PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Health care and skills games were the hot topics during Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate between Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
Health care spending cuts under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act were an early topic.
When asked about using state tax dollars to help Pennsylvanians whose coverage is slashed, Shapiro said the cuts are too severe.
“Every governor of every state is dealing with these cuts,” he said, “and there are no states that have the ability to make up the billions and billions and billions of dollars of cuts that are going to impact our citizens.”
Garrity said the Big Beautiful Bill is misunderstood.
“Medicaid, the intended purpose, was to help pregnant women, moms and kids, seniors, people with disabilities. And so Congress is slowing it down because they want to make sure that it’s there for the people that really need it,” she said.
A health forum study by the Journal of the American Medical Association found about 1 in 5 eligible adults in states like Pennsylvania may lose Medicaid benefits next year.
Skill games were also a topic of discussion during the debate, following the state Supreme Court’s ruling that they must adhere to Pennsylvania’s crime and gambling statutes.
Garrity said the tax that Shapiro has proposed is too severe and would hurt American Legions, fire halls, VFWs and small businesses.
“They can’t survive at 52%,” she said. “Think about the jobs and all the money that these groups give back to the community, because they are the backbone of Pennsylvania.”
Shapiro said the tax would help transit.
“I would drive those dollars into the general fund, and then use a core chunk of that to fund mass transit across Pennsylvania,” he said.
The most dramatic moments of the debate came when Shapiro suggested Garrity would not certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Garrity responded.
Garrity told a crowd at a Trump rally in 2022, “We know that he won.” She has since walked back those comments.
According to a new Quinnipiac poll, Shapiro is favored by nearly 3 in 5 voters. Garrity lags far behind, supported by 34% of voters.
This was the only gubernatorial debate ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
