HARRISBURG, PA − October 8, 2024 − Today, Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) filed discharge petitions on three critical bills that have been stuck in committee due to inaction from Senate Republicans, who have refused to bring these bills and hundreds of others up for a vote. All three bills passed the House with bipartisan support in 2023.
These petitions require the full Senate to vote on whether to move a bill out of committee without a committee vote. For over 15 months, the three bills have sat in Committee without a vote.
The three bills for which Senator Costa filed Discharge Petitions are as follows:
- HB 300, known as the Fairness Act, would protect LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination in Pennsylvania in the areas of housing, education, or access to public accommodations. This bill passed the House of Representatives 102-98 on May 2, 2023, and has sat in the Senate State Government Committee since May 3, 2023.
- HB 714 would close loopholes that allow certain gun purchases to happen without a background check. This bill passed the House of Representatives 109-92 on May 22, 2023, and has sat in the Senate Judiciary Committee since June 2, 2023.
- HB 1018 would establish Emergency Risk Protection Orders so that an individual experiencing a crisis can be temporarily disarmed after a hearing before a Judge. This bill passed the House of Representatives 102-99 on May 22, 2023, and has sat in the Senate Judiciary Committee since June 2, 2023.
“My colleagues and I in the Senate Democratic Caucus will not let bills about community safety and anti-discrimination go down without a fight,” said Senator Costa. “Protecting LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians from hatred in housing, schooling, and community spaces is the bare minimum of what we owe them. Expanding background check requirements for gun purchases will keep firearms out of the hands of bad actors. Emergency Risk Protection Orders will keep people we love alive when they are experiencing a crisis, from veterans to parents to students and beyond.
“As we approach the end of our legislative session, we will do the hard work the Senate Republicans refuse to do in order deliver safety, opportunity, and quality of life to every Pennsylvanian.”
The popularity of these bills flies in the face of the inaction they have seen in the Pennsylvania Senate. A Pew report indicates that 70% of Republicans and 92% of Democrats favor background checks for private firearm and gun show sales. In 2019, an APM Survey indicated that 77% of Americans support Emergency Risk Protection Orders. Over three quarters of US adults want to see legislation protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination per a 2022 study from the University of Chicago. And just today, Spotlight PA noted the popularity of these bills, even across party lines, with 63% of respondents saying they strongly or somewhat agree with an agenda that includes gun safety and nondiscrimination legislation.
With single-digit session days remaining before Sine Die, movement on these popular and bipartisan bills is critical if they are to be signed into law before November 30.
Learn more about the Senate Democrats’ commitment to fighting for every Pennsylvanian here.
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HARRISBURG, PA – August 27, 2024 – Today, Auditor General Tim DeFoor released the results of a performance audit of state contracts and oversight of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) used by Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ (DHS) HealthChoices Medicaid Program.
In response to the findings and framing of this report, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and Senator Art Haywood, Democratic chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, released the following statements:
“This performance audit offered an opportunity for the Auditor General to engage meaningfully in a conversation with the Department of Human Services about protecting patients, local pharmacies, and health practitioners across Pennsylvania,” said Senator Costa. “Instead, we received an audit that fails to capitalize on the work of the House and the Senate and misleads taxpayers regarding industry practices. I am deeply discouraged that we have not harnessed this moment to take on abuses of PBMs, and I certainly anticipate much more work in this space as we move forward to deliver quality, affordable healthcare to every Pennsylvanian.”
“I am very disappointed in the Auditor General. After the tremendous bipartisan legislation to address practices of PBMs that hurt pharmacies he has issued a false audit,” said Senator Art Haywood, Democratic chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. “Instead of auditing the federal and state definition of spread pricing, which we prohibit, he is auditing his own definition. This is an unfortunate abuse of power and unacceptable.”
The Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing about pharmacy deserts and PBMs in April 2024. Footage of the hearing and written testimony from speakers is accessible here.
Read more about the PA Senate Democrats’ commitment to quality, affordable healthcare for every Pennsylvanian here.
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PITTSBURGH, August 9, 2024 – After years of advocacy, on Friday local lawmakers, families and service providers gathered at a local group home to highlight life-changing investments for the intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) communities contained in the new state budget.
This year’s state budget includes a historic $354.8 million in federal and state funding to provide more resources for home and community-based service providers. This includes $280 million to help raise wages for the direct support professionals who care for Pennsylvanians and are the backbone of the system.
“I am so proud that this year’s budget included crucial dollars to support our friends and neighbors with disabilities, and the people who care for them,” said state Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny. “We absolutely must continue the fight to make care affordable and accessible to the ID/A community, and to care for our commonwealth’s caregivers who support them. I look forward to continuing to expand on the great work we’ve done, and I’m grateful to have colleagues and leaders who keep this conversation moving forward.”
In addition to increased funding for services, this year’s budget included $74.8 million to continue the process of clearing the emergency waiting list – ensuring more Pennsylvanians receive the care they need and deserve. That funding builds on the $17 million allocated last year to begin a multi-year effort to eliminate the emergency waiting list.
“For years we have heard from the community and from caregivers that there are needs that we must address,” said Rep. Dan Miller, D-Allegheny and House Majority Whip. “This year’s budget starts to keep the promises we have made and is an important downpayment toward ending waiting lists in our commonwealth. We still have more work to do, but I want to thank the Governor for his leadership in this arena and for being a true champion of the ID/A community.”
The funding increase also increases support for service providers, which aims to improve the overall quality and accessibility of services
“Emmaus Community is a well-recognized provider of quality services for people with intellectual disability and autism,” said Emmaus CEO Karen Jacobsen. “We recognize Dan Miller’s support for community-based services for people with disabilities and we deeply appreciate his and Sen. Costa’s leadership. We are also grateful to Gov. Josh Shapiro for understanding and investing in Intellectual Disability and Autism services!”
These historic financial commitments represent a significant investment in supports for individuals with intellectual disabilities/autism, directly contributing to their ability to lead fulfilling lives in their communities and represent a major step forward toward meeting the needs of this community in Pennsylvania.
“As a family member, I thank Gov. Shapiro and the Pennsylvania legislature for listening to people with intellectual disabilities and autism and families across Pennsylvania and then taking action to include $354 million in the 2024-2025 Budget for the waiting list and rate increases,” said Nancy Murray. “This is the first year of Gov. Shapiro’s multi-year growth strategy, so we still have work to do, but it is a much appreciated first step.”
PITTSBURGH, PA − July 23, 2024 − Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who serves as chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), joined state leaders at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to announce the availability of $10 million in funding for nonprofit organizations to protect the safety and security of their facilities.
With the passage of the 2024-25 budget, the Shapiro-Davis Administration secured twice the amount of funding provided through this program last year to support much-needed planning, training, equipment, and technology upgrades for places of worship, community centers and other nonprofit entities.
“Hate has absolutely no place in Pennsylvania,” Lt. Gov. Davis said. “No matter what you look like, who you love or how you worship, every Pennsylvanian deserves to be safe and feel safe in their community. With the additional $5 million investment that the Shapiro-Davis Administration secured in this year’s budget, even more nonprofit organizations will have the resources they need to keep their members and visitors safe from threats and acts of violence.”
Speakers Include:
Shawn Brokos, Pittsburgh Jewish Federation
LT. Gov Davis
Senator Jay Costa
Representative Dan Frankel
Representative Abigail Salisbury
Tree of Life CEO Carole Zawatsky
Harrisburg, PA − July 11, 2024 – Today, the Pennsylvania Senate and House passed a $47.59B dollar budget that makes significant investments in basic education, higher education, public safety, health and human services, and economic development.
Senator Jay Costa, Senate Democratic Leader, and Senator Vincent Hughes, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, said the following about Pennsylvania’s new budget:
“I am happy to report that today, we passed a budget bill, a school code, a tax code, and a fiscal code. Our discussions these past few weeks were very productive, and the Senate Democratic Caucus was proud to fight for a number of our priorities,” said Senator Costa. “This budget makes significant investments in the issues Pennsylvanians find important and impactful. We have invested over $1 billion new dollars into pre-k to 12 education funding, and a $900 million increase to address our education adequacy needs and basic education funding. In the space of economic development, there is over $45 million for new programs that support new jobs and businesses, including funding for the PA SITES program. We also got a $40 million increase for affordable housing through the PHARE Housing Program over 4 years. I am personally very proud that we doubled our investment in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to a total of $10 million to protect the spaces in our communities that serve vulnerable groups. There is so much more to celebrate, and also much more work to do to deliver for every Pennsylvanian. I am so grateful for my colleagues and staff for getting this budget over the finish line.”
“This budget makes a historic downpayment on our responsibility to fix Pennsylvania’s education funding system with an increase of over $1B for Pre-K to 12 education funding,” said Senator Hughes. “I along with a number of advocates, educators, and students have been in the fight to fix Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional education system for 10 years, and tonight we’re taking an important step forward to right that egregious wrong. Our work isn’t finished but this budget marks a significant milestone for Pennsylvania’s public education system.
I’m also proud to see the Commonwealth move forward with long overdue investments and reform for our higher education system. Democrats started leading on this issue in 2017 with our PA Promise plan and then requirements on higher ed transparency and accountability. We’ve finally got something across the finish line that will improve access and affordability for students and families, and ultimately improve our workforce. It’s gratifying to see the groundwork we started to lay 7 years ago with PA Promise result in a serious change for PA higher education.
Overall, we’re delivering big increases for education, affordable housing, public safety, and a number of new investments in economic development initiatives. The investments we’re making in this budget will have a significant impact on opportunities and growth for Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth. Of course, with a divided government, there’s more that Democrats will be fighting for as we make future appropriations, but we’ve made a solid stride forward with what we’ve passed today.”
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HARRISBURG, PA − July 11, 2024 − Today, Governor Josh Shapiro signed SB 219, State Senator Jay Costa’s Longtime Owner Occupant Tax Exemption Program (LOOP), into law. Now Act 53 of 2024, this program will allow Pittsburgh’s mayor and city council to exempt or defer increases in property taxes for people who have lived in homes they own for a certain period of time in certain neighborhoods where the property values have skyrocketed.
“After years of advocacy and listening to the needs of Pittsburgh, I am so happy to be celebrating the signing of LOOP into law today,” said Democratic Leader Jay Costa. “I look forward to seeing the impact of Act 53 of 2024 in the City of Pittsburgh – making sure the people who built our communities can stay in their communities.”
Text of the legislation is accessible online here.
Learn more about the history of the LOOP Legislation at SenatorCosta.com/LOOP.
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