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In this Update:
Senate Approves Plan to Offer Additional Year of Education Due to COVID-19 |
Parents would have the option to allow their children to repeat a grade level due to the learning disruptions created by COVID-19 under a bill approved by the Senate this week.
In current practice, the decision on whether to hold a student back is made solely by the child’s school and teachers. Senate Bill 664 would give parents the option to make that decision for the 2021-22 school year since they are in the best position to gauge their child’s development and educational needs after students have spent much of the past year learning at home.
It would also allow parents to extend enrollment in special education programs for an extra year, preventing students with special needs from being aged out of the system at age 21.
Rallied to Protect the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
This week I rallied to protect the constitutional rights of law-abiding Pennsylvania firearm owners and fight any possible infringement from the federal government.
You own this government and you set the framework of this government. Since 1791, no changes have been made to the Pennsylvania Constitution except by the express will and vote of the people! That’s the way it should stay in a free Republic such as ours.
The rally promoted my bill – Senate Bill 624 – that prohibits state and local government officials from enforcing any new federal gun restriction laws, regulations and executive orders enacted after Dec. 31 that are in conflict with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. This bill ensures that if anyone in a governmental position usurps your authority – they will pay a price.
Senate Acts to Preserve Prescription Drug Assistance for Seniors
The Senate adopted a plan that will allow thousands of older Pennsylvanians to retain eligibility for prescription drug assistance.
PACE and PACENET are the state’s prescription drug assistance programs that provide life-sustaining medications to 257,000 seniors. Eligibility for the programs are based on income. The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2021 is estimated to result in almost 5,100 PACE and PACENET cardholders exceeding the income eligibility limits, meaning those seniors will lose their benefits.
Senate Bill 323 extends the current moratorium on increases in income due to a Social Security COLA for PACE and PACENET enrollees for two additional years until Dec. 31, 2023, benefitting 17,800 seniors.
DuBois Regional Airport to Receive $450,000 in State Funds for Facility Improvements
The
DuBois Regional Airport (DRA) will receive $450,000 in state funds
toward the improvement of its facilities. This is a strategic investment
in the local economy and in the jobs created in the surrounding area.
The DRA has earned this. Over the past several years, with their
partnership with Southern Airways giving access to Pittsburg and
Baltimore Washington airports and the effective use they've made of
local government funds, the airport has become a key factor for
companies looking to invest in our area. Enhancing the airport enhances
the region.
The facilities being improved include hangars,
administration building and other airport structures. The grants are
funded through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Aviation
Transportation Assistance Program, which is dedicated to improving the
state’s aviation infrastructure. Funds totaling $10 million were awarded
to 12 airports around the state.
Measure to Boost Donations for Breast Cancer Research Passed by Senate
The Senate approved legislation that would allow individuals renewing vehicle registrations or driver’s licenses to include an optional $5 donation to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition.
An estimated 2,000 women in Pennsylvania and 42,170 women nationwide will die from breast cancer this year, and one in eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.
The Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition has been leading the fight against breast cancer since 1993. Throughout the years, PBCC has spent more than 1,500 hours on patient advocacy and contributed more than $4.5 million to breast cancer researchers in Pennsylvania.
Tuesday: Emergency Declaration Questions on the Primary Election Ballot
As I’ve reported to you in previous updates, the May 18 primary election features two proposed constitutional amendments to improve Pennsylvania’s emergency declaration process. There has been a great deal of confusion about what the amendments would accomplish.
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions:
Will voting YES on the amendments immediately end the current emergency declaration?
No. Voting YES would give lawmakers the opportunity to collaborate with the Executive Branch to avoid many of the negative consequences we have seen as a result of Governor Wolf’s unilateral actions.
Is the General Assembly able to meet quickly enough to respond to emergencies?
Absolutely. The PA General Assembly proved its ability to move quickly after the governor’s COVID-19 shutdown orders, becoming the nation’s first legislature to meet virtually. Lawmakers quickly delayed the primary election, authorized small business assistance, enacted local government emergency provisions, removed school mandates and ensured healthcare workers had PPE.
Can the General Assembly meet frequently enough to extend emergency declarations every 21 days?
Yes. Senate and House leaders can alter the schedule to accommodate votes to extend an emergency declaration every three weeks, if necessary.
Would the state risk losing federal money for food assistance and other emergency funding if the amendments are approved?
No. Legislative leaders intend to work with the governor cooperatively and in the best interests of the people of Pennsylvania to preserve access to federal emergency relief funding, while protecting lives and livelihoods.
Will these amendments apply only to the current governor?
No. This would apply to all future governors, Republicans and Democrats.
Will
these amendments stop the waivers which have provided pharmacies,
hospitals and other human service agencies to serve those in need?
No.
This would only help bring Pennsylvania's governors to the table to
work on these issues as well as every aspect of how the government's
response to an emergency impacts our citizens. (An excellent example is
when the legislature was able to create the vaccine task force and the
Departments of Health and Human Services finally worked with
legislators. This took us from the bottom 5% of states to the top ten
in just a few short weeks.)
You can find more information, including ballot wording and opinions from around the state, here.
PA Set to Transition to New Unemployment Compensation System
The
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Unemployment
Compensation system is finally ready to move on from outdated technology
and will transition to a new system May 30-June 7, with the new system
going live June 8.
The
system will be offline for several days during next month’s transition
from an outdated, 40-year-old system to a modern software solution, but
department officials say the planned timeline has been positioned to
allow most individuals to file their biweekly claims as scheduled.
While
in the House Labor Committee for the previous six years we've been
working on holding the Department's feet to the fire. It took much too
long but I hope we've finally crossed the bridge to where we have a
functional and efficient system for processing and tracking claims. If
any of you have issues with the new system once the roll-out takes
place, as always, please reach out to my offices and let us know what
you are experiencing. We expect there to be bugs that have to be worked
out and if you let us know quickly it is my hope they can be worked out
quickly.
Find out about disruptions this will cause, and access user guides and virtual workshops, here.
No Answers from Administration on Data Breach Affecting 72,000
The
Senate Communications and Technology Committee convened a public
hearing Tuesday to seek answers about a massive data breach of personal
health data impacting more than 72,000 Pennsylvanians.
If you
provided information to a contact tracer during the pandemic your
personal information may have been compromised and I strongly urge you
to closely monitor your credit.
After initially agreeing to testify, Department of Health public officials said they would not testify nor answer questions from members. The committee also invited the third-party vendor that was awarded the $22.9 million state contract for COVID-19 contact tracing, but the company did not participate.
The committee conducted the hearing to read questions into the record and announced it will evaluate all legal options to get answers for impacted citizens.
Taking Time to Honor our Police Officers
National Police Week runs through Saturday, but recognizing the risk police officers face is a year-round obligation.
Citizens elect lawmakers to pass laws, and society needs police officers to enforce them. It’s a dangerous, often thankless job that has to be done, and it takes a special kind of person to step into that role. Please join me in thanking our local police for vital service they provide to our communities.
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