HARRISBURG – June 10, 2020 – Today, members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus announced plans for a comprehensive package of legislation to reform policing in Pennsylvania.
Two years ago, members of the caucus introduced police and community relations reform bills in the wake of Antwon Rose’s death, but those bills did not move. George Floyd’s murder, caught on tape, has awakened national attention and brought to light systemic racism in our criminal justice institutions.
In the past year, 1,042 people have been shot and killed by police and the rate of black Americans killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans
“We have to end racism that permeates our culture, and we have to reform our system of policing,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “For the past two years, I have been trying to reform this system, but my legislation stalled. We cannot let that happen again. The Pennsylvania Senate Democrats have expanded our package of bills to include critical reforms and we must pass them this session.”
The bills to be introduced by the Senate Democratic Caucus will:
- Improve Municipal Police Officer Education and Training
- Institute “8 Can’t Wait” to ban deadly police practices
- Appoint a special prosecutor for cases of officer involved shootings
- Require civilian review boards and provide grants and technical assistance to improve their performance
- Ban chokeholds
- Improve police pay
- Improve standards for the use of deadly force
- Demilitarize law enforcement
- Fund a regional policing incentive program and study
- Ban consent while in custody
- Create a professional oversight and policy development board for police officers
- Enhance civil asset forfeiture protections
- Penalize false reports of “criminal activity” based on race or ethnicity
Details on each of those proposals are included here.
The Senate is expected to review several police reform measures in its Judiciary and Law & Justice Committees in hearings and voting meetings during the month of June.
The Senate Democratic caucus has taken a clear, hard stand against hate and racism in a joint statement that is backed up by their policy proposals announced today.
Like many of you, we in the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus are struggling with the death of George Floyd and working to understand what equity is and how it is understood by different people. The events in Minneapolis unfortunately represent a pattern of violent incidents resulting from the fundamental misunderstanding of what equity means: from the lynching of Emmett Till to the beating of Rodney King to the shooting of Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin. All were victims of an unjust and unequal society that fails to see the humanity of every person regardless of their race or ethnicity.
As a nation, we will never be able to deliver equity or justice to a family or a community if we do not understand their lived experience. Feeling the same moral outrage after witnessing multiple similar events over the last few years, many of us joined you in the streets for peaceful protests and calls to action. Unfortunately, many of us have also witnessed these peaceful and Constitutional gatherings turn dark, as the messages of peace and unity were supplanted by people seeking to wreak havoc and sow discord. We have condemned the theft and vandalism while protecting our own homes and communities.
No one who believes in the equity of human beings can justify what happened to George Floyd, nor can they justify the disproportionate response with which many peaceful protests were met over the past several days. Nor can anyone who has examined the state of our union over the last several years disagree that racial inequity has been allowed to fester and grow throughout the country. From law enforcement to education to health care, institutions of government cannot be allowed to willfully close their eyes to the plight of others. We know racism, prejudice and bigotry have no place in public policy, and must act like it. This moment of tragedy has given us yet another opportunity to dismantle and replace mechanisms that perpetually lead to negative outcomes for so many. PA Senate Democrats continue to aggressively pursue legislative change to bring equity in the face of injustice. Our humanity will lift us out if this moment of profound pain, and we can move toward a future where everyone is treated with the dignity they deserve.
Please find additional information, updated regularly, at pasenate.com/reform.
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HARRISBURG – June 8, 2020 – Members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus announced the direction of $225 million in federal CARES Act funding to aid small businesses across the commonwealth. This funding was authorized by the recently enacted COVID-19 Emergency Supplement to the General Appropriation Act of 2019 and was a centerpiece of the caucus’ PA CARES Plan.
The aid will be distributed as follows: $100 million is set to go to the Main Street Business Revitalization Program, $100 million to the Historically Disadvantaged Business Revitalization Program, and $25 million for loan payment deferment and loss reserves for loans impacted by COVID-19. The aid will be directed by the Department of Community and Economic Development to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), which are intimately familiar with the needs of the most vulnerable small businesses in our communities.
“I want to thank Governor Wolf for engaging leadership in the General Assembly to inform the process of moving federal aid out to those who have been most harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. I also want to thank the leadership of the Senate Democratic caucus who worked with our members to formulate a strategic plan for the deployment of nearly $4 billion in federal assistance,” said state Senator John Blake (D-Lackawanna). “The Main Street Business Revitalization program is a reflection of that cooperation and leadership and it will meet Pennsylvania’s small business owners where they are, on Main Street, after nearly three months of lost or no sales. It will enable small business owners throughout the commonwealth to meet their insurance payments, rents, health insurance premiums, local taxes and other expenses that they otherwise could not meet due to lost sales. Finally, I want to thank the 17 CDFIs throughout the state as well as DCED for their professionalism, agility, urgency and dedication to getting this federal funding to the small businesses who need it most as quickly as possible.”
Eligible businesses will apply through one of the CDFI Network partners and will have to have been operating on or before February 15, 2020, and must have paid taxes to state and federal governments. Qualifying main street and historically disadvantaged small businesses must have 25 or fewer employees and experienced losses as a result of Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 19 stay-at-home order. Organizations seeking grants from the historically disadvantaged small businesses program must also be 51 percent owned and managed by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
“The announcement of the Main Street and Historically Disadvantaged Business Revitalization Programs will provide welcomed relief for mom and pop businesses in neighborhoods across the commonwealth,” said State Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery). “Since this pandemic began, we have heard the needs of the auto body shops, the barbershops, the beauticians, the pizza shop owners, the soul food establishments and other businesses in our communities. The needs of these businesses that were unable to get much needed help from other state and federal programs were a priority in our Senate Democratic Caucus’ April 29 PA CARES Program announcement. For months, my office has worked with a network of trusted community organizations that have a proven track record of working with our small CDFIs to find a solution to assist our neighborhood businesses. I believe these programs are that solution. There is still more work to be done, but these programs are a win for Pennsylvania and its small businesses.”
Businesses will be eligible for up to $50,000 in grants. Grants can be used to cover operating expenses during the shutdown and in the transition period to reopening, technical assistance and training, debt payment relief for CDFI borrowers and loan loss reserves.
“Our small businesses all across the state made sacrifices so that we could flatten the curve of COVID-19 and save lives,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “Now as we begin to recover, our businesses will need and deserve assistance to reopen their doors, rehire their staff and serve our communities again. We thank them for their patience through this difficult time, and are ready to offer the programs, loans and assistance they need.”
Businesses will be required to submit proposals for review documenting sales losses, projected revenues, the duration of closure as a result of COVID-19, and relief receipts for other federal, state and local government aid. Eligible businesses will apply directly through a local CDFI.
“One of the goals of the pandemic-recovery stimulus plan that I offered in March, was to jump-start business operations and speed the economic recovery by making resources readily available to get more men and women back to work quicker,” Brewster said. “Using federal CARE dollars to bolster business and smooth the back-to-work transition is critically important. The caucus CARES initiative includes one piece of the plan and will be especially useful to small businesses as they cover expenses and manage start-up costs. Plus, it will usher in help for small businesses who may not have been able to access other state or federal business assistance programs.”
Distributed funds will be monitored by DCED to track the total number of grants awarded under these programs including county, the number of jobs saved by the grants, the total amount of loan payment and deferment, administrative costs and more.
“Thank you to Governor Wolf and his administration for recognizing the need for our Main Street Business Revitalization Program and incorporating that proposal into the Commonwealth’s plan to support our small businesses, which represent nearly half of the private sector workforce in Pennsylvania – 2.5 million jobs,” said Senator Iovino (D-Allegheny/Washington). “Small businesses are the job creators in our communities, the revenue generators for our Commonwealth, and the cornerstone of vibrant main streets. As small business owners are struggling to hang on, this $225 million grant package is exactly the kind of lifeline that these economic drivers need to support our recovery.”
For more about the caucus’ comprehensive, people-focused COVID-19 recovery plan, visit pasenate.com/pacares.
Harrisburg, Pa. − May 28, 2020 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. today voted in support of House Bill 2387, a General Appropriations bill that funds state operations through November, and fully funding education through the entire fiscal year. The bill passed with broad, bipartisan support (44-6).
“We’ve never done a 5-month budget here before, but we’ve also never seen a public health crisis quite like COVID-19,” said Senator Costa. “It was important to me that we fully fund education at every level so that our schools can plan for the coming school year. We are waiting on additional resources from the federal government, and we still do not know the full fiscal impact of COVID-19 and it would have been irresponsible to attempt a full year budget at this time. I’m proud of the bipartisan work we did on this package that will provide stability to critical state services and programs as we continue to navigate a crisis.”
Pennsylvania was granted nearly $4 billion in CARES funding from the federal government, and today passed the necessary legislation to spend it. The priorities reflected in that legislation nearly mirror a proposal from the Senate Democrats in an April presentation.
Senator Costa voted in support of the bill to allocate those funds, Senate Bill 1108, which passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House and now makes its way to the Governor’s desk.
The money must be spent before December 31st of this year, and has to be used for COVID-related purposes. The funds have been allocated to:
- $722 million for health and human services
- $175 million for housing assistance
- $29 million for safety net programs
- $125 million for child care and early education
- $150 million for school safety
- $625 million for county and municipal relief
- $50 million for worker hazard pay
- $100 million for EMS
- $72 million for higher education
- $245 million for small businesses
- $50 million for agriculture
- $259 for community ID waiver
“The Senate Democrats were the only caucus to present a plan on how to spend the relief money we received from the federal government, and I’m pleased to see our priorities reflected in this final, bipartisan plan,” said Senator Costa. “Our communities need these resources to begin the long road to recovery, particularly our working families and small businesses.”
If approved by the Pennsylvania House, these bills will go to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
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Harrisburg, PA − May 22, 2020 − Senators Jay Costa, Vince Hughes, John Blake, Jim Brewster and Pam Iovino today called for $550 million of funds allocated to Pennsylvania through the federal CARES act to be used for a program they are calling the Main Street Business Revitalization Initiative, which will issue grants.
“This pandemic has exposed the fragile ecosystem and slim margins that small businesses and their workers function within every single day,” Costa said. “As Pennsylvania begins to recover both economically and physically from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must make sure that our business owners have the resources they need. We must seek a just recovery from this pandemic.”
The Senators are calling for $425 million to go to traditional main street businesses, and a separate $125 million to be allocated to historically disadvantaged businesses.
Pennsylvania has received $4 billion from the federal government that must be spent or allocated by December 31, 2020. The Senate Democrats have proposed a robust plan for those funds called PA CARES (more info at pasenate.com/pacares)
“These main street businesses did not cause this pandemic, but they are feeling its worst financial effects,” Sen. Hughes said. “Our plan gets these small businesses the financial assistance they deserve. Money has been sitting in Pennsylvania’s account for six weeks, which is money intended, by the direction of the federal government, to assist small businesses, and that money needs to go out immediately. The question is: Why are we waiting? The answer is: We can wait no longer. Small mom-and-pop, main street, and neighborhood businesses — especially those businesses in historically disadvantaged communities who have born the financial brunt of this pandemic — need this help. Our plan gets it to them immediately. All grants and no loans. They need this cash now and our plan gets it to them now. From the barbershop in North Philadelphia and to the nail salon in Pittsburgh, and from the pizza shop in Scranton and to the auto body shop in Erie; our plan sees their pain, especially those in historically disadvantaged communities, and responds to it. Real money in real time.”
This initiative will be run by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) who are committed to providing flexible loans, debt relief and business technical assistance to support the recovery and sustainability of Pennsylvania businesses. CDFIs are known to be “first responders” during periods of economic turmoil because of their keen knowledge of and connection to the communities they serve. More importantly, they have a demonstrated capacity to focus on the critical needs of small businesses.
The Main Street Business Revitalization Initiative is a retroactive way to address the serious challenges of the main street small business community caused by the COVID-19 and the devastating but necessary closures ordered in Pennsylvania to protect public health.
“Our small businesses – restaurants, barbershops, cafes, bakeries, boutiques – are the heartbeat of our communities and the backbone of our economy,” said Senator John Blake. “Throughout the pandemic, their bills have continued to mount despite limited or no sales at all, insufficient income and, to-date, inadequate support and funding from the federal stimulus package. Our proposal will provide $550 million in grants to Main Street small business owners throughout the state using Pennsylvania’s share of the federal CARES Act COVID-19 relief package. It will allow small business owners to pay health care premiums, insurance policy premiums, rent, loan payments, real estate tax payments, as well as covering some of the costs that must be incurred to ensure the safety of workers and customers as businesses reopen.”
Eligible businesses will include barbers, salons, restaurants, bars, and taverns, retailers, coffee shops, neighborhood hardware stores, garden shops, realtors, childcare facilities and the numerous other small businesses who have suffered economically during this challenging time.
Previous business assistance programs have inadvertently disadvantaged many main street businesses who were unprepared to tap into the network of assistance. Through the assistance of CDFIs, main street businesses will have access to job protection and initiatives through financial institutions they are comfortable with.
“To spur a vigorous economic rebound, state and federal resources must be deployed effectively including using federal CARES dollars to help small businesses that have been severely impacted by the pandemic,” Brewster said. “Driving funds out now to help businesses get their operations underway, cover costs, and navigate the regulatory environment in the immediate aftermath of a government-mandated closure is an excellent approach.
“The stimulus plan that I offered earlier this year to re-ignite business activity and speed the economic recovery once the pandemic’s health risk was addressed included elements to aid small business. Pushing financial assistance while promoting safety and security for workers and consumers is the way to reengage our economy in a meaningful way.”
“Small businesses represent nearly half of the private sector workforce in Pennsylvania – 2.5 million jobs. They are the job creators in our communities, yet they were glaringly overlooked by federal business relief programs,” said Senator Iovino. “While small business owners are making difficult decisions about how long they can hang on, they need to know that a lifeline will be available to them. We do not want to see any of these businesses fail, and the $550 million Main Street Business Revitalization Initiative is exactly the kind of lifeline that these economic drivers need.”
As many Pennsylvania counties are now in the Yellow phase of reopening and on their way to Green phase, businesses cannot be expected to open their doors and have all the issues of these past months disappear.
Local businesses, and the workers that they employee, need the legislature to act and disperse funds that will aid in the lost revenue and assist in building back up the business back bones of our community.
The Pennsylvania Senate Democrats have released their PA CARES plan with initiatives that include assistance for the business community, housing assistance programs, student debt relief, veterans’ assistance, utility assistance, and food bank support. Read all proposals at pasenate.com/pacares.
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PITTSBURGH, May 14, 2020 – Today state Senator Jay Costa, D-Allegheny and state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, announced the unanimous confirmation vote of Khadija Diggs, Esq., to the Pennsylvania Parole Board from the state Senate.
Diggs, from Verona, Allegheny County, has an extensive legal background, having worked as an assistant solicitor for the City of Pittsburgh Law Department, the Allegheny County Office of the Public Defender, and with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. She currently serves as assistant legal counsel for the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel. Diggs is a commission member for the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for General, Racial and Ethnic Fairness and earned her juris doctorate from Howard University School of Law.
“I am proud and honored in the governor’s nomination of Khadija to this board,” said Wheatley. “She has a proven track record of success in the legal profession, including her current work in the state Office of General Counsel, not to mention her ongoing volunteer efforts serving the greater Pittsburgh community and statewide. I am confident Khadija’s experience, expertise and drive will further enhance the board in its mission to promote public safety and ensure a fair, efficient and transparent parole process that’s respectful of all people in our commonwealth.”
“She’s someone I believe will be an outstanding addition to the board,” said Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny. “She has been a longtime advocate for justice in our community. We will rarely find folks who have this breadth of experience and understanding of the issues, but beyond this as an individual and as a person, I have found her to be a kind and generous person who is extremely giving of her time to her community.”
Diggs will serve a four-year term on the board.
Harrisburg, Pa. − April 30, 2020 − The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness (VAEP) Committee led by Chairman Mike Regan (R-Cumberland) today held a hearing, not to address veterans’ affairs nor emergency preparedness, but rather to issue subpoenas to officials in Governor Tom Wolf’s Administration.
Senate Democrats voted against this measure, but it passed with Republican-only support, 7-4.
“The Senate Republicans convened an incredibly wasteful, offensive and political hearing of an important committee in the midst of a crisis today,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “There is important work that the VAEP Committee should undertake in its hearings, all of which was ignored today by the committee .”
Issues that the Committee failed to address in today’s hearing:
- 26 COVID-19 related deaths at the Southeastern Veterans’ Center in Chester County. Auditor General DiPasquale and the Chester County Coroner have asked the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to conduct an investigation and release more information about the care that our Veterans are receiving in state-run Veterans homes.
- A growing number of nursing homes around the Commonwealth that are requesting assistance from the Pennsylvania National Guard to take care of patients.
- How to get more PPE to nursing homes that account for approximately 50% of the COVID-19 related deaths.
- Getting information on county emergency management agencies
- Hearing testimony, first hand, from first responders, health care workers or other front-line essential workers
The information requested in the subpoena from the Senate Republican caucus will already be released in an audit by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. The Auditor General had already announced his intention to do a review, at the behest of the Senate President Pro Tempore. The Department of Community and Economic Development and the Office of the Governor had already agreed to participate in the review.
Senate Republicans went forward with their politicized hearing anyway.
“A duplicative review of the same program and information is a waste of taxpayer resources and takes our administration’ s officials away from fighting COVID-19,” said Senator Costa. “As the United States crossed 60,000 deaths from COVID-19, Senate Republicans called a last-minute Senate Committee meeting to try to attack the Governor who has decisively and steadfastly led our state through this outbreak. “
VAEP Democratic Chairwoman and decorated Naval Officer Pam Iovino made the following statement during the committee proceedings:
“A global pandemic was a known threat.
That bears repeating: a global pandemic was a known threat.
There was reason to have Public Health experts as part of the National Security Team.
A strategic plan to pull from the shelf would have been a good thing.
But Pennsylvania, like every other state, was afforded the opportunity to figure it out on our own. That is not the way to go to war.
So with only a broad objective – prevent the spread of the virus, do not overwhelm our healthcare system, and keep people from dying… we were scrambling to do the best we could.
And that is how we came to the life-sustaining business waiver process to keep as many people at home as possible to avoid the spread of the corona virus.
The process was flawed.
I do not believe there is disagreement about that from anyone.
I, like all of my colleagues, have heard from many businesses with legitimate grievances with the waiver process.
I mentioned that one of the other reasons the military is so highly regarded is the routine practice of continually seeking improvement….
inspections, after-action reports, assessing operations and training exercises…Taking a close, objective look and finding where better methods make sense.
We need to do this with the waiver process. And not just because we agree it was flawed, but because unfortunately, we may find ourselves needing it again.
The Auditor General’s decision to conduct an audit, and the Governor’s and DCED’s cooperation with that audit, is the best way to comprehensively and independently review the waiver process, improve the process, and give Pennsylvanians the transparency that they deserve from their government.
The office of the Auditor General is the official entity whose mission is (and I quote) “to serve the people of Pennsylvania by improving government accountability, transparency, and the effective use of taxpayer dollars.”
This audit is warranted. And it best serves the people of Pennsylvania.
Finding deficiencies merely to find fault does not serve the people of Pennsylvania. Having the Auditor General do his job of finding deficiencies in the waiver program to improve on it must be the goal here.”
Senator Lindsey Williams also offered remarks at the hearing.
“We are in the middle of a global pandemic and instead of addressing that crisis, we are having a committee meeting that is pure political theater.
Instead, we are sitting in the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee talking about the Department of Community and Economic Development business waiver process. As minority chair of the Community, Economic, and Recreational Development Committee, which has jurisdiction over DCED, I do not understand why we are not talking about this in the CERD committee.
I believe in government transparency and accountability. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person on this committee who has actually worked on behalf of employees who blew the whistle on government waste, fraud and abuse.
This subpoena is not about transparency. It is about a political stunt. It is about driving up to Mount Wolf and serving a subpoena on the Governor with a camera crew in tow.”
Senator Maria Collett, a member of the VAEP Committee, also offered remarks on her “no” vote.
“Issuing subpoenas now that will take people away from the good work of helping our communities just to spend countless hours sifting through documents to satisfy discovery requests is undoubtedly a waste of taxpayer money. And it further wastes the energies of people we so desperately need to continue working to get our Commonwealth back on track for a safe, effective re-opening.
The administration needs to better target their relief efforts to make sure the money gets in the hands of those who need it the most, in districts like mine that have been closed the longest and to the families and small businesses that have been hardest hit. My focus right now is making sure this happens. My vote reflects the distraction I think launching this type of legal investigation now will be towards the goal of bringing desperately needed financial relief to my district.”
Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus are continuing their work to fight COVID-19, protect front line workers, and get all Pennsylvanians back on their feet financially.
The caucus has proposed PA CARES, a plan to spend $5 billion in federal stimulus dollars. Details of the plan can be found at pasenate.com/pacares.
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