HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania’s new attorney general went before lawmakers as budget hearings continued this week in Harrisburg and addressed a wide range of issues — including his priorities, handling executive orders from the White House, and battling nefarious use of technology.
Attorney General Dave Sunday often referenced his time as York County district attorney, stressing the need for mental health intervention before and after people end up in the criminal justice system.
Sunday, asked why he didn’t join other state attorneys general in challenging an executive order by President Donald Trump that froze funding to the National Institutes of Health when biomedical research is so important to Pennsylvania’s economy, said he doesn’t think what he calls a kneejerk reaction to file a lawsuit is the best way to reach a solution.
“In my experience, what has, a lot of times, provided the best long-term outcome, at least in the beginning, is to negotiate,” he told lawmakers. “It's to talk, it's to explain and to make sure that there's a situation where people understand the impact of what you're speaking to.”
During the hearing, Sunday acknowledged the need to protect residents from scams using artificial intelligence and other technology.
“They're getting to our children through gaming systems, through any time a child can even get on the internet. There are predators out there that ultimately are tied into victim trafficking,” he said, also focusing on its use in defrauding seniors.
“Because of that, they are literally inundated with these scams from morning until night. It is relentless. And I think that we have an ethical duty as citizens to protect our seniors.”
However, Sunday noted the investigations into those offenses are complex and require significant manpower.
“It's a lot more than just that initial interaction with the victim,” he said. “You have to do a lot of financial investigations. There's forensic accounting that's done to be able to identify where that money is typically being laundered to get the real bad guys.”
Sunday also addressed for-profit companies being held to agreements made during the purchase of hospitals and health systems.