New Jersey's Chris Christie is joining Republican governors -- including fellow Pa neighbor John Kasich in Ohio -- in accepting Medicaid expansion in his state. Tom Corbett is resisting adding more to the health care rolls in Pa, saying it will cost the state too much in out-years.

While Jason Altmire is lobbying for hospitals, his old friend and rival Mark Critz will be lobbying for energy interests. His former campaign manager, Mark Mikus, announced that the former congressman will join the consulting firm where he works, EIS Solutions. Critz bested Altmire in the Democratic primary for the 4th District after GOP mapmakers forced them to run agaisnt one another in the 2012 primary. While Critz, a longtime aide to the late Rep. John P. Murtha, managed to beat Altmire in a close contest, he lost to Keith Rothfus in the general election.   And from The Hill comes the word that Mr. Critz, who will be based in Johnstown, is interested in running again.  We don't expect the same from Mr. Altmire,  who is moving to Jacksonville for his new post with the Florida Blues.  You'll find the Critz press release after the jump:

From the main site:

At a press conference to announce a new fraud hotline this morning, Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb heaped criticism on the mayor's administration, accusing finance department employees of mislabeling funds that came into the police bureau's special events office.

Mr. Lamb, who is running against Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, said the way the city finance department accounted for the funds may have provided the opportunity for fraud. Federal authorities are now investigating allegations that funds were misappropriated from the special events office, which organizes off-duty security jobs for police officers.

At issue is the hundreds of thousands of dollars the city is supposed to recoup in a surcharge to businesses that hire police officers through the special events office, which also is being audited by the controller's office. Businesses also get billed for officers wages, so all of that money was being accounted for in a single line item for premium pay, which is used to pay wages for officers' private security details.

It has the effect of "padding" that line item, allowing the bureau to spend more than it is allocated or providing the opportunity for undetected theft, he said.

"If someone were going to pilfer checks, it would have gone unnoticed because there was still money in those accounts," he said.

You have permission to read this in bed and stay there all week -- the weather's going to be worse than Seth MacFarlane at the Oscars (and like him, due to high ratings probably not going anywhere).

1. The Mod Squad is back with a new story on the FBI probe of the Pittsburgh police, with clerical workers in the special events office complaining they've been unfairly targeted (and put on leave) while other police officials are still on the job. Also, they don't know former mayoral bodyguard Fred Crawford as the mayor's people asserted. In related news a federal judge denied a city attempt to delay a police abuse trial due to the probe and Chief Nate Harper's firing.

2. Moriah Balingit has documents showing police made $6.1 million last year in the secondary employment at the heart of the probe and that doesn't even count the monies paid directly to cops without accounting oversight.

3. Gambling-related crimes are increasing around the Pittsburgh area, such as the one involving an Allegheny Health System official charged Monday with stealing $700K to fuel his gambling habit. PS, Keno!!!

4. There were a bunch of stories out yesterday about the two GOP plans to restructure the way Pa awards its electoral votes but nothing has changed since we last wrote about the plans in December.

5. The ACC gave Pitt a helluva housewarming present for this fall, with the Panthers opening against Free Shoes and closing against The U in the former Backyard Brawl slot.