Amid cuts and chaos, PA Democratic leaders are hunting for 'guardrails'

PA Secretary of Policy and Planning, Akbar Hossain and PA House Majority Leader, Matt Bradford

By Eileen Kenna

Guardrails. They’re not just about highways anymore.

That was the message delivered by two key Pennsylvania officials who spoke about the current state of Pennsylvania and federal politics at the April 2nd meeting of the Sunday Breakfast Club hosted at the Fitler Club.

The framing question posed by moderator Chris Satullo was:

What can the state of Pennsylvania do to curb the impact its residents will feel from the cuts and the chaos now emanating from Washington?  The federal layoffs, program cuts, and grant cancellations being pushed by Elon Musk and his team potentially affect every aspect of the Commonwealth’s budget.

State Rep. Matt Bradford, Democratic House majority leader since 2023, defined his most important guardrail as: “Winning the U.S. House. We need to control the U.S. House, full stop.”

In addition, local elections, from school boards to mayors, to judgeships, matter more than ever, he said.  Each offers a potential guardrail to curb some impact of the Trump agenda.

Bradford, who represents the 70th District in Montgomery County, was joined by Akbar Hossain, secretary of policy and planning in Shapiro’s cabinet, who, many years ago, was an intern in Bradford’s office.

Both officials reported they’re struggling daily to keep up with the rapid-fire mandates and missives flying out of Washington, D.C.

“What worries me is the orange elephant in the room on the federal level,” said Hossain, who holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and formerly was a white-collar government investigations attorney at Morgan Lewis.

( Born in Bangladesh, Hossain's family came to the United States legally when he was a child via the Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery - also known as the Green Card Lottery. “We literally won the lottery,” he said.)

Both officials expressed concerns about many federal programs under threat now, especially Medicaid, the federal insurance program that benefits the poor, disabled, children, and nursing-home elderly, among others.

Today the state’s $120 billion budget includes $50 billion from the federal government, Hossain said.  And $30 billion of that directly supports Medicaid and related health programs. If even 10 percent of that federal contribution were to be cut - and state officials still don’t know what will happen - there’s “no way the state can make that up,” Hossain said. 

If the worst happens, nearly two million people in Pennsylvania either will lose their medical insurance or the federal subsidy that helps them pay for it, Bradford said.

Bradford, who lives in Worcester Township, Montgomery County, concurred that chaos and uncertainty are being sown in many directions from the federal level. He said his main goal in the state House, where Democrats hold a one-vote majority, is this: “We’re going to govern without chaos and without drama and we are going to show a better way.”

He acknowledged that a big chunk of the electorate is very unhappy with the events of 2025: “The grassroots, to put it mildly, is pissed.”  This was demonstrated the following weekend by the thousands who marched across the country to the theme of “Hands Off” education,  federal jobs, scientific research, Social Security, and Medicare, to mention just some of the issues painted on marchers’ signs. 

Bradford said he won’t minimize the reality that Democrats’ approval levels are “absolutely crap right now.

“The far left is mad at us because we’re not progressive and antagonistic enough towards the administration,” he said. “The moderates feel we’re too woke and too weird. Me, I think it might be both." 

But some good things did happen in the last state legislative session, he said, pointing to increased education funding that helped bring some financial relief to urban school districts like Philadelphia and Norristown. The latter sits just across County Line Road from Bradford's own affluent school district of Methacton, but facilities and resources in the two systems, he said, are miles apart.  He also noted that the amount of relief provided was not enough and needs to continue increasing in the future. And he’s not just saying that “as some progressive, Democratic politician.”

“We had a Republican commonwealth court judge say the funding inequities we had were unconstitutional. I would also argue that it’s immoral,” Bradford said. “It’s great to work with a governor who shares our values on this.” 

Addressing the chaos, Hossain said he doesn’t understand the “strategy” of firing federal workers from multiple agencies, people “who are doing good work for the government.” He pointed to the Department of Education as just one example of the slash-and-burn approach led by Musk’s so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" or DOGE.

“You have an incredible number of individuals lose their jobs and then have them sign up for unemployment compensation. It doesn’t make any sense,” Hossain said, shaking his head.

Bradford and Hossain noted that the state is encouraging laid-off and fired federal workers to come work for the Commonwealth. For most state positions, Hossain said,  Shapiro has changed the rules, so they won’t need a four-year college degree to be hired.

As for immigration enforcement, both officials expressed concerns about the deportation of refugees and immigrants, but agreed there’s little the state can do about it.

“Immigration is a federal role,’ Hossain said. “While we’ll continue to support immigrants already here, and want to do more, there’s a struggle because we do not have the authority to stop ICE.”

Bradford said helping Democrats wrestle back control of the U.S. House is vital if the party ever hopes to get enough Electoral College votes to win another presidential election.

“Pennsylvania is the ultimate bellwether state,” Bradford said, noting that formerly "purple" Florida and Ohio likely are in the red-state column for the foreseeable future. “We need to keep Pennsylvania in play. And we have to govern well.”

Answering audience questions, Bradford and Hossain touched on threats to freedom of speech, DEI programs, and research grant cancellations at Penn, many other universities, and at the National Institute of Health.

“Our universities have to make really tough decisions,” Hossain said. “Penn lost $175 million.  Can Penn deal with a few million in cuts for one year? Probably. But indefinitely? Highly unlikely.”

Asked to share his immigrant story, Hossain said he feels his is not unusual, but it’s “the American story.” After his family emigrated from Bangladesh to Norristown on Sept. 9, 2001 (“two days before 9-11,” he noted) it took a village to help support his mother after his father, who had been working three jobs, died while Hossain was in the eighth grade.  After that, he recalled that “elders” in the Black community generously offered his mother financial help either to return to her home country or to be able to stay in Norristown and “get back on her feet.” His mother chose the latter path, for which he is grateful. 

“That was my first experience of the power of community,” he recalled.  "I sit here tonight as the highest-ranking Muslim official in this administration because my mother wanted to realize the  dream she and my father had, which was to raise highly successful kids,”

He added in an amused voice that his mother isn’t as enamored of his government job as he might like her to be: “I remember the horror on her face when I told her I’m going to leave my law firm and work for the government. … She continues to remind me that her friends can now Google my salary.”

Neither Hossain nor Bradford attempted to sugarcoat the current state of affairs, noting that gerrymandering, the “lost” U.S. Senate, and other factors make for a hard road ahead.

That'll remain true, Bradford said, “as long as there are enablers or apologists who pretend to be moderate Republicans but show no ability to fight the current administration. When Susan Collins [veteran Republican senator from Maine] doesn’t have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump, she should be defeated."

Making no apologies for being high on Pennsylvania's incumbent governor, Bradford said he feels confident that Josh Shapiro is the right leader for this moment.

“Democrats need to understand we’re in a real fight,” he said. “This governor has a very bright future. We need to show that we can govern well in a purple state. We can govern smartly without all the craziness, and we can be an example to the rest of the country.”