Harrisburg, PA − November 12, 2020 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. released the following statement regarding the partisan calls for election review done by the General Assembly:
There has been no evidence of fraud and there’s no reason for this additional review. It is reprehensible for Republicans to parrot allegations from the outgoing President without any evidence, casting aspersions on our state and county officials who conducted themselves with the utmost integrity. There was a thorough review of the primary election by the Department of State and the broad, bipartisan Election Law Advisory Board was created earlier this year to review the general election and updates to election law. We do not need additional review, especially one as partisan as what is suggested now by the Republicans in the House and Senate.
Furthermore, fifteen Republicans were elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in last week’s election, and yet they are now in Harrisburg casting doubt on the results.
If the Republicans truly believe there was fraud in our election, I would hope that the Republican members elected last week would recuse themselves from any investigation – given that they are not confident in their wins.
It is the peak of hypocrisy to condemn the results at the top of the ballot while claiming victory in Senate races. They simply cannot have it both ways. It is illogical and anti-democratic. This is a Republican effort to undermine public faith in our elections without cause.
HARRISBURG – October 29, 2020 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Senator Vincent Hughes and members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus today slammed House and Senate Republicans for recessing the General Assembly until mid-November without passing legislation to drive out Pennsylvania’s remaining $1.3 billion in federal CARES funds to Pennsylvanians suffering the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania received nearly $4 billion from the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. In May, Democrats and Republicans worked together to drive out $2.6 billion of the federal funds to provide much needed aid to struggling Pennsylvanians. Since that time, Senate Democrats have strongly advocated for driving out the remaining $1.3 billion and released their own proposal for spending the remaining funding to provide additional relief. Unfortunately, Republican leadership in the House and Senate refused to act on another round of funding before recessing Oct. 21.
“It is unconscionable that Harrisburg Republicans would adjourn the General Assembly and leave town without acting on another round of CARES funding for Pennsylvania families and businesses,” Sen. Costa said. “For months Senate Democrats have been pressing for the release of the remaining $1.3 billion in CARES funds. I’d say House and Senate Republicans ignored us, but the reality is they ignored hurting Pennsylvania families. They ignored Pennsylvania’s small business owners that are hanging on by a thread. They ignored our hospitals, our schools, and our social service providers. Republican inaction is going to lead to more unnecessary suffering and lengthen Pennsylvania’s economic recovery. It’s shameful.”
“At a time when Pennsylvanians need real, bipartisan leadership, Harrisburg Republicans have failed miserably,” Sen. Hughes said. “House and Senate Republicans have been singularly focused on criticizing Governor Wolf for his handling of the pandemic, but when they had a chance to make an impact, they did nothing. They left $1.3 billion sitting in the state treasury and went home. Now, that money will sit there for weeks as more small businesses close, more child care providers struggle to stay afloat, and more families stay up at night wondering how they will pay their bills. It didn’t have to be this way.”
Similar inaction on a federal level has ended all talks of stimulus aid before the Nov. 3 election, leaving families, small businesses, front-line workers and many other vulnerable populations without much-needed aid. Costa and Hughes pointed to politically-motivated federal inaction and severely misplaced priorities by House and Senate Republicans, who the entire summer and fall politicizing the pandemic and Pennsylvania’s response to it rather than working with Democrats to drive out CARES funding.
“Throughout the summer and fall, we’ve watched House and Senate Republicans hold partisan hearings, pass politically-motivated legislation, and waste precious time on veto overrides that they knew would fail,” Sen. Costa said. “If they spent even a fraction of that time focused on helping people, I have no doubt we would have reached a consensus on spending the remaining $1.3 billion in CARES funds. Instead Republicans opted for political theatre.”
“All summer Republican Senators and Representatives stood at press conferences with small business owners and organized rallies to protest Pennsylvania’s response to the pandemic,” Sen. Hughes noted. “But when the press conferences and rallies ended, and the time came to help these same folks they claimed to be fighting for by driving out $1.3 billion, Republican legislators did nothing. They got their press release or their TV clip and the folks that stood with them were left without any help. Again. We cannot wait any longer to push out aid. Our plan must be on the agenda in November.”
The Senate Democrats again shared their plans in hopes that the Republican-controlled General Assembly would understand the immediate need of providing aid to vulnerable Pennsylvanians immediately. The Senate Democratic plan includes:
- $125 million for individual and family relief with utility bill assistance
- $575 million for business assistance, specifically for:
- Nonprofit assistance
- Main Street and Historically Disadvantaged Businesses
- Barbers, salons, personal care industry
- Tourism
- Bars, taverns, restaurants, private event spaces and hospitality
- $15 million food security
- $125 million for high Medicaid hospitals
- $141 million for higher education
- $75 million for child care
- $100 million for hazard pay in existing programs, and expanded programs for pharmacies
- $150 million for property tax relief
- $25 million for public safety
If you missed the press conference, you can watch the full event here. For more information on the Senate Democratic proposals for the first or second allocation of CARES funds, please visit pasenate.com/pacares.
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Harrisburg − October 16, 2020 − Members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus today outlined a plan to spend the remaining $1.331 billion in CARES money that Pennsylvania received as part of a federal assistance package earlier this year.
The money must be spent by December 31st on COVID-19 related needs or the state loses the authority to use it at all.
“When we passed our original spending plan for these dollars, we withheld a portion of our allocation to see where what would happen with COVID-19 through the summer and fall. We waited for more assistance from the federal government that never came. Washington has failed but here in PA, we have found that families, small businesses, and many other institutions need additional assistance for recovery,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “We’ve been allocated these funds to help with recovery; it’s time to spend them. Folks need help now. I urge our Republican colleagues to add this to the agenda for our session days next week.”
“We are a long way from recovering what has been lost during the pandemic and sitting on $1.3 billion does nothing to help people who are hurting right now,” Sen. Hughes said. “We must drive dollars out to our existing and proven methods of distributing CARES funding immediately. Our families, workers, small businesses owners, and so many others are still struggling to get through this pandemic. They do not have the luxury of a wait-and-see approach, which is why we must act now. Furthermore, we need the federal government to enact a spending plan that helps states do more to help the people through the greatest crisis of our lifetimes.”
The Senate Democratic plan includes:
- $125 million for individual and family relief with utility bill assistance
- $575 million for business assistance, specifically for:
- Nonprofit assistance
- Main Street and Historically Disadvantaged Businesses
- Barbers, salons, personal care industry
- Tourism
- Bars, taverns, restaurants, private event spaces and hospitality
- $15 million food security
- $125 million for high Medicaid hospitals
- $141 million for higher education
- $75 million for child care
- $100 million for hazard pay in existing programs, and expanded programs for pharmacies
- $150 million for property tax relief
- $25 million for public safety
For more information on the Senate Democratic proposals for the first or second allocation of CARES funds, please visit https://www.pasenate.com/pacares/
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Allegheny County, Pa. − September 15, 2020 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. today announced the award of $475,000 in grants for economic development projects in the 43rd senatorial district.
The grants are part of the Gaming Economic Development Tourism Fund and are dispersed by the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County.
“2020 has provided more than its fair share of bad news, so I am very pleased to announce the award of these grants to our district,” said Senator Costa. “Each of the projects that are funded through this program will provide valuable improvements to assets in our community from the Music Hall at the Carnegie Library of Homestead, to basic improvements to our streets and sidewalks in Shadyside.”
Grants for the 43rd district will go to:
- The Carnegie Library of Homestead, $100,000, for the installation of a new ADA compliant passenger elevator that will provide wheelchair access from the exterior walkways to the lobby balcony and basement restroom levels of the music hall.
- The City of Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood, $100,000, for renovations to Walnut Street including sidewalks and lighting.
- Munhall Borough, $125,000, for improvements to the North Parking Lot area, and improvements to the North and South Campuses.
- The Frick Museum, $150,000, for lighting enhancements.
For more information on the GEDTF grant program, please visit this page from Allegheny County.
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Pittsburgh, PA − September 15, 2020 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. today announced the award of $1,654,233 in cultural grants for the 43rd senatorial district.
Today’s grants are funded by money allocated to the state in the CARES Act, a federal recovery program dedicating dollars to the industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of our lives, and that includes those folks in the arts, and those who work tirelessly to preserve the expansive history and culture across our state,” said Senate Democratic Leader, Jay Costa (D- Allegheny). “This is not just about the arts and institutions in our big cities like Pittsburgh, Philly, and Erie. This is about preserving these institutions in all our communities. The arts enrich our lives, financially and beyond. We have to protect the institutions that support arts and culture in this state if we want them to succeed in recovering from this pandemic.”
Institutions in the 43rd district that received grants today include:
- The Carnegie Museum of Art: $359,472
- Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust: $56,214
- Frick Art & Historical Center: $215,257
- Carnegie Library of Homestead: $27,915
- The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh: $25,000
- Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation: $78,091
- Carnegie Museum of Natural History: $392,284
- Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens: $500,000
The grants were approved in a vote by the Commonwealth Financing Authority. For more information, visit DCED’s website here.
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