HARRISBURG – October 15, 2021 – Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) announced today that $5,290,908 has been awarded to three local low-income housing development projects.
“Safe, stable, and affordable housing should be available to every person in Pennsylvania. I am very pleased and supportive of the fact that substantial investments into low-income and affordable housing are being made in our communities. I will continue advocating for funding of low-income housing projects on the state level and advocating for the right of every Pennsylvanian to have a safe place to lay their heads at night,” Costa said.
Projects that received funding include:
- Hawkins Village Redevelopment Phase II – $2,138,326
- Development of 22 two-story buildings with 51 total units, with six being accessible units and four will have ACC assistance.
- Edgewood Retirement Residence – $2,342,478
- New construction of four-story building of 48 units, six of which will be accessible, for seniors 62 and above.
- Wood Towers – $810,104
- Preservation and rehabilitation of high-rise building with 97 units, 10 of which will be accessible.
Funding comes through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority (PHFA) Low Income Housing Tax Credits, as well as the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE/HTF) through Pennsylvania’s allocation of National Housing Trust Funds.
For more information on PHFA programs visit phfa.org.
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Harrisburg – September 23, 2021 – State Senate Democrats issued the following statement announcing the filing of an application for relief in Commonwealth Court in response to the Senate Republican subpoena of the Department of State, including the request of sensitive personal data of voters:
“Our application for relief requests a delay to the October 1, 2021 response deadline included in the subpoena issued to the Department of State and also seeks to enjoin the Senate Republicans from entering into any binding contract that would commit taxpayer funds to a third-party vendor until such time as the court makes a ruling on the lawsuit we filed last week.
This is a critical step in protecting taxpayer dollars from waste and inappropriate expenditures until the court has an opportunity to consider the legality of the subpoena. Waiting for the courts to review and rule on the subject is warranted due to the sensitive nature of the information being sought, particularly given the very real public concerns that have been raised surrounding privacy concerns.
Notwithstanding any one party’s personal viewpoints, we should all agree that the gravity of this matter constitutes serious and thoughtful consideration.”
A copy of the filing can be found HERE.
The Democratic members of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee are Caucus Whip Anthony H. Williams, Committee Chair; Caucus Leader Jay Costa; Caucus Appropriations Chair Vincent J. Hughes; and Caucus Judiciary Chair Steven J. Santarsiero.
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Harrisburg – September 17, 2021 – The Democratic members of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee issued the following statement announcing a lawsuit filed today against a Senate Republican subpoena of the Department of State, including the request of sensitive personal data of voters:
“The latest ploy by the Senate Republicans is unprecedented and completely unwarranted. All aspects of the certified 2020 election have been thoroughly reviewed and adjudicated in the courts with no findings of irregularities or fraud. The timeframe to contest the 2020 certified election results is long overdue.
The unprecedented maneuver of collecting the sensitive personal information of millions of voters without their consent, including Social Security information and driver’s license, for political purposes is unjustifiable and a gross misuse of taxpayer resources. The fact that they will not share how that personal information will be stored, used or who will have access to it is astonishing.
Our lawsuit seeks a declaration from the court that it is a violation of Pennsylvania law to convene a legislative standing committee to issue subpoenas for multiple election records, including private voter information, to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing or to confirm election results. The Judiciary has the exclusive power over the trial and determination of contested elections under the Pennsylvania Constitution and the state Election Code. A legislative effort to use taxpayer funds to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing or to confirm election results violates the separation of powers doctrine where the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee simply has no statutory authority to proceed in this manner.
The consequences are dire; the committee’s subpoena requests for private voter information applicable to each and every voter in the Commonwealth, which will be provided to an undisclosed third-party vendor with no prescribed limits or protection. Simply put, Senate Republicans seek to go on a fishing expedition for clearly partisan purposes, despite the fact that the Secretary of the Commonwealth, working in concert with the county Boards of Election, has undertaken a thorough review of the election, as has the bipartisan Senate Special Committee on Election Integrity and Reform.
Senate Democrats will continue the fight to protect the identity of private citizens and their right to vote without intimidation. This is nothing more than an inexcusable attempt to erode public trust in our electoral process. We must not sacrifice the most fundamental principal of our democracy so that some may pursue political gain by perpetuating the Big Lie that this election was somehow stolen.
The Democratic members of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee are Caucus Whip Anthony H. Williams, Committee Chair; Caucus Leader Jay Costa; Caucus Appropriations Chair Vincent J. Hughes; and Caucus Judiciary Chair Steven J. Santarsiero.
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Harrisburg – September 15, 2021 – Following today’s Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee hearing, of which had one agenda item- Consideration of a motion to authorize the issuance of subpoenas- Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Democratic Chair of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee, Anthony H. Williams, and committee members Vincent J. Hughes and Steve Santarsiero held a press conference to discuss legal action they will take to challenge Republican members’ call for confidential data from the Department of State, including a complete list containing the names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and last four digits of social security numbers of all registered voters within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as of May 1, 2021.
Lawsuits filed by Senate Democrats will be in direct response to Senate Republicans’ far-reaching subpoena, which they argue is a violation of the separation of powers. The forthcoming lawsuit will ask the courts to confirm that the Senate is not the place to conduct an untimely election contest or to undertake an audit that will force election officials to violate federal law and invade the privacy of each and every Pennsylvania voter. The Senate does not have authority to perform either. Senate Democrats will also request to have courts protect the secrecy of ballots, which is a constitutional protection in Pennsylvania, as well as additional personal voter information Senate Republicans are seeking. The committee members also plan to file an injunction against the subpoena, asking the court to hold those until their lawsuit is heard in court.
“Facts are facts, and the law is non-negotiable. Unfortunately for Senate Republicans, those realities don’t bode well for them in this investigation. Despite their quest to engage in a partisan exercise that wastes taxpayer resources and only seeks to prove a Big Lie about an election that has already been audited and certified, our goal is not to make this a Democrat vs. Republican fight. Our goal is to follow the law at both the state and federal level,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa. “I really regret to see Senator Corman commit more and more to this path that he himself admitted was wrong back in 2020. We must not sacrifice the most fundamental principal of our democracy-fair and equal elections- so that some may pursue political gain by perpetuating the Big Lie that this election was stolen.”
Senator Dush confirmed he has yet to determine who will handle the millions of records he’s requesting or how the investigation will use the copious amounts of data. He did confirm the investigation would be paid for with taxpayer money, yet he is unwilling to share publicly about vendors he’s vetting. Decisions related to the investigation will be made with his partisan “team” of legal counsel and potentially with GOP colleagues. If millions of personal records are subpoenaed from the Secretary of State, they will be held by Republican counsel, although no details were shared on how those records would stay secure against physical or digital breach. The hearing concluded with a 7-4 vote along party lines in favor of the subpoena, with two Republican members who actively tried to overturn the 2020 election results voting “yes”.
“What transpired at our first hearing should concern everyone involved,” said Senate Democratic Whip and ranking member of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee, Anthony H. Williams. “And if the first hearing wasn’t enough to warrant concern, consider now Senate Republicans are asking for personal information of millions of people across the commonwealth with no plan for how they will keep the data secure, how they will use it to investigate their conspiracy theory, or who will be responsible for cleaning up the mess if there is a data breach. So, while Senate Republicans play this dangerous game with our democracy and the personal information of Pennsylvanians, Senate Democrats will stay on the side of the law and truth. I hope our colleagues eventually join us.”
“We do not need personal information to draft legislation. That fact, along with so many others clearly shows this so-called investigation represents corruption at every turn,” added Senator Vincent Hughes, who is a committee member and Democratic Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We’ve had one witness in this investigation so far. He was presented as a concerned county official, but during his testimony we learned he’d been in contact with elected officials in 2020 trying to overturn fair and credible election results. Now our committee is issuing subpoenas for personal voter records related to an election that has been audited several times and certified. I question what Senate Republicans hope the outcome of all this is. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and all I’ve seen so far is a lot of smoke that leads back to one Big Lie from a former President who lost in Pennsylvania. The evidence of Republican attempts to overturn the results of a legitimate election is growing.”
Less than a week ago, Republican Chair of the Intergovernmental Operation Committee, Senator Chris Dush, convened a hearing with just one witness: Commissioner and Chair of the Fulton County Board of Election Stuart Ulsh. During his testimony it was revealed Commissioner Ulsh emailed Senator Judy Ward and Representative Jesse Topper from his private email account on November 9, 2020, stating, “The people are asking who all is in this fight with Senator Mastriano. It couldn’t hurt the Trump campaign if our state Representatives all got involved. If we don’t stop this election problems next will be worse. If there were 109 house and 27 senate with Senator Mastriano it would be a big help. The people need this. Respect their vote.”
“The Republicans’ subpoena is a brazen attempt to use public taxpayer dollars to fund a partisan effort to contest the 2020 election,” said committee member and ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Steve Santarsiero. “This is absolutely an attack on the freedom to vote, where the confidential, personal information of 7 million Pennsylvanians is being given to private entities that are accountable to no one other than the Senate Republican caucus. It was revealed today that it is possible one or more of these vendors could have been in the employ of either Donald Trump or someone associated with his campaign or supporting his campaign. This lack of transparency and accountability should worry every Pennsylvanian and every American. As to the information that came out of last week’s hearing, we are calling on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the activities that unfolded in Fulton County in December of 2020, which apparently involved granting partisan consultant access to sensitive voter information without a public vote. These activities need to be investigated for potential violations of federal law.”
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Harrisburg, PA − September 10, 2021 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa today issued the following statement in response to President Pro Tempore’s Jake Corman’s announcement on 2020 election investigation:
“Senate Democrats stand for protecting an individual’s right to vote. The Senate Republicans announcement today of their intention to issue unlawful subpoenas and “to take other steps necessary to get access to ballots and other voting materials” is shocking and a blatant disregard of a voter’s constitutional right that their ballot is secret.
The Senate Republicans announcement completely contradicts what their own committee chairman stated on the record yesterday about how this is not about the rehashing last year’s election, but rather looking forward to see what needs to be changed in our state election laws. This is their latest attempt to disenfranchise voters and undermine the integrity of our electoral system.
I find it disgraceful that Senate Republicans have chosen to waste precious time and resources at the expense of taxpayers calling into question the legitimacy of an election in which the rest of this Commonwealth and nation has put behind them. It is time to move forward and get down to doing the people’s business. It’s time for us to focus on real issues affecting real people.”
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