Pennsylvania's Turnpike Commission can spend and borrow staggering amounts of money in a single meeting, but it almost never conducts its business in public, enraging lawmakers and transparency advocates alike.

An investigation by the Post-Gazette found the commission's opaque, closed-door approach has been used on multi-million dollar expenditures, billion-dollar bond issues, large contracts, and the largest layoff in the agency’s history. In that instance, turnpike commissioners voted without a single word of public debate to lay off nearly 500 toll collectors and other workers in June.

The Post-Gazette found closed-door sessions followed by breakneck public votes with no debate are par for the course, often with little regard for — and no input from — the people whom those decisions impact. 

Case in point: Records show there was no public debate during the last 11 decisions to raise tolls on the turnpike, a road system that has become one of the nation's most expensive to drive.

THE CONTEXT: The lack of transparency follows an overhaul meant to clean up the agency's practices in the wake of a pay-to-play scandal that saw eight charged, including the turnpike's then-CEO, in 2013. 

Accusations of mismanagement have plagued the system before and after that grand jury probe, but the agency's culture has been slow to change, even under pressure from state officials. 

In an interview with the Post-Gazette, Commission Chairwoman Yassmin Gramian insists there is plenty of deliberation happening between commissioners about official business, but she also confirmed it's happening out of public view.

"I can assure you that before we go to that public meeting there’s a lot of debate and evaluation and assessment that goes on," Gramian said.

But advocates and experts stress the need for open deliberation to avoid violations of the state's transparency-minded Sunshine Act and the disenfranchisement of stakeholders.

"This is public transparency 101," said Terry Mutchler, the first director of the state’s Office of Open Records. "The play is not behind the curtain."

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ABORTION CASE: Twenty-nine years after affirming a woman's right to choose in deciding a Pennsylvania lawsuit against then-Gov. Bob Casey Sr., the U.S. Supreme Court is set to revisit the issue, potentially with very different results. This time, a Mississippi-based abortion case is headed before the court's conservative majority, with implications for Roe V. Wade and abortion rights nationwide, The Guardian reports.

CASE DISMISSED: Charges have been dropped against a former Philadelphia SWAT officer seen pepper-spraying George Floyd protesters on I-676 during a police siege last summer. NBC10 reports a judge dismissed related charges against Richard Paul Nicoletti, saying he was authorized to clear the highway and given pepper spray to do so.

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BARLETTA'S IN: Republican Lou Barletta is running for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, the Associated Press reports, following up on a failed, Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate bid in 2018. Known publicly for his anti-immigrant stance and 2020 election denials, Barletta hopes to get Trump's backing once again. "I'm going to try to earn it," he said.

'NEW DEAL': Senate Democrats have unveiled their spending priorities for some $7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds. The "New Deal for Pennsylvania" plan includes large allocations for education, the economy, public health, and infrastructure. It also includes $100 million for gun violence prevention, per the Capital-Star.