Good afternoon everyone, 

Welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report. 

In today’s newsletter, we’re going to talk about the Republicans’ plan to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year – spoiler alert: there isn’t one. Then we’ll take a look at this famous Philadelphia restaurateur who has hit with union-busting charges in Washington DC. 

(Photo: Sean Kitchen)

Do we remember the “concepts of a plan” line from last year’s Presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris? 

Well, it turns out that Republicans are still stuck in the “concept of a plan” stage when it comes to extending Affordable Care Act(ACA) tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of month. 

Democrats in the US House and Senate are pushing for a three-year extension of the ACA subsidies, which appears to be a nonstarter due to lack of support from Republicans. 

Axios reported last month that Trump supports a two year extension that places income caps on tax credit subsidies, eliminates $0 plans and incentivizes Americans to purchase cheaper and ineffective health care plans with high deductibles. 

“Donald Trump already showed us his true health care plan this summer when he kicked 15 million Americans off their health care to fund tax breaks for billionaires,” US House Rep. Brendan Boyle said in a statement.

“Any ‘plan’ short of simply extending the health care tax credits that are already saving Pennsylvanians money is unacceptable. I will continue fighting to stop Donald Trump from kicking hundreds of thousands of our neighbors off their health care.”

Famous Philadelphia restaurant owner Stephen Starr is facing allegations of union busting at his St. Anselm steakhouse in Washington, DC, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.  

According to an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Starr interrogated an employee about their involvement with a union. The NLRB found merit in the accusation. 

The Washingtonian reported in February that workers at three of Starr’s Washington DC restaurants organized their union with Unite Here Local 25 and faced backlash from supervisors. 

Over the summer, top Democrats in the US House and Senate started to boycott Starr’s DC restaurants because of his union busting tactics. 

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

A couple of lengthy profiles on Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro were published over the past few days in The Atlantic and The New Yorker. 

While I have not been able to read the piece in The New Yorker, I did take time to check out Tim Alberta’s profile on Shapiro in The Atlantic, and I highly recommend everyone reading it. 

Here are a couple of quick thoughts on Alberta’s profile on the governor: 1) it’s one of the most comprehensive profiles on Shapiro that you’re going to read for some time, and 2) never pick up the phone if Tim Alberta is calling you.