein-related records because "Trump is in the Epstein files." The president dismissed the claim, saying he "had nothing to do with it," but it sparked further interest in the government's records. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, although they were known to have interacted in social and professional circles in the early 2000s. The former president distanced himself from Epstein after the financier admitted soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June, 2008. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to make Epstein-related files public. A partial release occurred in February, overseen by Attorney General Pam Bondi. But earlier this week, both Trump and Bondi announced that their investigation had turned up "no incriminating 'client list,'" prompting sharp criticism from Democrats, and even backlash from some of Trump's own MAGA supporters who had anticipated deeper revelations. A memo, first reported by Axios, said investigators found "no incriminating 'client list'" and "no credible evidence ... that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals." It also said video footage from the Manhattan jail where Epstein was being held when he died supported a medical examiner's finding that he had died by suicide. In a TruthSocial post on Saturday, Trump urged others to "not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about." Late Saturday, Khanna posted to his X account: "Why are the Epstein files still hidden? Who are the rich & powerful being protected? On Tuesday, I'm introducing an amendment to force a vote demanding the FULL Epstein files be released to the public. The Speaker must call a vote & put every Congress member on record." The post has since had over 432k views. Khanna's initiative is seen as a way to hold both Congress and the Justice Department accountable, especially as the Department of Justice (DOJ), led by Trump-appointed officials, including Bondi, recently reversed its previous commitment to release more documents. The move is also politically strategic. If Khanna's proposal is accepted, it would force a House vote on releasing the full Epstein files, allowing the public to see how each representative stands on the matter, with many praising it as a savvy political move that puts pressure on those trying to avoid scrutiny. This comes after months of mounting bipartisan frustration. Though Democrats have led the charge, some Republican voices have also joined the call for full transparency. However, the Justice Department's decision to halt further disclosures has renewed criticism that the agency is protecting politically sensitive figures. Earlier this month, congressional Democrats, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, called for the release of any documents mentioning Trump. In response to criticism of his proposal on X, Khanna said: "This is about transparency and restoring trust, not partisan politics. The public outcry is apparent. The files should be fully released and can be done so consistent with DOJ principles of protecting victims and the innocent." Even if the measure fails, Khanna's supporters argue it will create a clear public record—either the files will be released, or voters will know exactly who stood in the way. With trust in government transparency at stake, the coming vote could mark a pivotal moment in the long-running Epstein saga. Related Articles Republican Backs Push to Repeal Part of Trump Bill Days After Voting For ItExclusive: Ro Khanna on War Powers and Avoiding Another 'Endless' ConflictSenator Says War Powers Resolution Against Trump Will Have GOP SupportWar Powers Act Explained as Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna Push House Resolution 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
