Pa. Attorney General approves $1 million settlement for upgrades at Gov. Shapiro’s home

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General announced on Friday that it was authorizing a settlement agreement to pay contractors who upgraded security at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private Montgomery County home. After an arsonist attacked the Governor’s Mansion last year, Shapiro had about $1 million in security upgrades installed at his home, including a new security system and landscaping. In April, Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican who will be Shapiro’s opponent in the fall general election, stated that her department lacked the legal authority to pay for the $1 million in upgrades. The AG’s office questioned why the upgrades to Shapiro’s private home were not included in a request for taxpayer dollars for $30 million in security upgrades and repairs at the Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg. The AG’s decision to move forward with the settlement agreement was not made out of the necessity for the security upgrades or "the wisdom behind them," but rather the need to pay the contractors and avoid costly legal proceedings. The AG’s office also condemned all acts of political violence and said it is "critical that Pennsylvania’s laws be updated to ensure the safety of all public officials serving today and in the future."

(Source：Pennlive)