HARRISBURG, PA – Today, the Senate of Pennsylvania convened for session. Instead of advancing bills to bring the 2025-26 budget process to a close and to fully fund public transit, roads, and bridges, Senate Republicans chose to advance HB 257, a bill that would provide two years of funding to Pennsylvania’s transit systems by ransacking capital funds designated to repair roads, track, and other infrastructure.
In response to this missed opportunity, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and Democratic Appropriations Chair Vince Hughes offer the following statement:
“Today, Senate Republicans had the opportunity to move the ball forward and take real steps towards solving some of Pennsylvania’s biggest problems. Instead, we got ridiculous, unserious schemes that fail to meet the scale, scope, and urgency of the transit crisis facing our commonwealth.
“While real people are scrambling to make plans to get to work, school, appointments, and more as drastic cuts to transit services loom, Senate Republicans are proposing that we raid capital funds for a two-year transit fix that will put us in this exact same position two years from now. Further, their plan includes mandated fare increases that put transit out of reach for many riders who rely on buses and trains to navigate their communities.
“This last-minute strategy is not agreed to by the House Democratic Caucus or the Governor, and fails to provide a long-term solution to delivering transit systems that work for every Pennsylvanian.
“Now is the time to bring this budget process to a close and fully fund our transit systems, our roads, and our bridges through a permanent, sustainable mechanism. We stand ready. Now is the time.”
Learn more about the PA Senate Democrats’ commitment to every Pennsylvanian here.
EPHRATA, PA − July 30, 2025 − Today, Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chair Nick Miller held a secondary roundtable discussion of the current challenges emergency service and first responders are facing in their communities.
“We have heard a clear and consistent message from police and fire departments throughout the Commonwealth: they need public support and sufficient resources to recruit and retain new members. Hearing directly from those on the front lines is crucial to shape policies that are practical, responsive, and effective,” said Senator Miller. “Thank you to all the testifiers who shared their insights today, which will guide us in developing policies that will support those who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe.”
“Supporting Lancaster’s first responders is a top priority for me,” said Senator Malone. “Hearing directly from our local police and fire departments about the challenges they face is the best way for lawmakers to understand how we can support them moving forward. I’m thankful to our Democratic Policy Chair, Senator Nick Miller, for hosting a discussion in Lancaster to spotlight our amazing local first responders and address the challenges they face with recruitment. These men and women do some of the most important work in our community. We need to make sure their departments have the resources and flexibility to recruit and retain the next generation of first responders to keep us safe.”
“I am proud to have participated in a crucial discussion about supporting our first responders,” said Senator Costa. “Having carried a badge myself, I am eager to make sure the Senate Democratic Caucus has the input of our officers as we deliver safe communities for every Pennsylvanian. I’m grateful for the contributions of Lancaster’s finest in our work, and I thank Senators Miller and Malone for hosting this roundtable.”
Chief Josh Kilgore from the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department stated programs like Camp Cadet are important to the youth and positively influencing them to join emergency service responders in the future.
“Programs like Camp Cadet are great, but why do kids want to go to these camps,” said Kilgore. “We need to create that want. I am a firm believer that it starts at home.”
Chief Chris McKim from the Ephrata Police Department emphasized the need for a change in policy, which includes the pension law.
“In many other states you can take your time and service to go to one agency to another,” said McKim. “This does two things: creates a desire in the officer to be marketable and maintain good skills and it also makes sure the municipality is offering the opportunity [to grow] in a department.”
Jerry Ozog, the Public Safety Specialist from the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, spoke to his experience from a statewide perspective and challenges they are seeing.
“The challenges we are seeing in terms of recruitment and retention varies by demographic,” said Ozog. “If you go across the Northern tier of Pennsylvania, the population is declining a bit, and what that leads to is less people available to volunteer in some of those areas to be firefighters and EMTs. However, the growth of Pennsylvania, you see the fire departments and EMS use more and more. You see their call volume increase.”
Chief Darryl Keiser from Garden Spot Fire Rescue testified that recruitment should begin at a young age, but oftentimes, that comes with a sacrifice to our local emergency service responders.
“We push 14-year-olds to get involved and we get them in as juniors,” said Keiser. “Our members give up 325 vacation hours that they burn vacation so they can be at the cadet camp.”
Fire Chief John Kottmyer from East Hempfield Fire Company highlighted the cost of equipment that is increasing, and young volunteers are struggling to stay because of rising costs to living.
“The number of volunteers we had dwindled,” said Kottmyer. “The cost of an apparatus is phenomenal. Four years ago, we purchased a pumper, and we got a quote today of $430,000 more and I’m not sure how volunteer fire departments can ever compete with that in the future.”
State Fire Commissioner, Thomas Cook from the Pennsylvania Office of the State Fire Commissioner, stated recruitment is a very diverse problem and there is an opportunity to see what is working in different departments to bring success to those who are struggling.
“There is no silver bullet,” said Cook. “Our focus has been on identifying departments that are having success and how do we work with other departments to implement that program.”
Testifiers for today’s hearing included:
- Thomas Cook, State Fire Commissioner, Pennsylvania Office of the State Fire Commissioner
- Jerry Ozog, Public Safety Specialist, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors
- Jamie Rohrer, Fire Chief, East Petersburg Fire Company Station 23
- John Kottmyer, Fire Chief, East Hempfield Fire Company
- Josh Kilgore, Chief, Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department
- Chris McKim, Chief, Ephrata Police Department
- Eric S. Higgins, Chief, West Earl Township Police Department
- Darryl Keiser, Chief, Garden Spot Fire Rescue
Senator Nick Miller was elected Policy Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus in December 2024. Today’s hearing was his eighth as Chair.
Footage of the hearing, as well as the written testimony of the panel, is available at PASenatorMiller.com/Policy. Photographs and downloadable video are available upon request.
Learn more about the PA Senate Democrats commitment to protecting our commonwealth’s healthcare needs and other legislative priorities at www.pasenate.com.
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HARRISBURG, PA – July 14, 2025 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed HB 1330, an important step to closing out this year’s budget:
“We commend House Democrats for their leadership in passing HB 1330. This is an important step toward finishing our work on the budget and resolving a host of other issues important to the people of Pennsylvania, including transportation funding and the regulation of skill games.”
“The budget process has dragged on long enough and issues that have strong bipartisan support are being held hostage because of it. For example, Senate Democrats have 23 votes to fund roads and bridges and mass transit today. We know Senate Republicans also support infrastructure funding. Yet, nothing happens. It’s time for Senate Republicans to allow a vote on the Governor’s transportation/mass transit proposal, which has passed the House four times over the past two years. We are confident it will pass overwhelmingly.”
“Senate Democrats are committed to bringing this budget to closure. Governor Shapiro has already signed a number of budget related bills to fund some state agencies, and now the House’s action today brings us one step closer. It’s time for Senate Republicans to work with us to bring the budget to completion.”
HARRISBURG, PA − July 3, 2025 − Today, US Congress passed President Trump’s domestic policy bill by a vote of 218-214, sending it to his desk for his final signature. It’s estimated that 300,000 Pennsylvanians will lose Medicaid, and over 143,000 will lose SNAP. Federal analyses have concluded that this bill will represent the largest wealth transfer from the poorest Americans to the wealthiest in the history of the US.
The Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus has been sounding the alarm on the disastrous impacts this bill would have on Pennsylvanians since February. Earlier this Spring, Senators Costa and Hughes hosted a roundtable to hear from doctors, hospitals, insurers, workers, and students about the dire consequences that cuts to Medicaid would have on healthcare access in Pennsylvania. The Caucus hosted one press conference on June 2 and another one on June 30 to increase the urgency of stopping Trump’s domestic policy bill.
In response to Congress finally passing Trump’s domestic policy bill, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) releases the following statement:
“We have entered a sad, bleak new chapter in American history, and I am extremely disappointed and very concerned. No Senator or Representative who voted to take care from our elders, hospitals from our communities, and food from our tables should never know peace – may shame and guilt follow them all the days of their lives. This is not the America I have ever known.
“My faith tells me that our most sacred duty is to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and help those in need. In my years of political service, I have never witnessed such cowardice and destruction rendered with such glee.
I am really worried the families who will now have to live – or die – by the consequences of these leaders’ greed. This is a shameful, shameful day. The road ahead will likely be long and painful, but our caucus is in this fight for care and food to the bitter end.”
As budget negotiations continue for the 2025-26 fiscal year, Senate Democrats have been clear that Pennsylvania does not have the financial resources to backfill lost federal funds, leading to potential closures of hospitals and reduced care for Pennsylvania’s seniors and disabled residents. Governor Shapiro has indicated that Pennsylvania may no longer be able to keep the SNAP program running, given how Trump’s domestic policy bill rewrites the funding formula. Yesterday, Feeding Pennsylvania further clarified that the charitable food network “will be unable to keep up with the rising need.”
Learn more about the Senate Democrat’ commitment to quality, affordable healthcare for every Pennsylvanian here.
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