Harrisburg – November 19, 2013 – At a Capitol news conference today, Senate Democrats outlined a comprehensive package of legislation designed to help veterans and their families deal with issues as they return to civilian life from military service.
According to Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), the Saluting Pa. Veterans plan contains measures that promote veterans’ education, housing and jobs in addition to initiatives that provide monetary assistance, counseling services and relief for families.
“Saluting Pa. Veterans is a plan that addresses many of the issues that confront those who served in the military and their families,” Costa said. “The package was designed to smooth the transition for veterans from military service to life at home.”
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said the various initiatives will direct aid toward veterans and their families, plus it is a fiscally responsible plan at a reasonable cost that it is simply the right thing to do.
“Our veterans and their families have made sacrifices and have given so much in defense of our country it is time that lawmakers step up and help them deal with issues here at home,” Hughes said.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs and Military Preparedness Committee, Sen. Tim Solobay (D-Washington), was one of the leaders that helped bring the significant package together.
“We have all seen and heard stories about the struggles of veterans,” Solobay said. “The legislation in this plan is targeted at specific problems and it will go a long way toward helping veterans and their families.”
As of September 30, there are more than 22 million veterans in the U.S. with more than 995,000 veterans currently living in Pennsylvania. The Senate Democratic plan features initiatives including:
- $40 million in bonds to provide payments to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars;
- A pilot peer-to-peer counseling program for veterans to address post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, and rising rates of suicide;
- $20 million for veterans’ housing projects, and veteran preference in public housing;
- Housing assistance grants to homeless or imminently homeless veterans and help with down payments or closing-costs for veterans buying homes;
- Increased funding for Veterans’ Emergency Assistance Program, along with extended deadlines, and expanded maximum Military Family Relief Assistance;
- Doubling educational assistance to help offset fees and costs and increasing the years the assistance is provided;
- A training program under the Department of Health to help emergency service providers recognize and treat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or brain injury as well as creation of the Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Military Sexual Trauma Public Service Announcement Fund;
- Priority for subsidized child care to veterans and families of active duty military;
- Expanded eligibility for veterans in the disabled veterans tax exemption statute (i.e., exempting 50% of Social Security and Railroad Retirement Benefits from the calculation)
- A task force to study health-care issues unique to women veterans, including accessibility and quality of care;
- Call on the U.S. Congress to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Senate Democrats had previously introduced several legislative items within the context of their PA Works plan. These have been incorporated in the Saluting Pa. Veterans plan. These initiatives include:
- Development of a training program to help veterans start small businesses; creation of a $5 million veteran-owned businesses loan guarantee; new tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans; new standards to incorporate education and training in the military into education credits to help expedite the obtaining of a degree; increased veterans’ preference points for civil service examinations, from 10 to 15.
Senate Democrats said that they hoped their Republican colleagues would embrace their plan and push many of the initiatives forward.
“Helping veterans and their families has never been a partisan issue for Democrats or Republicans,” Costa said. “Over the years, we’ve worked together to identify and solve problems and we are hopeful that our Republican colleagues will join us in pushing many of the elements in the plan.”
Senate Democrats have estimated that the total cost of the plan to be $61.1 million.
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Democratic Leaders Outline Specific Revenue Initiatives
Harrisburg – November 15, 2013 – On the heels of the Independent Fiscal Office’s (IFO) release of its budget outlook report suggesting that Pennsylvania is facing a structural deficit of $839 million next year, state Senate Democrats said today the blame for continued economic uncertainty and gaping budget deficits lies at the feet of Gov. Tom Corbett and his administration.
“For several years, the one thing that the governor has pointed to as an ‘accomplishment’ is his stewardship of the budget,” Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said. “Given this new independent report and the data suggesting continued daunting budget deficits on the horizon that claim looks highly suspect and disingenuous.
“It’s not enough that the budget gets passed on time; it has to include bold initiatives and an investment strategy that moves Pennsylvania forward and that has not been the case with the Corbett budgets.”
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said that Corbett’s lack of leadership on economic development and business investment has resulted in not only severe budget deficits but a job deficit as well.
“If jobs were created in Pennsylvania at the same rate as rest of the nation, there would be at least 150,000 more Pennsylvanians working right now,” Hughes said. “These new employees would have resulted in the addition of several hundred million dollars annually in revenues that could be used to balance the budget.
“Plus, by simply moving forward with Medicaid expansion, the governor could have gained a huge infusion of new federal money at the exact time when we need it most.”
The Senate Democratic Leaders said that the IFO’s conclusion that the last several Corbett budgets were balanced with surplus funds carried over from the Rendell administration is significant. The IFO indicated that those surplus funds will be nearly exhausted by the end of this year.
“Governor Corbett has failed to lead Pennsylvania down the path toward economic recovery,” Costa said. “The governor’s track record is disappointing — long on politics, quick at finger pointing, but short on solutions.”
Hughes said that the governor has lacked an investment strategy that would reverse the jobs drain and that Pennsylvania shouldn’t be positioned at the tail end of all states in new job generation. Pennsylvania has gone from the top ten to the bottom ten in job creation during Corbett’s tenure.
“Job creation is not the only area that has suffered,” Hughes said. “We’ve seen devastating cuts to many critical areas because of Governor Corbett’s irresponsible fiscal policies, especially nearly $1 billion cut from public education. That is not a path we can go down again in the next budget.”
The leaders recited a litany of issues that continue to plague Corbett including uninspiring increases in employment, budget shortfalls, struggling local schools, spikes in property taxes, gaps in health care and the governor’s penchant for pushing tax cuts for large corporations that Pennsylvania taxpayers cannot afford.
Costa said that his caucus has outlined better, common sense and forward-looking revenue approaches that would change the state’s fiscal direction. He said that Senate Democrats have identified more than $1 billion in new revenues that are available to stanch the flow of fiscal red ink.
He outlined several ideas put forth by Senate Democrats to address Pennsylvania’s fiscal challenges:
- Expanding Medicaid — $400 million;
- Escheat Reform — $150 million;
- Wine and Spirits Modernization — $125 million;
- Charter School Reform — $95.5 million;
- Freeze Capital Stock and Franchise tax phase out — $75 million;
- Multi-state claims processing for SSP/SSI – $75 million;
- Enhanced tax collection — $55 million;
- Medicaid Managed Care — $50 million;
- Tobacco products tax — $36 million.
“Yesterday’s IFO projection validates what Senate Democrats have been saying for months,” Costa said. “What was once a situation that needed to be addressed has turned into a crisis that we’re battling from all angles.”
Costa said that Senate Democrats have repeatedly made detailed suggestions about how the deficit issue could be addressed during a number of budget priority news conferences and briefings, but the Corbett administration has ignored their ideas.
“Over the course of the last four years, the landscape in Pennsylvania has changed dramatically,” Hughes said. “What we see is a governor who pushes ideological concepts that have no support beyond his inner circle and have failed to yield results.”
The IFO released Pennsylvania’s Economic & Budget Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013-14 to 2018-19 yesterday.
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HARRISBURG – A completely revamped version of the General Assembly’s website was launched this morning to give the public better access to a wide array of legislative information, including bill text and history, votes in the Senate and the House, committee meetings and votes, and much more, legislative leaders announced.
The website is available at www.legis.state.pa.us.
“This is a total overhaul,” said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9), a strong proponent of open government initiatives and chairman of the Legislative Data Processing Committee, the body which oversees and manages the General Assembly’s website. “Transparency builds confidence in government, and we rebuilt the website from the ground up so that it’s easier than ever for the public to follow and comment on the work of the General Assembly.”
Some of the most prominent features of the redesigned website include:
- a front page that highlights current, relevant content such as convening times for the Senate and House, upcoming committee meetings and recent votes;
- new pages for the Senate and the House which highlight recent roll call votes and scheduled committee meetings;
- buttons on nearly every page which make it easy for users to share that page on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn; and
- The ability to track bill and committee activity through the free PaLegis Notifications email system.
“The extensive updates and changes to the General Assembly website are part of an ongoing effort to create a more open and transparent state government,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25). “With the total renovation of the site, our hope is that individuals will now have increased accessibility to legislative documents and information.”
“The General Assembly’s new website is more than just a refreshed design,” said Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-66). “We put a lot of time and effort into re-structuring and re-designing the site to provide a better and easier user experience.”
“There is nothing more important than open government,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-43). “By redesigning the website, we further our commitment to provide information in the easiest and most accessible way for all Pennsylvanians.”
“We wanted the website to present information in the quickest and most organized way so all Pennsylvanians can access the state legislature in an easy-to-use format,” said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-28). “As our official online portal, we hope our constituents use it and agree.”
“Pennsylvanians deserve a state government that is transparent and provides easy access to information about their elected officials and the work we do here in the General Assembly,” said House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody (D-33). “From information about bills and committee meetings to email and Twitter updates, this redesigned website virtually brings the legislature to you.”
Additional features of the new site include:
- easier tools to help residents identify their legislators and find the text of bills being considered;
- new Google Calendar and iCal features, making it easy to add upcoming committee meetings to the user’s personal calendar;
- integrated, relevant tweets from the nonpartisan @PaLegis Twitter account;
- a new “popular pages” tab on the front page, giving instant access to the most-visited pages on the website;
- an enhanced executive nominations section, which includes links to roll call votes, nomination letters, and Statements of Financial Interest;
- easier site navigation, with relevant additional information in the right column; and
- an entirely new, user-friendly look and feel throughout the website.
Senator Pileggi said the redesign was completed by existing legislative personnel at no additional cost to the taxpayers. “The staff of the Legislative Data Processing Center did amazing work,” he said. “I can’t compliment them enough.”
The legislative leaders encouraged the public to comment on the new site using the Twitter hashtag #PAGAwebsite or by clicking on the email link in the top right corner of every page on the new site.
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Potential funding stream would freeze property taxes for seniors
Harrisburg – October 24, 2013 – State Senate Democrats said today they were pleased that Gov. Tom Corbett has now signaled his approval of their plan to direct revenues generated from small games of chance in taverns to the Lottery Fund. The Democratic plan would bolster lottery programs and create a potential funding source for a property tax freeze benefitting seniors.
“Senate Democrats are unified in the desire to use the revenues generated from small games of chance in taverns to help seniors,” Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), the Senate Democratic leader, said. “Our members believe strongly that these new revenues should be targeted to aid seniors instead of being disbursed into the General Fund.
“We certainly hope that the final version of the small games legislation includes our idea to target the revenue for the Lottery Fund.”
Costa, Democratic Appropriations Committee Chair Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) and Sen. John Blake (D-Lackawanna), who sponsored the plan as an amendment to House Bill 1098, said today that the new revenues from the Senate Democratic plan would provide flexibility and create opportunities.
On Wednesday, the Corbett administration circulated an email to lawmakers indicating that they were supportive of putting the money from the tavern small games into the Lottery Fund.
The Senate Democratic plan — detailed in the Blake amendment — was voted down during a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Tuesday. The legislation was eventually reported from committee and passed in the Senate, 39-11. It is now in the House of Representatives.
The new tax on small games of chance in taverns is expected to generate $38 million this year and $156 million in 2014-‘15, according to Senate fiscal notes.
“Senate Democrats have tried to explain why this was so important and how it could be used to help fund critical senior programs,” Hughes said. “We are hopeful that with the governor’s endorsement of our plan, House members will adopt the approach and support it when they return to session in November.”
Blake said helping fund senior programs is important and the new revenue may be the funding conduit that allows the General Assembly to develop a property tax freeze for seniors.
“The new funds would give the legislature flexibility and resources that can be set aside to help seniors address high property taxes,” Blake said. “These new revenues must be employed effectively and a specific use must be identified.
“My amendment made it clear that the revenues should be earmarked for the Lottery Fund, from which we already provide property tax relief and from which we already fund essential programs for our seniors.”
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Harrisburg – October 23, 2013 – More than $5 million in low-interest loans for sewer projects in the City of Pittsburgh were approved by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) today, according to state Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny.)
“The new funds for these important projects make environmental and economic sense,” Costa said. “There is a critical need to separate storm water drainage from sanitary sewers.
“The funds that will aid the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site have the potential to leverage more than $10 million in private development and create in excess of 100 jobs.”
The first loan of $2.72 million will pay for the installation of 24 storm inlets and catch basins in addition to 3,500 feet of new storm sewers in various sections of Pittsburgh. The project will help address the needs of 95,000 customers in a low-and-middle-income area.
A second loan of $2.3 million will help fund the construction of 1,800 feet of concrete storm sewer pipe to separate storm and sanitary sewers at the site of the former Civic Arena.
Costa, who serves as Senate Democratic leader, said that combined sewers have been an issue in the region for years and that both projects are in compliance with a Department of Environmental Protection Consent Order and Agreement.
The lawmaker said there are a number of important benefits of the projects. Not only will storm water be segregated and prevented from overflowing into sanitary sewers thereby reducing stress on sewage treatment facilities, but it will also help prevent flow of untreated sewage into the Monongahela River.
“For many years we have been seeking ways to infuse new dollars to address environmental concerns related to combined sewers and also pave the way for new development,” Costa said. “I am pleased that PENNVEST has approved these projects and that we can begin working on solving the problem.”
Costa said that they both loans have an interest rate of one percent.
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Harrisburg, October 10, 2013 – State Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), the Senate’s Democratic Leader, today released the following statement reminding his House and Senate colleagues that funding for mass transit needs to remain a top priority as discussions continue on a proposed transportation funding plan for Pennsylvania.
“In the very near future the state House of Representatives may consider a transportation funding plan. While there is no question that Pennsylvania needs a robust plan to meet our road and bridge needs for the future, the plan must also include significant dollars for mass transit.
“Failing to incorporate mass transit funding as an integral part of any proposed plan will result in significant consequences for our transportation network and for the millions of people who use it to travel each day. While other policy initiatives are under consideration, we cannot allow the needs of our mass transit system to fall by the wayside, impacting commuter traffic and hundreds of transit agency jobs.
“The Senate plan – Senate Bill 1 – provided for an increased investment of $480 million annually by the fifth year of the funding plan. Any heavily watered-down transportation plan emerging from the House that fails to embrace the needs of mass transit is unacceptable and transit must not be split away from road and bridge funding. There must be a comprehensive package that funds rail, ports, airports and pedestrian projects in addition to roads, bridges and mass transit.
“Any plan that results in a significant loss of dollars for transit needs to be carefully reviewed by the Senate. Hard-working Pennsylvanians depend on mass transit systems for work. As we contemplate our future transportation needs, we must ensure that our plan includes solutions to fix the infrastructure problems we are currently face.
“Unquestionably, mass transit is critically important for Allegheny County and other regions of the state. An efficient and effective transportation system is an economic magnet; therefore there must be a major investment. No plan should be adopted by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor if it fails to address transit in a meaningful way.”
The Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT) has 2400 employees, operates 700 buses, 83 light rail vehicles and has 230,000 daily riders. Since 2007, the Port Authority has undergone significant reforms and the union has made significant concessions and has increased its healthcare contributions, increased age and service requirement and trimmed retiree healthcare costs.
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