HARRISBURG, PA – August 27, 2024 – Today, Auditor General Tim DeFoor released the results of a performance audit of state contracts and oversight of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) used by Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ (DHS) HealthChoices Medicaid Program.
In response to the findings and framing of this report, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and Senator Art Haywood, Democratic chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, released the following statements:
“This performance audit offered an opportunity for the Auditor General to engage meaningfully in a conversation with the Department of Human Services about protecting patients, local pharmacies, and health practitioners across Pennsylvania,” said Senator Costa. “Instead, we received an audit that fails to capitalize on the work of the House and the Senate and misleads taxpayers regarding industry practices. I am deeply discouraged that we have not harnessed this moment to take on abuses of PBMs, and I certainly anticipate much more work in this space as we move forward to deliver quality, affordable healthcare to every Pennsylvanian.”
“I am very disappointed in the Auditor General. After the tremendous bipartisan legislation to address practices of PBMs that hurt pharmacies he has issued a false audit,” said Senator Art Haywood, Democratic chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. “Instead of auditing the federal and state definition of spread pricing, which we prohibit, he is auditing his own definition. This is an unfortunate abuse of power and unacceptable.”
The Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing about pharmacy deserts and PBMs in April 2024. Footage of the hearing and written testimony from speakers is accessible here.
Read more about the PA Senate Democrats’ commitment to quality, affordable healthcare for every Pennsylvanian here.
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PITTSBURGH, August 9, 2024 – After years of advocacy, on Friday local lawmakers, families and service providers gathered at a local group home to highlight life-changing investments for the intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) communities contained in the new state budget.
This year’s state budget includes a historic $354.8 million in federal and state funding to provide more resources for home and community-based service providers. This includes $280 million to help raise wages for the direct support professionals who care for Pennsylvanians and are the backbone of the system.
“I am so proud that this year’s budget included crucial dollars to support our friends and neighbors with disabilities, and the people who care for them,” said state Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny. “We absolutely must continue the fight to make care affordable and accessible to the ID/A community, and to care for our commonwealth’s caregivers who support them. I look forward to continuing to expand on the great work we’ve done, and I’m grateful to have colleagues and leaders who keep this conversation moving forward.”
In addition to increased funding for services, this year’s budget included $74.8 million to continue the process of clearing the emergency waiting list – ensuring more Pennsylvanians receive the care they need and deserve. That funding builds on the $17 million allocated last year to begin a multi-year effort to eliminate the emergency waiting list.
“For years we have heard from the community and from caregivers that there are needs that we must address,” said Rep. Dan Miller, D-Allegheny and House Majority Whip. “This year’s budget starts to keep the promises we have made and is an important downpayment toward ending waiting lists in our commonwealth. We still have more work to do, but I want to thank the Governor for his leadership in this arena and for being a true champion of the ID/A community.”
The funding increase also increases support for service providers, which aims to improve the overall quality and accessibility of services
“Emmaus Community is a well-recognized provider of quality services for people with intellectual disability and autism,” said Emmaus CEO Karen Jacobsen. “We recognize Dan Miller’s support for community-based services for people with disabilities and we deeply appreciate his and Sen. Costa’s leadership. We are also grateful to Gov. Josh Shapiro for understanding and investing in Intellectual Disability and Autism services!”
These historic financial commitments represent a significant investment in supports for individuals with intellectual disabilities/autism, directly contributing to their ability to lead fulfilling lives in their communities and represent a major step forward toward meeting the needs of this community in Pennsylvania.
“As a family member, I thank Gov. Shapiro and the Pennsylvania legislature for listening to people with intellectual disabilities and autism and families across Pennsylvania and then taking action to include $354 million in the 2024-2025 Budget for the waiting list and rate increases,” said Nancy Murray. “This is the first year of Gov. Shapiro’s multi-year growth strategy, so we still have work to do, but it is a much appreciated first step.”
PITTSBURGH, PA − July 23, 2024 − Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who serves as chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), joined state leaders at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to announce the availability of $10 million in funding for nonprofit organizations to protect the safety and security of their facilities.
With the passage of the 2024-25 budget, the Shapiro-Davis Administration secured twice the amount of funding provided through this program last year to support much-needed planning, training, equipment, and technology upgrades for places of worship, community centers and other nonprofit entities.
“Hate has absolutely no place in Pennsylvania,” Lt. Gov. Davis said. “No matter what you look like, who you love or how you worship, every Pennsylvanian deserves to be safe and feel safe in their community. With the additional $5 million investment that the Shapiro-Davis Administration secured in this year’s budget, even more nonprofit organizations will have the resources they need to keep their members and visitors safe from threats and acts of violence.”
Speakers Include:
Shawn Brokos, Pittsburgh Jewish Federation
LT. Gov Davis
Senator Jay Costa
Representative Dan Frankel
Representative Abigail Salisbury
Tree of Life CEO Carole Zawatsky
PITTSBURGH, July 16, 2024 – State Senator Katie Muth (D-Chester/Montgomery/Berks), chair of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee, joined Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) yesterday in Pittsburgh to co-host a public hearing highlighting Pennsylvania’s system of property reassessment.
“Yesterday’s hearing highlighted the many issues caused by Pennsylvania’s lack of statewide property reassessment system and also some potential legislative solutions that would require regular, cyclical reassessments that could help alleviate the property tax burden for so many Pennsylvania families,” Muth said.
The hearing, held at Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, featured two panels of testimony that highlighted the issues with Pennsylvania’s property reassessment system and included discussion on the impact reassessments have on municipalities, school districts, and real estate. Pennsylvania is the only state that does not require cyclical updates in the administration of the property tax and counties can go for decades without value updates.
“Property taxes are a primary and critical source of revenue for Pennsylvania’s more than 2,500 municipalities and 500 school districts. However, the Commonwealth remains the only state in the nation that allows counties to decide when to perform a full reassessment of property values, unless a court intervenes,” Fontana said. “What we heard yesterday was compelling evidence that Pennsylvania’s lack of a uniform scheduled reassessments is full of inequities, and it is costing us. The time is now that the Legislature comes up with a solution.”
Pennsylvania has no standardized system of assessing property value, thus processes vary widely from county to county; and within each county, assessment values vary from municipality to municipality. According to statistics, 50 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties have not done a reassessment in the past 15 years, the last one done in Allegheny County was in 2012.
“It was an honor to participate in yesterday’s urgent discussion around property reassessments and how we move forward in this space. I am especially grateful that we were able to discuss my LOOP legislation, which will soon have the impact of protecting long-term owner-occupants in Pittsburgh from exorbitant property taxes that have skyrocketed recently,” Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said. “I’m very proud of all the leaders and advocates who shared their expertise, and I look forward to continuing this conversation as we go forward.”
Sen. Costa’s Senate Bill 219, which was signed into law as Act 53 of 2024 by the Governor last week, created the Longtime Owner Occupant Tax Exemption Program (LOOP) which will protect homeowners living in areas with rapidly increasing property values that increase property taxes. The bill will allow Pittsburgh’s mayor and city council to exempt or defer increases in property taxes for people who have lived in homes they own for a certain period of time in certain neighborhoods where the property values have skyrocketed.
“Grateful to have had the opportunity to hear from experts and advocates on the hugely significant impact Pennsylvania’s inequitable property tax reassessment system has on residents and our public institutions. Without regularly scheduled reassessments like the rest of the country, our local governments and school districts are stuck with a system that taxes residents and families unfairly.” Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) added. “We can’t appeal our way to fairness, so I’m looking forward to working with Senator Fontana to find a solution that benefits all Pennsylvanians.”
Participants in the hearing included Dr. Melissa Friez, Superintendent, Mt. Lebanon School District; Ira Weiss, Solicitor, Pittsburgh Public Schools; Mike Suley, Board Member, Allegheny County Board of Property Reassessment Appeals; Rachael, Heisler, Pittsburgh City Controller; Sharon DiPaolo, Partner, Siegel Jennings Co.; John Petrack, Executive Vice President, Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh; and David Vatz, Pro Housing Pittsburgh.
Senator Tim Kearney (D-Delaware) also participated in the hearing virtually.
For more information on this policy hearing and to access all submitted testimony and a full recording of yesterday’s hearing, visit www.SenatorMuth.com/policy.
Harrisburg, PA − July 11, 2024 – Today, the Pennsylvania Senate and House passed a $47.59B dollar budget that makes significant investments in basic education, higher education, public safety, health and human services, and economic development.
Senator Jay Costa, Senate Democratic Leader, and Senator Vincent Hughes, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, said the following about Pennsylvania’s new budget:
“I am happy to report that today, we passed a budget bill, a school code, a tax code, and a fiscal code. Our discussions these past few weeks were very productive, and the Senate Democratic Caucus was proud to fight for a number of our priorities,” said Senator Costa. “This budget makes significant investments in the issues Pennsylvanians find important and impactful. We have invested over $1 billion new dollars into pre-k to 12 education funding, and a $900 million increase to address our education adequacy needs and basic education funding. In the space of economic development, there is over $45 million for new programs that support new jobs and businesses, including funding for the PA SITES program. We also got a $40 million increase for affordable housing through the PHARE Housing Program over 4 years. I am personally very proud that we doubled our investment in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to a total of $10 million to protect the spaces in our communities that serve vulnerable groups. There is so much more to celebrate, and also much more work to do to deliver for every Pennsylvanian. I am so grateful for my colleagues and staff for getting this budget over the finish line.”
“This budget makes a historic downpayment on our responsibility to fix Pennsylvania’s education funding system with an increase of over $1B for Pre-K to 12 education funding,” said Senator Hughes. “I along with a number of advocates, educators, and students have been in the fight to fix Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional education system for 10 years, and tonight we’re taking an important step forward to right that egregious wrong. Our work isn’t finished but this budget marks a significant milestone for Pennsylvania’s public education system.
I’m also proud to see the Commonwealth move forward with long overdue investments and reform for our higher education system. Democrats started leading on this issue in 2017 with our PA Promise plan and then requirements on higher ed transparency and accountability. We’ve finally got something across the finish line that will improve access and affordability for students and families, and ultimately improve our workforce. It’s gratifying to see the groundwork we started to lay 7 years ago with PA Promise result in a serious change for PA higher education.
Overall, we’re delivering big increases for education, affordable housing, public safety, and a number of new investments in economic development initiatives. The investments we’re making in this budget will have a significant impact on opportunities and growth for Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth. Of course, with a divided government, there’s more that Democrats will be fighting for as we make future appropriations, but we’ve made a solid stride forward with what we’ve passed today.”
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