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A daily newsletter by  |
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| Today: School spending, outgoing lawmakers, DuBois development, Methodist fracture, methadone access, ex officio blogger, and butter art. |
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Pennsylvania's state legislature sends hundreds of millions of dollars to four state-related universities annually, but a Spotlight PA analysis found that money hasn't kept pace with inflation for more than a decade.
State appropriations are a small part of the annual revenue picture for Penn State, Temple, Pitt, and Lincoln Universities, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association says Pennsylvania ranks second to last nationally in public support for higher education per student.
Steve Orbanek, Temple University’s director of communications, told Spotlight PA that since 2020 alone, "inflation has eroded $30.2 million of buying power" because the state has not increased its yearly funding. Penn State receives the largest appropriation but the lowest per-student support.
State spending per student decreased after adjusting for inflation, even with the schools educating fewer Pennsylvania residents each year.
Read Spotlight PA's full report: State funding for Penn State, Pitt, and Temple hasn’t kept pace with inflation, data show. |
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NOTABLE / QUOTABLE
“It’s an issue that is important to me having defeated Donald Trump over 30 times in court in the last election cycle where he tried to thwart the will of the people of Pennsylvania."
—Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro on attending President Joe Biden's speech in Valley Forge this weekend to mark three years since the Jan. 6 attack |
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IN MEMORIAM: Anne Ratchford Kearns, the longtime occupant of President Joe Biden's former Scranton home, and a frequent Biden family host through the years, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 88, Axios reports.
MARKET RATES: Rent is going up at Harrisburg's Broad Street Market after last year's fire. Vendors will pay nearly twice as much, per PennLive.
IMPROV POLICE: Training for Delaware River Port Authority police officers now includes improv theater, The Inquirer (paywall) reports.
BUTTER CAM: If you're looking for something to watch at 10 this morning, try the unveiling of this year's Farm Show Butter Sculpture live.
PIG BLANKET: A house fire in Slippery Rock is being blamed on a pet pig that tried to warm itself with some hay by a heat lamp, via WTAE.
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Unscramble and send your answer to scrambler@spotlightpa.org. We'll shout out winners here, and one each week will get some Spotlight PA swag. Answers submitted by 5:30 p.m. on issue date will be counted. O D A T E V I N I
Yesterday's answer: Conspiratorial
Congrats to our daily winners: Don H., Barbara F., Susan N.-Z., Stacy S., Tracy S., William Z., Alan B., Cosette J., Kim C., Rick W., Richard A., Dennis M., Carol D., Craig E., Elaine C., Bob C., Wendy A., and Jane R. |
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REGAN TO RETIRE: State Sen. 
SUPLIZIO FIRED: Newly sworn-in DuBois City Council 
RELIGIOUS DIVIDE: The Times (paywall) reports the United Methodist Church is 
LIQUID CUFFS: As Congress weighs modernizing access to the harm-reduction tool methadone by allowing it to be dispensed in larger quantities at pharmacies, not just clinics, WESA says a Pitt study 
HESS BLOG: Former head of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection David Hess is now a blogger whose writings on fracking and the energy industry 