Pittsburgh, November 14, 2017 — Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Representative Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) announced today that the City of Pittsburgh will receive $500,000 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority for a reconstruction project on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
“This is a big project in a heavily trafficked part of Pitt’s campus, and I’m glad we were able to secure state funding to help,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa. “The final product will be a huge safety and convenience improvement.”
“I applaud the CFA for awarding financing to this project. It’s exactly the kind of project that we all had in mind when we developed the Multimodal Transportation Fund,” said Representative Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny). “This development will enhance travel for everyone in the area – regardless of mode.”
The money from the Multimodal Transportation Fund will assist the reconstruction of Bigelow Boulevard on the lower campus.
The section of Bigelow Boulevard between Fifth and Forbes avenues is the civic center of the Pitt campus and sees regular traffic from students, business people, employees and tourists.
The total project cost is nearly $4,000,000 and will close a gap in the bicycle network, improve pedestrian crossing, and reduce the number of vehicle lanes to calm traffic in the area. The Bigelow Boulevard reconstruction will also include a new transit stop, the largest stop in the University-operate shuttle network.
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Pittsburgh, November 14, 2017 — Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Representative Ed Gainey (D-Allegheny) announced today that the Commonwealth Financing Authority approved $225,000 in funding for the Borough of Wilkinsburg for the rehabilitation of Whitney Park.
“I’m commend the Commonwealth Financing Authority for making a great investment in a community asset,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa. “The improvements in access to the park were especially encouraging in this grant application, and I’m glad I could help Wilkinsburg get this project rolling.”
“I want to thank the CFA for choosing to invest in a park in my district,” said Representative Ed Gainey (D-Allegheny). “The local neighborhood association takes care of much of the maintenance in Whitney Park, but this is a major redevelopment that the park needs and I’m proud to have helped fund.”
The park covers 1.6 acres and includes a playground, basketball court and a baseball field.
This grant will fund the first phase of the park rehabilitation: improving the entry of the park and playgrounds. Wilkinsburg’s plan for the park includes three new playground areas, resurfacing the parking area, replacing sidewalks and providing ADA accessible parking and routes through the park.
Phase one will also include new decorative walkways to create a plaza and rain garden.
CFA’s grant of $225,000 is only a portion of the full budget for Phase One, the total cost of which is over $300,000.
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Pittsburgh, November 14, 2017 — The Pennsylvania Senate Democrats’ ACA Mobile Enrollment Tour will make a stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday, December 7.
Constituents can come to enroll in the individual insurance marketplace or Medicare. Enrollment experts will be there to answer any questions and guide users through the process.
WHEN: Thursday, December 7 at 2 pm – 8 pm
WHERE: Forest Hills Fire Company, 2071 Ardmore Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15221
Media is encouraged to attend at any point through the day.
This is just one of the stops that the Enrollment Tour will make throughout the state during the ACA open enrollment window for 2018. Here’s the full list of stops on the tour:
- Thursday, November 16, morning – Cheltenham in Philadelphia
- Thursday, November 16, afternoon – Fox St in Philadelphia
- Tuesday, November 21 – Bridge Street in Philadelphia
- Thursday, November 28 – Bethlehem
- Thursday, November 30, morning – Scranton
- Thursday, November 30, afternoon – Carbondale
- Thursday, December 7 – Pittsburgh
The Senate Democratic Caucus has undertaken this enrollment effort after the announcement that the Trump administration would shorten the enrollment period, eliminate its marketing budget and limit working hours on Sundays.
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HARRISBURG, November 1, 2017 — Following President Trump’s efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act by limiting open enrollment, the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus will ramp up efforts to ensure eligible individuals gain health insurance through the marketplace.
The Trump Administration chose to shorten the open enrollment period by more than a month, limit hours of accessibility and slash the marketing budget for the enrollment period. This will make enrollment more difficult, and leave many eligible individuals without insurance for possibly all of 2018.
“There are individuals in every one of our districts who should be informed that they can purchase health insurance in the online marketplace. If the federal government is not going to tell them or help them, it is up to us,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa. “We will launch a marketing campaign to tell our constituents how, when and where they can purchase health insurance. We can’t let President Trump’s bad politics on health care endanger our constituents.”
The Senate Democratic Caucus has designed a website with information on enrollment, which can be found here: www.healthcareforpa.com
The caucus will also be working to sponsor ads on social media, targeting constituents who may be eligible to purchase individual insurance; and encourage district offices to hold open enrollment events where they walk constituents through the process of signing up.
Posters and rack cards with more information will be in district offices soon.
In the meantime, if you have questions about enrollment, go to healthcare.gov.
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HARRISBURG, October 31, 2017 — A bipartisan group of state lawmakers and Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel applauded the passage of legislation to establish a public charitable trust to aid children impacted by the prison system and reverse the direction of youth who may be on a path leading to incarceration in Pennsylvania.
The measure, authored by state Sens. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery), Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Richard Alloway (R-Adams/Cumberland/ Franklin/York) creates the “First Chance Trust Fund.” The fund will be used to create scholarships and provide grants to programs that benefit children who live in areas with high dropout rates, high incarceration rates and high crime rates.
Initially introduced as Senate Bill 790, the language from the bill was inserted into the Fiscal Code of the 2017-18 state budget, which passed in both chambers of the General Assembly last week and was signed into law by the governor.
“The fund, which would be the first of its kind in the country, will enable youth who are facing challenges to access important programs and educational opportunities that will give them a sense of stability and belonging,” Sen. Hughes said. “This is a solid investment in our children, our community and our justice system and I’m thrilled that it has received bipartisan support.”
The fund will be administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and will be paid for by private, tax‐deductible donations and a 1 percent surcharge on vendors that have a contract with the Department of Corrections exceeding $5 million. Other Pennsylvania agencies will also have the option to include a similar provision in their contracts. It does not require the use of taxpayer dollars.
“It is imperative that we look for ways to provide an alternative path for our children who are at a higher risk of dropping out of school or being incarcerated,” Sen. Browne said. “The First Chance Trust Fund provides exactly that avenue to enable Pennsylvania’s most at-risk young people access to programs, services and scholarships that help ensure they succeed both in school and later in life.”
“Providing program funding to keep children engaged and in the classroom is essential to ensuring they do not become justice-involved later in life,” said Secretary Wetzel. “This first-of-its-kind fund will invest significant dollars into programming with the potential to make a life-changing difference for at-risk young people.”
Children continue to enter the justice system at alarming rates. Approximately 65 percent of Pennsylvania state inmates have at least one child, according to the Department of Corrections.
The absence — which some psychologists have compared to the death of a parent — through the formative years can have deleterious effects on a child. Dealing with the emotional, social and economic consequences of that loss can trigger behavioral problems, lead to trouble in school and the possibility of dropping out and continuing the cycle of crime.
“The First Chance Trust Fund was one of the top priorities of mine and the Senate Democratic Caucus in this entire budget process, and we are so pleased to have taken it across the finish line,” said Sen. Costa, the Senate Democratic Leader. “There are 81,000 children in Pennsylvania with at least one parent currently incarcerated; we cannot allow them to fall through the cracks. They already face an uphill battle, growing up without their parents, and the First Chance Trust Fund is something very simple, very common-sense that we can do.”
Initially, the trust fund is anticipated to generate $500,000 to $1 million on an annual basis. The fund would be targeted to regions that have statistically higher high school dropout rates, high risks of incarceration and high crime rates.
“The First Chance Trust Fund will help protect Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable youth from becoming innocent casualties of mass incarceration. We know that dealing with the emotional, social and economic consequences of incarceration can trigger behavioral problems, lead to trouble in school and the possibility of dropping out and continue the cycle of crime,” said state Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia). “I’m thrilled and grateful for the support this legislation received from both chambers across party lines. This is not just a wise investment in our most marginalized communities, it is an innovative way to build community wealth while constricting the school-to-prison pipeline.”
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Media Contacts:
Elizabeth Rementer (Sen. Hughes): 717-787-5166 elizabeth.rementer@pasenate.com
Matt Moyer (Sen. Browne): 717-787-1349 mmoyer@pasen.gov
Brittany Crampsie (Sen. Costa): 717-712-3480 Brittany.Crampsie@pasenate.com
Ben Turner (Rep. Rabb): 717-787-7895 bturner@pahouse.net
Amy Worden (DOC Sec. Wetzel): 717-728-4026 aworden@pa.gov
HARRISBURG, October 18, 2017 — State Senate Democrats today blasted President Trump’s latest actions regarding the Affordable Care Act in Pennsylvania and detailed the debilitating impact on Pennsylvanians that his latest acts will have on working families.
The president ordered the suspension of an estimated $7 billion in cost-sharing reduction payments that are designed to help lower- and middle-income Americans. He also moved to restructure the insurance market by opening the door to low-cost, high-deductible minimal coverage policies that offer little protection for consumers.
As a result, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced this week that individual and small group rates under the Affordable Care Act will increase by an average 30.6 percent due to President Trump’s decision to discontinue cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers.
In Pennsylvania, 439,000 individuals received health care through the exchanges. More than 321,000 individuals received a tax credit, while 227,304 individuals received cost sharing reduction payments.
At a Capitol news conference today, Senate Democrats and House Democratic Caucus Chair Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) illustrated how the president’s actions will hurt working families. They pointed out that a two-income family of four that earns $100,000 per year and purchases health insurance through the insurance exchange will have a $327 monthly premium increase and a yearly spike of $3,924 as a result of Trump’s actions.
“People are going to suffer so that President Trump can score political points with those like him who want to dismantle Obamacare,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). “It is our obligation to take steps to not allow him to destroy this landmark health care law, which has helped a million Pennsylvanians get coverage and has created thousands of family-sustaining jobs in the health care industry.”
State lawmakers met yesterday with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and four major health coverage providers to discuss steps to mitigate the pain on consumers, many of whom are working class and job creators, according to state Sen. Sharif Street, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
“Trump’s actions are going to hit middle class families, small business owners and entrepreneurs the hardest,” said Street (D-Philadelphia). “These are individuals who make our economy grow and many of them voted for Trump because he’s a businessman and said he would look out for them, but he’s turned his back on them.”
Street also warned that Trump’s efforts to roll back an Obama Administration ruling on types of employers that can form and offer “Association Health Plans” (AHP) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will destabilize the insurance market for everyone and loosen regulations, which will make it more difficult for the government to protect Pennsylvanians.
“It’s our job as elected officials to protect Pennsylvanians’ rights. This plan will take away our ability to do that effectively and will destabilize the market, which will impact us all,” Street said.
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) noted that Pennsylvania Senate Democrats have long fought for innovative and comprehensive health care programs, including the CHIP program, which Pennsylvania was the first state to implement.
“Health care is a right, not a privilege for those who have the money to pay for it. Senate Democrats have driven every advance in health care because we recognize that everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health coverage,” said Hughes. “President Trump is repeatedly attempting to destroy the lives of citizens, especially those who voted for him, by destroying CHIP, rolling back reproductive support, reducing the amount of time that folks can enroll in the Affordable Care Act, and pulling his support from the latest compromise on health care subsidies.”
State Sen. Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said the recent roll back of comprehensive reproductive health care “is wrong,” noting that religious policy should not dictate public policy.
“Our public policy must be based on a set of values that accommodate the diversity of this nation, not a set of religious conditions that are based upon the faith and membership of a small organization. As a Christian, I am offended by the changes in policy that eliminate access to contraceptive care for individuals because of the faith commitment of their employer,” said Haywood. “Health care is a human right. Trump’s decision to reduce support to help low- and middle-income receive coverage is immoral. It is immoral to put families in a position where they have to pay thousands of dollars more per year for life-sustaining health coverage.”
Also attending today’s press conference were state Sens. Larry Farnese (D-Philadelphia) and Tina Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia).
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