With 19 days till the budget deadline, here’s what’s happening at the Capitol

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Tom Downing / WITF

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is seen in this file photo.

From The Context, PA Post’s weekday email newsletter:

Action from Wolf, legislature

Tom Downing / WITF

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is seen in this file photo.

• The countdown to the state budget deadline continues, and there’s a lot happening in the state Capitol. On Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf pushed for legislation that would require a fee from municipalities that rely on state police coverage. This is not the first time Wolf has called for the fee, and PA Post’s Emily Previti recently looked at how much of an impact it would have on local communities.

• Also on Tuesday, the state Senate voted 28-21 to increase the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program by $100 million, PennLive’s Jan Murphy reports. The legislation now goes to Wolf. For more about the tax credits that fund scholarships at private schools, The Inquirer’s Maddie Hanna has the background.

• If you’re looking for a big picture view of the budget process, The Inquirer’s John Baer writes that “a no-new-taxes, on-time plan seems likely by the new fiscal year, which starts July 1.” And the AP’s Marc Levy broke down the major items to watch for this month.

Best of the rest

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Frances Ariele Tejada

Soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team conduct exercises in Krivolak, North Macedonia, June 8, 2019.

• About 1,300 Pennsylvania National Guard troops are in eastern Europe to train with partner countries, WITF’s Rachel McDevitt reports. The troops are from regiments based in Montgomery and Mifflin counties.

• A graduate of Millersville University told the York Daily Record’s Sam Ruland that he moved to China in an attempt to escape his student loan debt. Pennsylvania leads the country for student debt, according to a recent episode of The Why.

• A transit program available to Pennsylvania’s 2.8 million Medicaid subscribers, used by roughly 55,000, could change, The Inquirer’s Michaelle Bond reports. And a lot of county officials are unhappyabout that possible change.