Harrisburg, Pa. − February 13, 2018 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa fully supports Governor Wolf’s decision to reject the maps presented to him last week by just two Republican members.
“A proposal that makes districts slightly more compact but no more fair or representative fails to meet the requirements set forth by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” said Senator Costa. “This is unfortunately yet another gerrymandered overreach that cannot be used. I’m glad that Governor Wolf agrees and has rejected the proposal.”
Governor Wolf’s administration hired an expert to review the proposed map by the Republican leadership, and found it “extremely, and unnecessarily, partisan.”
Professor Dunchin, the statistical expert, found that there was no more than a .1 percent chance that any plan drafted to comply with the state Supreme Court’s order could have been as favorable to Republicans as they one they shared with the Governor last Friday night.
“We could have had an open, bipartisan process and debate in the creation of a new map through legislation,” said Senator Costa. “Unfortunately, that was not what the Republican leaders wanted and now we will use our limited time before the February 15th deadline to find another solution.”
The original decision in this case by the state Supreme Court indicated that if the legislature failed to produce a plan that the Governor agreed to, that it would initiate its own map creation and distribute a completed product by Monday, February 19.
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Pittsburgh – February 12, 2018 − After 14 years of financial recovery, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and local officials today signed Pittsburgh’s official release from this status.
“This has been a long road for the City, but I commend the Mayor, City Council, and the members of this community that spearheaded the efforts that led to recovery,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “Many cities fall into Act 47 status and never meet the conditions of recovery, but that’s not Pittsburgh’s story. This is a strong city that continually fights its way back from hardship; from the loss of the steel industry to its recent financial distress. Pittsburgh has never given up, and today’s news proves it again.”
Act 47 status is bestowed on cities facing incredible financial and structural burdens, and allows the state to offer assistance through the recovery process. A recovery coordinator is assigned, and a plan is set that dictates terms of recovery. Once those terms are met, DCED and the legislature begin the dissolution process.
DCED has determined that Pittsburgh met its conditions, outlined here:
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- Operational deficits were eliminated as evidenced by audited financial statements. The City has achieved operating surpluses nine out of the last twelve years.
- Debt has been retired, reduced, or reissued in a manner that has adequately refinanced all outstanding principle and interest.
- Pittsburgh has negotiated and resolved all claims or judgements that would have placed the municipality imminent jeopardy of default.
- Reasonably projected revenues of the municipality are sufficient to fund ongoing necessary expenditures, including pensions and debt obligations.
“The Administration has taken the steps that it needs to for Pittsburgh’s recovery to be official, and I have introduced Senate Bill 1047 which would dissolve the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority,” said Senator Costa. “The ICA is no longer needed, and must be removed by legislative action; I’m proud to introduce the bill and be a part of this exciting final step in Pittsburgh’s recovery.”
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Download Senate Bill 1047 →
Harrisburg, PA − February 9, 2018 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody send letter to Gov. Wolf condemning the congressional redistricting map shared with his office saying this: “This map was not the product of bipartisan work, nor is it a piece of legislation that passed through both of our chambers.”
9 February 2018
Governor Tom Wolf
508 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Dear Governor Wolf:
We have recently learned that the Republican presiding officers of the House and Senate have shared a congressional redistricting map with your office. This map was not the product of bipartisan work, nor is it a piece of legislation that passed through both of our chambers. The Court clearly mandated that the General Assembly engage in the legislative process to create new congressional maps before the end of the day on Friday, February 9th .
The third paragraph of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s January 22, 2018 Per Curiam Order in the League of Women Voters case directs ”Pennsylvania General Assembly” to submit a congressional redistricting plan to you. The presiding officers are not the General Assembly.
Further, the “Remedy” portion of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in the League of Women Voters case explicitly states that the Court ”… initially invited our sister branches – the legislative and executive branches – to take remedial action through enactment of a remedial congressional districting plan” in their January 22, 2018 Order. (Emphasis added.) It is impossible to enact what was presented to you this evening because it is not legislation.
Ironically after spending two weeks publically criticizing the Court for not issuing an opinion to provide them with guidance, the presiding officers promptly ignored the majority opinion. For these reasons, we ask you to reject it outright. The Republican leadership in both chambers blocked this process, refused to negotiate, and have now submitted a map directly to your office that we have not even seen.
Sincerely,
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa
D-Allegheny
House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody
D-Westmoreland/Allegheny
February 7, 2018 − State Senator Jay Costa has been leading the effort to stem the terrible impact of the opioid epidemic for years. As the Senate Democratic Leader, co-chair of the PA HOPE caucus (the Pennsylvania Heroin, Opioid Prevention and Education Caucus) and a community leader, he has been working to implement new legislative and administrative policies to combat the escalating crisis.
What Senator Costa and your Pennsylvania state government have already done:
- Enacted a best-the-country medical marijuana law to combat many medical conditions. Among them are chronic pain and other conditions that are typically be treated with opioids. According to one study, between 2000 and 2010, opioid-related fatalities and reductions in treatment admissions in states with medical marijuana dispensaries declined by about 20 percent.
- Redesigned the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to reduce doctor-shopping, combat pill mills, and remove non-addictive drugs from the registry.
- Expanded and worked to protect Medicaid – helping over 125,000 people get treatment.
- Established 45 centers of excellence treatment programs that will allow nearly 11,000 Pennsylvanians to receive care.
- Expanded the drug-take back program to 700 boxes, destroying 300,000 pounds of drugs.
- Made naloxone available to all Pennsylvanians and state money to first responders and law enforcement to gain access to additional supplies.
- Created a childhood education program to instruct students on the dangers of opioids and heroin.
- Created ten sets of prescribing guidelines to assist health care professionals.
- Worked with Pennsylvania’s medical schools to create new curricula on opioids.
- Started a hotline help line to connect individuals seeking treatment.
- Limited the number of opioids that can be prescribed to a minor or ER patient.
- Provided $2 million to expand specialty drug courts.
- Began regulating and certifying recovery houses to ensure patients are receive appropriate care.
What we’re working on:
- Legislation to provide families with a process to seek mandatory treatment to their loved ones facing addiction. Senator Costa has introduced Senate Bill 391 and is working closely with Governor Wolf to pass the bill.
- Allowing hospice and home health workers to dispose of opioid medications following a death.
- Looking to the pharmaceutical industry to be part of the solution to addiction, including an assessment on the wholesale import of opioids to fund addiction treatment programs and facilities.
- Limiting opioid prescriptions for all individuals to 7-day supplies.
Pittsburgh, Pa. – January 23, 2018 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa announced the award of $10 million to Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) Southwestern Pennsylvania Growth Fund to transform a former industrial mill in Hazelwood into a research facility for Carnegie Mellon University.
“What was once a successful, productive steel mill will soon see new life as a research center,” Costa said. “I am proud to support funding this project because it respects the industrial history of Pittsburgh and celebrates its new position as a leader in research and higher education.”
RIDC was awarded a $4 million ‘Business in Our Sites’ grant, and a $6 million loan from the same program. The loan portion of the award is financed at an interest rate of three percent, paid back to the state over a period of 20 years.
The project will aid the effort to redevelop the massive, abandoned mill. Mill 19B at Hazelwood Green, where the research facility will be, comprises 12.6 acres and is one of three remaining structures from its original use as a steel mill. The research center is part of phase one of this project; phase two will include the development of office space, garages, lab and workshop spaces that will meet LEED gold standards.
The funds will be used for sitework, excavation, utilities, landscaping, renovations, construction, updated HVAC and engineering. In total, the project will cost $24 million. RIDC will contribute more than $700,000 and secure nearly $9 million in private financing.
The redevelopment is expected to create 200 jobs.
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Pittsburgh, PA – January 3, 2018 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa today decried a move by the federal government to rescind state protections for medical marijuana programs.
“Pennsylvania went through a very thorough process backed by expert testimony, public support, and legal review to pass legislation enabling the use of medical marijuana here,” said Senator Costa. “The Trump Administration’s move to undermine our policy will prevent children and adults with serious medical conditions from getting the treatment they deserve – that they fought and waited for for far too long.”
Today, Attorney General Sessions rescinded a decade of Justice Department guidance on the treatment of medical marijuana by federal law enforcement. The rescission is likely to threaten the newly enacted Medical Marijuana Act that has received widespread acclaim.
The Obama Administration’s Justice Department provided several memos, including one known as the Cole Memo, that largely freed states to make their own regulations on medical marijuana. The Cole Memo, issued in 2013 by then-Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and in light of the rise of state medical marijuana laws, clarified that the federal government would focus its limited prosecutorial resources only on the most serious priorities related to criminal marijuana activity including keeping marijuana out of states where it was not legal, away from gangs and cartels, and out of the hands of children.
States, citizens and businesses have been acting in good faith under that guidance for years, continuing to protect against diversion of state-authorized marijuana across state borders and illegal trafficking of marijuana.
Rescission of the Cole Memo, among others, further jeopardizes our financial institutions working with new medical marijuana businesses, institutions which have been operating lawfully under Treasury Department guidance based on the Cole Memo. Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C. have enacted some form of medical marijuana laws that are now potentially undermined by the guidance.
“Pennsylvania is on the precipice of operating one of the most successfully designed medical marijuana programs in the country,” Costa said. “We cannot turn back now; The Senate Democratic Caucus has been at the forefront of the campaign to create this program, and we will remain at the forefront to protect it.”
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