Latest news with #JoshShapiro
The Hill
22 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Shapiro advises Mamdani to rein in ‘blatantly antisemitic' supporters
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) advised New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to rein in 'blatantly antisemitic' supporters, according to a new Jewish Insider interview. 'I'll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,' Shapiro said, according to Jewish Insider. 'If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you're a leader.' 'I don't care if you're a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader,' he added. 'You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can't leave room for that to just sit there. You've got to condemn that.' Mamdani, a democratic socialist, recently shocked American political observers with his win over political heavyweight and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor. He has also faced criticism over remarks he made in which he avoided condemning the phrase 'globalize the intifada' and likened it to the Warsaw ghetto uprising amid the Holocaust. Pro-Palestinian activists have maintained that the phrase only refers to liberation for Palestinians to have the right to their own state and doesn't endorse calls for violence. However, pro-Israel activists and many Jewish people see the phrase as calling for a worldwide uprising to enact violence against Zionists, who back Israel's existence, and Jewish people more broadly. Mamdani has said he would not use the phrase and would dissuade others from using it amid scrutiny over his unwillingness to fully condemn the expression, multiple outlets reported recently.
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
AI Boom Keeps Key Power Costs at Record on Largest US Grid
Business and households supplied by the largest US grid will pay $16.1 billion to ensure there is enough electricity supply to meet soaring power demand, including that from a massive buildout in AI data centers. Advertisement The payouts to generators for the year starting June 2026 topped last year's record $14.7 billion, according to PJM Interconnection LLC, which operates the grid stretching from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic. That puts the capacity price per megawatt each day at $329.17 from $269.92. The shares of Constellation Energy Corp. and Talen Energy Corp. increased in late trading in New York on Tuesday. Data centers for AI are driving the biggest surge in US electric demand in decades, leading to higher residential utility bills. That's a key reason why PJM's auction — once only tracked by power traders and plant owners — has become closely watched by politicians and consumer advocates. This is the first auction that included both a price floor and cap, setting the range at $177.24 to $329.17, the level reached in this auction. Last year's 600% jump in capacity prices set off a political firestorm, resulting in PJM reaching a settlement with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to essentially cap gains for two years and make auction prices more predictable after wild swings in recent years. Advertisement Despite the increase in costs across the grid, the price cap trimmed costs for consumers who saw the biggest hikes in the last auction. Exelon Corp.'s Baltimore area utility reached a $466 last time, while Dominion Energy Inc.'s Virginia territory came in at about $444. Payouts to generators stayed at high levels due to surging demand from big data centers coming online swiftly, said Jon Gordon, policy director of non-profit clean energy advocacy Advanced Energy United. New facilities are consuming as much power as towns or small cities, coinciding with a wave of older power plants shutting down and lagging investment in new supplies and grid upgrades, he said. The per-megawatt price exceeding the 2024 auction is bullisha for independent power producers including NRG Energy Inc., Talen Energy, Constellation Energy and Vistra, Barclays analyst Nick Campenella had forecast. These generators have spent more than $34 billion so far this year on deals to mainly buy up power plants fueled by natural gas to feed the AI boom especially in PJM. Advertisement ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reading City Council calls on PA for marijuana reform
Reading City Council is calling on the state Legislature for marijuana reform and taking steps toward decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of cannabis within the city limits. In a 6-1 vote last week, council adopted a resolution calling on the Legislature for the immediate decriminalization of adult-use marijuana and voicing support for Gov. Josh Shapiro's initiative on statewide cannabis reform. Councilman O. Christopher Miller cast the lone no vote, saying he wanted to hear from additional stakeholders, including organizations such as the Council on Chemical Abuse of Berks County. 'This is great advocacy,' Councilman Jaime Baez Jr. said of the resolution, 'but I am looking forward to two weeks from now being able to pass an ordinance to decriminalize marijuana and make sure we are not affecting our residents, our minorities, supporting our governor, and making sure that we're not behind (other states).' Introduced by Baez, the proposed ordinance would amend the city code to make possession of under 30 grams of marijuana a civil offense rather than a criminal one. Councilman Jaime Baez Jr. (Courtesy of Jaime Baez Jr.) Supporters say the change is long overdue and would help reduce unnecessary incarceration and its cascading effects. But the measure is not without opposition. 'Reform is necessary to create a more fair and just criminal justice system, especially when it's affecting the majority of Reading residents, who are people of color,' Councilwoman Melissa Ventura said. 'We shouldn't have to make people jump through hoops to clear their records for small amounts.' Baez and Ventura said cannabis enforcement disproportionately impacts communities of color and young people. The resolution received praise from several residents and advocates. Jane Palmer and Crystal Kowalski, both of Wyomissing and members of Building Justice in Berks, submitted letters urging council to act. Citing findings from the organization's recent study of the Berks County jail system, they argued that cannabis possession arrests waste public resources and needlessly harm individuals' lives. 'The true cost of jail detention in Berks County is roughly $150 per day, or $54,000 a year,' Palmer wrote. 'Treatment is much more effective and less costly. Jail detention is ruinous, especially for our youth.' DA opposes measure But in an interview, District Attorney John Adams said, 'We do not and will not put people in jail for small amounts of marijuana.' Adams said his office strongly opposes the proposed ordinance, citing legal, operational and policy concerns. 'We don't need separate laws for separate jurisdictions,' he said. 'The city cannot pass a law that supersedes state law. It's questionable whether it could pass without constitutional challenge.' Adams also said the ordinance would undercut a marijuana diversion program already in place countywide that provides education through the Council on Chemical Abuse. Upon successful completion of the program, he said, the individual's charges are dismissed and their record is expunged. 'To have a different standard in the city of Reading would just bring confusion to the process,' he said. Adams also raised technical concerns about testing substances to confirm they are illegal marijuana and not another substance, such as hemp, a variety of cannabis sativa that has lower levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. Hemp is cultivated for fiber, seed and floral extracts, and federal and state law requires its concentration of THC be not more than 0.3%, according to Testing of confiscated substances is handled by the state police, but that would not be the case if the citations were civil rather than criminal, Adams said. He said the ordinance, if passed, would accomplish nothing, while creating legal confusion and potentially jeopardizing funding his office provides to the Reading Police Department. 'If the state decriminalizes marijuana, we will abide by that,' he said. 'But all this ordinance does is cause chaos.' 'Thoughtful conversation' City Managing Director Jack Gombach acknowledged those concerns but stressed the city's administration and Mayor Eddie Moran are committed to addressing them collaboratively. City Managing Director Jack Gombach 'Philosophically, we agree with decriminalization,' Gombach said in an interview. 'The mayor supports this, and the police department supports this. We should not be jamming up people's lives for small amounts of marijuana.' Gombach praised the DA's office as a valuable partner and credited its collaboration for the city's recent reduction in crime. Still, he said, a thoughtful conversation about how to implement local reform in compliance with state and federal law is necessary. 'This is not something that is going to happen overnight,' Gombach said. 'Responsible government means getting it right.' Council President Donna Reed said she co-sponsored the resolution and supports the governor's push for reform. Donna Reed Reed said she would like to see a state system for sales of recreational marijuana, similar to the state store system used for alcohol. 'I'd like to see the state get the kind of revenue our surrounding states already do,' she said. Taxes on sales of recreational marijuana serve as a significant source of revenue for some states that have legalized cannabis sales, according to the Marijuana Policy Project website. However, Reed said, she is more cautious about the proposed ordinance. 'I'm comfortable with this as an advocacy resolution,' she said. 'I supported it, and I co-sponsored it. I feel differently about the ordinance, and I'll speak to that in the future.' Solve the daily Crossword
NBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
Democratic attorneys general sue to block changes to ACA health insurance marketplaces
A group of Democratic attorneys general sued Thursday to block the implementation of portions of a Department of Health and Human Services rule set to go into effect next month that they say could lead to nearly 2 million people losing their health insurance. The attorneys general of 20 states, including New Jersey, California and Massachusetts, joined with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, to file the lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts. They argue that the department's actions illegally change the rules governing state and federal health insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act and therefore will push more health care costs onto the states. The final rule creates barriers to enrollment for health insurance sold on marketplaces and will increase insurance premiums, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs they claim. The Trump administration has said that up to 1.8 million people could lose their health insurance as a result, according to the lawsuit. The attorneys general are asking the court to block portions of the rule from taking effect next month. 'As New Jersey and other states prepare for the 2026 open enrollment period, the Trump Administration is seeking to cause confusion and chaos in the healthcare marketplace, increase costs for our state, and create barriers to enrollment,' New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. A representative for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The rule, finalized by the HHS's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in June, includes provisions meant to limit improper enrollments and the improper flow of federal funds, according to CMS. The lawsuit challenges parts of the rule that shorten enrollment periods and charge a monthly $5 fee for some marketplace shoppers. It also targets a provision barring transgender health care from the list of essential health benefits subject to mandatory coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit claims the rule imposes burdensome and expensive paperwork and will force consumers to spend millions to prove eligibility for coverage and subsidies. The states say the rule is arbitrary and capricious and was enacted in violation of federal administrative law.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor Shapiro endorses Janelle Stelson in PA-10 race
(WHTM) – Governor Josh Shapiro on Thursday endorsed Janelle Stelson (D) in her second bid to unseat Congressman Scott Perry in Pennsylvania's 10th District. The governor called Stelson a 'decent, good, honorable person who respects the rule of law,' in a video released on Shapiro's campaign social media. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'This community deserves a congresswoman who's on your side and Janelle Stelson is,' said Shapiro, who is expected to attend a campaign event with Stelson on Thursday night. Shapiro campaigned with Stelson late in her 2024 bid against Perry, which she lost by 5,133 votes. The race was Perry's closest electoral victory since being elected to Congress in 2012. 'It is time we had a Representative in Congress who actually listens to us and fights for us,' said Stelson when relaunching her campaign on Monday. The former television news anchor won the 2024 Democratic primary with more than 43% support in a six-candidate race. One of the biggest issues in the 2024 campaign was Stelson's residency, as she is registered to vote in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, outside the 10th District that covers Cumberland, Dauphin, and York counties. Stelson recently told abc27 she has now moved to Cumberland County; however, as of July 17, she was still registered to vote in Lancaster County and, according to the Lancaster County tax map, still owns her Lancaster County home that was last sold in 2003. Scott Perry reports nearly $900,000 raised in Q2 after Stelson jumps into race Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas (D) has also expressed interest in running for Perry's seat, saying on July 7 that he was forming an exploratory committee. abc27 reached out to Douglas for comment on Shapiro's endorsement of Stelson Thursday morning. Perry was endorsed by President Donald Trump earlier this year and reported raising $900,000 during the second quarter of 2025. In his endorsement of Perry, Trump said, 'An original Member of my Pennsylvania Federal Leadership Team, Scott Perry has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
