Squirrel Hill, Pa. − May 9, 2019 − Members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate stood together today outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh to announce plans for legislation that will address hate crimes.
“Hate crimes are on the rise, and as leaders, we have the opportunity to modernize our legal system to address that fact,” said Representative Dan Frankel. “My constituents, including the many people affected by the attack on the congregations at Tree of Life, are begging us to do something to help keep them safe. I believe that we can come together to answer that call, beginning with this package of legislation.”
“The Tree of Life tragedy last fall shone a light on the shortcomings in Pennsylvania law relating to hate crimes and ethnic intimidation. Unfortunately, it was not the first and may not be the last crime committed in the Commonwealth fueled by hate,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “After reviewing current laws and talking to various state and local agencies, we have identified many deficiencies in our state statutes and have plans to address them.”
“We have to do something if we want behavior to change,” said Representative Ed Gainey. “We have an obligation to protect people at all times. If we work together, we can accomplish this. The one thing we know for certain, and history has proven this, when we come together, there’s nothing we can’t change.”
The bills are aimed at creating a comprehensive defense against hate crimes. Bills will be introduced in both the House and Senate and have already garnered bipartisan support. They will:
- Provide the Attorney General with Concurrent Jurisdiction in Crimes Involving Ethnic Intimidation
- Require Hate Crimes Offenders to Complete Diversity Classes and Allowing Community Impact Statements
- Mandate MPOETC Training on Investigating, Identifying and Reporting Crimes of Ethnic Intimidation
- Create a Private Right of Action for Civil Rights Violation
- Institute a Reporting System for Postsecondary Institutions
- Begin a hate groups database
Cosponsorship memos for the Senate legislation are attached here.
Harrisburg, Pa. − May 7, 2019 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. congratulated Elliot Howsie on his confirmed appointment to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.
Howsie was appointed by Governor Tom Wolf following Senator Costa’s recommendation and was today confirmed by the full Senate unanimously.
“I was honored to recommend Elliot through this process, and we saw he had a broad range of support from folks who have worked with him for years or just recently met him,” said Senator Costa. “Elliot has the unique blend of work and life experience that will make him a valuable addition to the bench. I know he’ll be a wonderful judge and administer fair justice in his new role.”
Howsie grew up in Wilkinsburg, and after graduating from Central Catholic High School, he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in criminal justice.
As he pursued his master’s degree in criminal justice, Elliot worked in social services teaching decision making and reintegration skills to the children at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.
Elliot went on to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for five years in the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, where he focused on prosecuting cases involving child abuse. After leaving the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, he established his own law firm. He worked as a sole practitioner specializing in criminal defense as well as personal injury cases in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
In 2012, he was appointed by Allegheny County Executive, Rich Fitzgerald, to be Allegheny County’s first African American Chief Public Defender.
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Pittsburgh, PA − May 2, 2019 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) issued the following reaction to a recent tweet from a Pennsylvania House member comparing union pipeline construction workers to Nazis:
“It is disappointing and unacceptable for anyone to refer to hardworking, union men and women who are engaged in pipeline building as “Nazis.” The men and women doing the work on the pipelines are the backbone of America: highly-trained, skilled professionals whose top priority is safety and security.
“The union workers are interested in safe, high-quality craftsmanship in pipeline development which helps ensure safety for all citizens and communities. As critical, their dedication and professionalism holds pipeline construction companies accountable to higher quality standards.”
Harrisburg, Pa. − April 30, 2019 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. announced today that the Pennsylvania School Safety and Security Fund awarded $350,000 to the Community Empowerment Association, Inc. to fund its work in violence prevention and the treatment of trauma.
“Violence is a comprehensive problem in our communities and it requires a comprehensive solution. That’s why I was proud to recommend Community Empowerment Association because I know their long history of work in this space,” said Senator Costa. “I’m impressed by the plans CEA has for assessment and addressing the prevention of violence, but also treating its effects and traumas when it does happen. We know that we cannot eradicate violence, and it’s important that we care for victims too.”
Through its initiative, CEA will conduct a comprehensive evaluation and assessment that will help disclose the strengths of the youth and families as well as adverse childhood experiences that are identified. CEA focuses its intervention and prevention strategies using a strength-based approach, utilizing the principles of trauma informed care, respected culturally appropriateness, trust and empowerment.
This project intends to teach participants how to cope with historically painful and strained experiences; implement a Multi-Media Training regarding undesirable impact of violence and how to help avert or stop violence; incorporate the Public Health approach in order to significantly improve the relationship between families, residents and the local police force; complete Community Education Forums and Focus Groups, which extends the community-wide collaborative relationships for violence prevention among families, residents and the police.
This project also intends to implement family engagement efforts and persuade participants to go beyond accumulation of knowledge and understanding to subsequent active engagement in violence prevention task; and will conduct a Community Wide Summit which will generate a resident group consented action plan for decreasing violence in the community, homes and schools.
This project will reach at least 5,000 individuals and families, with a special focus on low-income, marginalized communities – East Liberty, Lincoln-Lemington, Garfield, Homewood, Wilkinsburg, Penn Hills, Braddock, Rankin and McKeesport areas of the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
“Last year, we in state government decided that had seen enough violence in our schools and communities and created a grant program for schools and organizations to make their facilities and neighborhoods safer,” said Senator Costa. “Our community stepped up and submitted worthy applications for these grants to reduce violence and I’m anxious to see their work brought to fruition.”
Act 44 of 2018 created a School Safety and Security Fund for the purposes of providing funding to school districts for school safety and security concerns and addressing community violence. $60 million was put into the fund with $7.5 million for community anti-violence programs and the remaining 52.5 million for school safety.
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Harrisburg, Pa. − April 30, 2019 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. announced today $350,000 in state grant funding in a violence prevention initiative for the Woodland Hills School District communities in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Action Against Rape.
“Last year, we in state government decided that had seen enough violence in our schools and communities and created a grant program for schools and organizations to make their facilities and neighborhoods safer,” said Senator Costa. “Our community stepped up and submitted worthy applications for these grants to reduce violence and I’m anxious to see their work brought to fruition.”
Pittsburgh Action Against Rape will deliver a comprehensive approach to reducing sexual violence by primarily working with WHSD and continued work in the community through the parents and community members of the district.
“When we created these grants, I made it a priority to ensure that Woodland Hills and the surrounding area got the funds they need for anti-violence programming,” said Senator Costa. “I also want to thank the Pittsburgh Action Against Rape for taking the lead in developing this project.”
The proposed programs include an after-school program for K-6 th grade, two days a week; social norms group; Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM); Athletes Leading Change (ALC); Parents in the Know (PITK) trainings to other professionals, and the use of a Community Readiness Model (CRAM), which measures a community’s readiness to change.
These programs will serve up to 3,500 students and 600 adults, as well as surrounding communities with an estimated population of 21,000 individuals
This project will deliver a comprehensive approach to reducing sexual violence by primarily working with WHSD youth and continued work in the community to the parents and community members of the district. Prevention work will be done on multiple levels including evidence- and research-based programming to youth in the school district through afterschool programs, working with parents, male and female athletes, trainings of professions within the school district and systems in the feeder municipalities.
Programs to students will be done through classroom presentations, after-school programming, small group work with male and female athletes, and community work with parents and caregivers. Programs will focus on social norms to increase bystander intervention skills, awareness of trauma focused services available to victims and their families and increase and identify resiliency factors in students.
Act 44 of 2018 created a School Safety and Security Fund for the purposes of providing funding to school districts for school safety and security concerns and addressing community violence. $60 million was put into the fund with $7.5 million for community anti-violence programs and the remaining 52.5 million for school safety.
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Harrisburg, PA − April 29, 2019 − At a press event earlier today at the State Capitol, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced his decision for the state to join the U.S. Climate Alliance, and offered his support for Senators Steve Santarsiero and Art Haywood’s Senate Bill 600.
The United States Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Led by state governments, the alliance facilitates state cooperation to accelerate the deployment of climate solutions to help each state achieve its climate goals.
“We’ve seen lately even more evidence that there is a need for leadership on climate change. For that reason, Pennsylvania will join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors, representing over half of the U.S. population to work to implement policies that uphold the commitments our nation made in the Paris Agreement,” said Governor Wolf.
Senate Bill 600 modernizes the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) for the first time since 2004. Specifically, the legislation:
- Expands the AEPS Tier I requirement from 8% to 30% by 2030, including 7.5% for in-state grid-scale solar and 2.5% for in-state distributed generation solar;
- Directs the PUC to study the benefits of a renewable energy storage program;
- Provides for several protections that control costs for electricity customers, including long-term contracting, fixed ACP payments, and a 15-year lifetime limit for generating eligible SRECs for solar projects.
“Make no mistake, when the history of our era is written, global climate change will be identified as the number one issue,” said Senator Santarsiero. “Future generations will judge us based on what we do or don’t do on that issue. Passing SB 600 is a critical step if we’re going to make Pennsylvania a leader in combating global climate change.”
“In spite of rapid global climate change, the federal government is moving to deregulate and lessen the protections we have for our air and water,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “We must do everything we can at the state level to protect this planet. That means joining the US Climate Alliance and pushing legislation like SB600.”
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