Stephen Caruso
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stephenjcaruso.bsky.social
Stephen Caruso
@stephenjcaruso.bsky.social
Pennsylvania Capitol Reporter for Spotlight PA | Yankee Fan | Die Gedanken Sind Frei | scaruso[at]spotlightpa[dot]org
All of this is to say: If you are a public official in Pennsylvania, there's always money in the banana stand if you want to score a cool experience:
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/12...
Campaign funds, secretive nonprofit pay for Josh Shapiro's sports tickets
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro routinely accepts tickets from donors and Team PA, a little-known nonprofit. It may violate his own gift ban.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
And Shapiro isn't alone! Plenty of Pennsylvania lawmakers get plenty of lil treats. We've also covered this extensively @spotlightpa.org Take some free foreign trips in 2024:
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/05...
Trips to Israel, Taiwan among gifts accepted by PA lawmakers
Top PA officials accepted $119K in gifts and travel from lobbyists and others seeking to influence government in 2024.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
As for campaign funds, those can come from almost anywhere under Pennsylvania's lax laws which don't limit the size of donations nor how campaign dollars have been spent. You can get a taste of that fundraising in this project I did earlier this year:
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/03...
These powerful interests donated $18M to PA’s top lawmakers
Lobbyists say political donations can lead to access, but PA’s weak transparency laws make it nearly impossible to trace influence.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
It MAY be money from Shapiro's inauguration -- he transferred $750,000 from the nonprofit which aid for the shindig to Team PA. We only know 15% of the donors to his inaugural, which raised $5.4 million.
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/08...
We finally know who paid for Josh Shapiro’s inauguration celebrations (kinda)
Spotlight PA traces unions, lobbyists, and corporations behind 15% of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $4M inauguration, but most donors remain undisclosed.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Shapiro operates under a gift ban. But these two events show the loopholes. For instance, when Team PA pays, it uses the Pennsylvania Growth Partnership, an opaque fund the nonprofit manages. We have no idea who is funding it.
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/05...
Team PA paid for Josh Shapiro to attend sporting events
Team PA paid for Gov. Josh Shapiro to attend the 2023 Super Bowl and games played by the Harrisburg Senators, Penn State’s football team, and more.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Modern record for an impasse is ten months in 2015. Though folks familiar with both say this one feels worse.
November 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Governing is hard
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Both chambers were already scheduled to return next week as of today. The state budget is 133 days late, and closed door talks, which restarted in earnest two weeks ago, have yet to bear fruit.
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10...
Is the PA budget impasse inching toward an end?
PA Gov. Josh Shapiro and the leaders from all four legislative caucuses met in person this week at the state Capitol.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM
So if ya wanna join the club and get a good mix of scooplets, observations, jokes n'at, sign up here:
www.spotlightpa.org/newsletters/...
Access Harrisburg - Insider Access to PA Politics
Get weekly scoops, expert analysis, and more from Capitol reporter Stephen Caruso. Be the first to know what’s happening in Pennsylvania state government.
www.spotlightpa.org
November 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
(And this was what I had the week before, which is looking pretty good if I do say so myself!)
November 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM