Harrisburg – December 12, 2013 – A legislative package designed to help prevent child abuse and increase protections for children has now cleared the Senate and is headed to the governor for approval, according to Senate Democratic Leader, Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny).
“Senate Democrats have worked collaboratively with our Republican colleagues and together we have made progress in addressing key issues as it relates to child protection,” Costa said. “The legislation adopted by the Senate this week is significant and includes many priorities identified by Senate Democrats.”
The legislative effort to push meaningful upgrades in Pennsylvania’s child protective statutes gained momentum following the 2012 prosecution of Jerry Sandusky for child abuse.
The package of bills approved, and other measures still awaiting approval in the state House of Representatives and Senate, includes initiatives identified by the Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection.
The child protection bills passed by the Senate include:
- Senate Bill 1116 – (Sen. Washington) streamlines the duties and responsibilities of Multidisciplinary Investigative Teams (MDIT) to allow for a more open an expedited process of investigating reports of child abuse;
- Senate Bill 23 – (Sens. Baker/Tartaglione) amends the definition of “perpetrator” to include current and former spouses and paramours of parents, as well as certain family members. The bill also includes additional provisions for expunction of records in circumstances where the perpetrator was under the age of 18;
- Senate Bill 28 – (Sens. Browne/Leach) enhances criminal penalties for child abuse, as well as for instances of false reporting of suspected child abuse;
- Senate Bill 30 – (Sens. Erickson/Kasunic) provides for a statewide database for anyone who files a false claim of child abuse. Also provides parameters for expedited appeals of indicated reports;
- Senate Bill 34 – (Sens. Smucker/Williams) amends the Professional Educator Discipline Act to expand its jurisdiction and allows revocation of teaching certificates through the state Department of Education in instances of founded reports of child abuse.
Costa thanked Sens. Washington, Leach, Kasunic, Williams and Tartaglione, the sponsors or lead co-sponsors of the legislation that was adopted, for their leadership in helping push these measures through the process.
“In particular, Senator Washington has provided strong leadership on this issue for the Senate Democratic caucus,” Costa said. “Her knowledge of the issues and her deep concern for the welfare of children has been very helpful to members on both sides of the aisle,” Costa said.
Washington serves as the Democratic Chair of the Senate Aging and Youth Committee and has a long record of work in the area of preventing child abuse.
He said that the entire Democratic caucus has worked to ensure that their ideas were considered as a part of the comprehensive package of bills that have become the child protection package.
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Harrisburg – December 12, 2013 – The former Westinghouse Atom Smasher site that straddles Chalfant Borough and Forest Hills in Allegheny County will be the subject of an environmental site assessment funded by an $88,000 Industrial Sites Reuse Program (ISRP) grant, according to state Sen. Jay Costa (D-Forest Hills).
“The Industrial Sites Reuse Program is designed as a catalyst to spur redevelopment of old industrial and manufacturing sites,” Costa said. “This program provides seed money to do an environmental site assessment that is part of a cleanup plan for the facility.”
Senator Costa says the former Westinghouse Atom Smasher site that straddles Chalfant Borough and Forest Hills in Allegheny County will be the subject of an environmental site assessment funded by an $88,000 Industrial Sites Reuse Program grant. Here’s more with Senator Costa who says this is the first step in turning the abandoned industrial site into a planned residential community.Atom-Smashers-Site-Assessment-
Costa, who serves as Senate Democratic leader, has been a strong advocate of redeveloping brownfields and recycling former manufacturing facilities. He was notified that the environmental assessment grant was approved earlier this week.
Costa said that the 12-acre Atom Smasher site sits on land that could be developed provided that any environmental problems are remediated. He said the facility is conveniently located and has ready access to major traffic arteries so it has high development potential.
He said P&L Investments has plans to use the site for a new residential development.
“The Industrial Sites Reuse Program has been a key part of the development strategy of many old industrial sites,” Costa said. “Given the industrial heritage of our region, this program is a key that unlocks future development and job creation.”
The ISRP provides grants and loans of up to $200,000 for environmental assessments at brownfield sites and is able to make grants and loans of up to $1 million for remediation.
The grant was awarded to Forest Hills Borough.
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Harrisburg – December 10, 2013 – In advance of the governor’s planned mid-year budget briefing, state Senate Democrats today announced details of a plan to generate more than $1 billion in budget savings and revenues they say can be used to make key investments, avoid deep cuts or tax increases in dealing with a projected $839 million budget deficit.
“Senate Democrats have identified ample revenues to not only deal with the significant budget deficit that has developed under Gov. Tom Corbett’s watch, but we’ve also found resources to fund key job creation initiatives, education investments and safety net repairs that are needed as a result of short-sighted administration policies,” Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), the Senate Democratic leader said.
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In a November budget status report, the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported that Pennsylvania was facing a structural deficit of $839 million.
At today’s news conference in the state Capitol, Costa detailed the Senate Democratic $1.091 billion savings and revenue plan. The plan includes the following features and fiscal benefits:
- Expanded Medicaid — $400 million;
- Escheat Reform — $150 million;
- Wine and Spirits Modernization — $125 million;
- Charter School Reform — $85.5 million;
- Capital Stock and Franchise tax phase-out freeze — $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;
- Vendor discount elimination — $40 million.
Senate Democratic Whip Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D-Philadelphia) said Pennsylvanians should not accept the recurring rhetoric from the Corbett administration that they have to cut and slash each and every year due to a revenue shortfall.
“Every year we have heard the same tune from the governor that his hands are tied because revenues are soft and the job market is flat,” Williams said. “For the last three years, Senate Democrats have put forth plans outlining how we can generate budget savings and additional revenues to make key investments without severe cuts.
“The song the governor keeps singing about his budget woes is stale and taxpayers are tired of it. The fact is we need a new more aggressive approach,” he said.
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said the reason Pennsylvania keeps having budget deficits and scrambling for money each year is the Corbett administration does not have a comprehensive and coherent job creation strategy.
“Under the governor’s leadership, we’ve gone from eighth in job creation to near last among all states, dead last among all our neighboring states and last among all big states,” Hughes said. “We have a Corbett jobs deficit of 166,000 on top of a Corbett budget deficit of $839 million.
“The reason we can’t move forward is that the Corbett corporate tax cuts of over $1 billion, combined with a lack of attention to the needs of everyday Pennsylvanians in job creation, education and safety net protections, weigh us down.”
Senate Democrats also continued to lament the $1 billion in cuts in education funding authored by the Corbett administrations several years ago. The Democrats said this policy has been counterproductive and costly to the average taxpayers because the state simply shifted the burden.
“We can devise a better approach to budgeting and revenue generation that will not result in our local taxpayers paying more in property taxes and children losing opportunities in school,” Costa said. “The Senate Democratic plan provides a path that is responsible and deals with the Corbett budget deficit.”
In addition to the budget and savings plan, Senate Democrats said they would soon announce their budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.
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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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