📖 Today’s PoliticsPA Playbook. Data Center Tax Break Could Cost State Billions In Revenue. Pro-Israel Group Wades Into Democratic House Primaries. Pennsylvania’s 2026 Special Elections. Is Reese’s Cutting Corners?
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👀 What We’re Seeing. House Majority Forward announced the launch of a new digital advertising campaign in five congressional districts across the country, including PA-07 and PA-10, as part of HMF’s multimillion-dollar healthcare and economic accountability program. Affordable Pennsylvania launched its first ad in PA-08 as part of a new seven-figure accountability campaign across TV, digital, and print media, calling on Congressman Rob Bresnahan to stop cutting Medicaid.
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Top Story
1. Data Center Tax Break Created To Boost Economy, Add Jobs In PA Could Cost State Billions In Revenue
“As data centers spread and draw backlash across the state, new figures are emerging about their potential long-term costs. The Shapiro administration’s latest budget estimates show Pennsylvania could lose out on about $2 billion in revenue by mid-2031 due to a tax break that some lawmakers want to repeal.
Local activists and legislators who oppose the tax breaks argue it’s a costly giveaway to an industry dominated by some of the country’s largest and most profitable corporations when the state is hungry for revenue.” | Spotlight PA
Elsewhere
Shapiro Tests Democrats’ Data Center Strategy. “Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro knows how to make data center-friendly policies. He’s still trying to make them good politics.” | POLITICO
Trump Loves Data Centers. Many Republican Lawmakers Don’t. “Republican state legislators in several states across the country want to pause new data center construction, a break with President Donald Trump and most congressional Republicans. And now some Republican state lawmakers want to, at minimum, slow the spread of those developments by crafting new energy usage agreements.” | NOTUS
Judge Sets Deadline For Restoring President’s House Slavery Exhibits As Trump Administration Appeals. “A federal judge has set a Friday, Feb. 20 deadline for the Trump administration to restore exhibitions on slavery it had removed from the President’s House in Philadelphia. The order comes as the administration appeals a previous ruling demanding they restore the exhibits and ensure they’re accessible to the public.” | Penn Capital-Star
Many Democrats Are Still Down On The Democratic Party, A New AP-NORC Poll Finds. “Only about 7 in 10 Democrats have a positive view of the Democratic Party, according to new polling. While the overwhelming majority of Democrats still feel good about their party, they’re much less positive than they’ve been in the past.” | Associated Press
GOP Angst Over Voter Turnout Builds As Losses Pile Up. “Republicans are getting crushed in scores of state and local races, raising deep concerns about a deflated base refusing to show up to vote even in the most pro-Trump areas.” | Axios
State
2. Pro-Israel Group Wades Into Democratic House Primaries
“A pro-Israel group is wading into nearly a dozen contentious House primaries as it tries to shape the Democratic Party’s approach to the controversial issue.
The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, which backs pro-Israel Democrats, is endorsing 11 House candidates, including Paige Cognetti in PA-08 and Janelle Stelson in PA-10 in expensive and crowded primaries the party must win in order to retake the House.” | POLITICO
Elsewhere
PA-07: Pinsley Drops Out to Make Another State Senate Run. “Lehigh County controller Mark Pinsley ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 7th Congressional District on Wednesday morning to turn his attention to a Pennsylvania State Senate seat.” | PoliticsPA
Public Access To Pennsylvania Officials’ AI Conversations May Be Limited, After Agency Ruling. “Many state government employees’ conversations and prompts with artificial intelligence chatbots will likely remain shielded from public record, after a ruling from Pennsylvania’s open records agency this month.” | WITF
Shapiro Wants To Move Ahead With Pilot Medicaid Program After Trump Declines To Ax Federal Funds. “Gov. Josh Shapiro is again asking the legislature to fund a trial run of extra Medicaid benefits, saying that the Trump administration will honor a Biden-era approval despite Republicans’ desire to clamp down on Medicaid spending.” | PennLive
Pennsylvania Nursing Home Caregivers To Call On Sen. McCormick To Reject Trump Nominee. “Longtime nursing home owner Benjamin Landa is Trump’s nominee to become the ambassador to Hungary. Ahead of an initial vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, SEIU Healthcare PA is launching a multipronged pressure campaign calling on Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Trump ally who serves on the committee, to vote against the nomination.” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Around The Commonwealth
3. What to Know About Pennsylvania’s 2026 Special Elections
“Following resignations in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, five seats in the chamber will be up for grabs in special elections scheduled over the next several months.
The resignations came after several lawmakers won elections for local office in November, and another resigned amid conflict of interest complaints.” | City & State
Elsewhere
Garrity Announces Record-Breaking Unclaimed Property Returns. “Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced that the Pennsylvania Treasury Department returned more unclaimed property in 2025 than ever before – $334.1 million, surpassing the previous record of $272.2 million which was set in 2024.” | Gant News
Bucks Commissioners Vote To Oppose ICE Facilities, Say Feds Looked At Two Local Sites. “The contentious national discussion over the rapid expansion of ICE came to the doorstep of the Philadelphia region on Wednesday, as the Bucks County commissioners voted to oppose having any processing or detention facilities in the county.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Bucks Co. Sheriff Explains Ending 287(g) ICE Agreement: Full Interview With Danny Ceisler. “When newly elected Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler announced he was ending an agreement for “task force” policing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month, he knew the announcement would be controversial.” | Broad + Liberty
Editorial
4. What Do You Think?
* Can the Voters Tell If The President Is Mentally Fit? | Jack Ochs
* There Should Be No Partisan Divide About Naming Epstein’s Fellow Abusers | LZ Granderson
* From Gettysburg to Minnesota: How The Civil War Shapes How We Understand Political Conflicts | John Kinder and Jennifer Murray
* The Year of the Independent | Adam Brandon
* Voter ID is a Popular, Commonsense Reform — So Why Are Democrats Opposing It? | Broad + Liberty
* “Then. Now. Tomorrow.” | Jay Timmons and David Taylor
1 Thing
5. Grandson of the Inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Accuses Hershey of Cutting Corners
“The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese’s brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products.
Hershey acknowledges some recipe changes but said Wednesday that it was trying to meet consumer demand for innovation. High cocoa prices also have led Hershey and other manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate in recent years.
Brad Reese, 70, said in a Feb. 14 letter to Hershey’s corporate brand manager that for multiple Reese’s products, the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème.” | Associated Press
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