Pittsburgh, Pa. − January 17, 2020 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. today announced the award of $35,000 in state grants for computer science classes and teacher trainings to each of five local school districts.
“I was honored to stand with Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera today as we made this announcement at the Allegheny County Intermediate Unit’s annual STEAM showcase,” said Senator Costa. “We had a great visit with this program, which is preparing local students for the jobs of tomorrow. I look forward to what our local districts will accomplish in the coming years with the grants awarded today.”
Over the next 10 years, 71 percent of new jobs in Pennsylvania will require employees to use computers and new technologies.
The grants are awarded through the PAsmart grant program, which will provide $20 million to bring high-quality computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education in elementary, middle, and high schools, and professional development for teachers.
The districts in the 43rd senatorial district that were awarded $35,000 each are:
- Pittsburgh School District
- Woodland Hills School District
- Penn Hills School District
- Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship
- West Mifflin School District
The state budget included $30 million for PAsmart last year and $40 million this year. PDE will award $20 million between the Targeted and Advancing grants. The Department of Labor and Industry will soon announce $10 million for apprenticeship and job training grants. Funding for career and technical education also increased by $10 million.
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Harrisburg, Pa − December 6, 2019 −Senator Pat Stefano (R-Fayette) and Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. (D-Allegheny) announced plans to introduce legislation that would reform the process of license suspension for driving violations.
The legislation would provide alternative mechanisms for individuals to retain their driver’s license in cases where they are financially unable to pay fines and fees imposed for routine traffic violations. The alternative arrangements will include community service.
“Many drivers, especially young and low-income drivers, are overwhelmingly burdened by this provision,” they wrote jointly in a co-sponsorship memorandum to Senate colleagues. “It creates major barriers to pursuing employment and educational opportunities, as well as burdens their ability to access healthcare and other necessary services, essentially creating a debtor’s prison.”
According to The Buhl Foundation’s analysis Driver’s License Suspensions and the Impact on Young People in Pennsylvania, among young drivers ages 16-24 years old, failure to pay fines and fees and failure to appear are the most common reason for license suspensions. In the period between 2014 and 2017, 172,006 young people in Pennsylvania received driver’s license suspensions. Of these, 124,650 suspensions given were of an indefinite length. Under Section 1533 of Title 75, license suspension for failure to pay a fine is indefinite; until fines associated with the underlying citation are paid, a person has no recourse for reinstating their driving privileges.
As highlighted in the Buhl report, license suspension exacerbates “the vicious cycle of needing a license to get to a job but needing a job to pay the costs associated with getting a license or paying the fines resulting from driving without a license.”
Senators Costa and Stefano are seeking cosponsors for the legislation before its formal introduction.
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Harrisburg, PA − November 12, 2019 − Today, Senator Jay Costa, Jr. announced that $2 million in grants for transportation projects will be awarded to the 43rd senatorial district.
“We have aging infrastructure in our region and across the Commonwealth; it’s important that we at the state level recognize the challenges local government faces in funding these projects,” said Senator Costa. “We review many applications for transportation grants, and I’m excited by what I believe will come of the awards we are making today. I was proud to advocate on their behalf, and anxious to see them unfold.”
Projects awarded today include:
- $1 million to the Oakmont Community Foundation for the Allegheny Avenue Realignment
- $200,000 to Bridgeway Capitol for the Susquehanna Street Corridor in the Homewood neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh
- $500,000 to the Mosites Company for the Emerson Walk in the East Side as part of the Hunt Armory project
- $125,000 to Swissvale Borough for streetscape improvements
- And $300,000 to Carnegie Mellon University for streetscape improvements along Forbes Corridor
“The applicants must show specific plans for using grants to help improve transportation flow,” said Representative Frank Dermody, who represents the Oakmont area. “In Oakmont, for example, one block of a busy street will be realigned with new sidewalks, lights and landscaping to improve safety both for pedestrians and for motorists.”
The funds are awarded come from the state’s Multimodal Transportation Fund, created to provide grants to encourage economic development and ensure that a safe and reliable system of transportation is available to the residents of the commonwealth.
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