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In this Update:
Senate Majority Policy Committee: Fighting Blight Revitalizes Neighborhoods
At the invitation of Sen. Lynda Culver, I chaired a Senate Majority Policy Committee roundtable discussion in Sunbury about best practices for addressing vacant and blighted buildings. For many of our older coal region communities, restoring or demolishing these dangerous, vermin-infested properties is a top priority. Blight can spread through a neighborhood like the plague, but the cure can also be contagious. We’ve seen in Jim Thorpe, Tamaqua, Hazleton, and other communities that the restoration or demolition of vacant eyesores drives up property values, encourages new employers to set up shop, and inspires further beautification of surrounding buildings. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions to this problem. Roundtable discussions like this one allow those in the trenches of this battle to share what strategies have worked for them AND what paths to avoid. We’ve created new laws to provide funding for demolition and give local officials new tools after similar roundtable discussions in the past. Thank you to everyone who joined us, including Reps. Michael Stender and JoAnne Stehr, Sens. Pat Stefano and Joe Picozzi, former Rep. Kurt Masser, and many local leaders from Sunbury, Shamokin, Bloomsburg, and other communities. The Good and the Bad in Governor Shapiro’s Budget
During his 97-minute budget address (a new record!), Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed some ideas that I fully support, like supporting our students seeking real jobs in much-needed careers in the trades and investing in the recruitment and retention of teachers at childcare centers. Last week, I joined the governor at a Pottsville press conference, demonstrating strong bipartisan support for addressing the workforce crisis facing childcare centers. The governor’s proposed investment in childcare is a win for our kids, working families, employers, pre-school teachers, and our communities. In my comments, I pointed to my Grandfather Argall’s 1930 Middleport elementary school teaching contract. We support our teachers better now than we did then – he only made $990 a year – but we still don’t assist our pre-school teachers as much as we should, despite the passion they bring to their important work.
However, other aspects of his new proposal are based on fantasy, not reality. President Pro Tempore Kim Ward recently noted that the governor is more of a politician than a “get stuff done” governor, stating in an interview that he has “26 people working in his office that, doing all that social media, following him around with cameras. Governor Wolf had 12. Governor Shapiro has 26, and there’s a reason for that, right?” With 26 people in his communications office, at least now we understand why the speech was SO long! We must spend within our means. The governor’s budget proposal plays games with numbers to hide future tax increases. Using realistic spending and revenue estimates, Shapiro’s spending plans would leave a $27.3 billion hole in the state’s finances in the next five years. The Senate Appropriations Committee has begun its review of the governor’s proposal, to determine what’s real and what’s fake and craft a realistic budget. Meeting with Philadelphia Police in Kensington
To better understand the challenges and dangers faced by law enforcement in Philadelphia, Sen. Joe Picozzi invited the Senate Majority Policy Committee to join the Philadelphia Police in Kensington. During the four-hour session, we reviewed the situation confronting officers who patrol the area every day, including new initiatives by Mayor Cherelle Parker and City Council which are beginning to make improvements, after years of decline in the community. We also toured Riverview Wellness Village, a nearby recovery-based housing center created by Mayor Parker. Riverview provides housing and special services to help those suffering from drug use build sustainable habits for long-term recovery. They are now in the process of adding more beds and workforce development initiatives. The brave officers we met with deserve more than just our thanks – they need more support. Sen. Picozzi stressed to us throughout this visit that the Philadelphia Police have made strides towards reducing crime within the city, but they need more help. The persistent deterioration of neighborhoods that we witnessed is completely unacceptable. Pennsylvania Students Have Not Recovered from Pandemic-Era Learning LossOne of the most severe consequences of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 lockdowns was sadly inflicted upon our schools. According to a recent study, Pennsylvania students are lagging 2019 academic achievement levels by more than half a grade level. Our state is ranked 38th among states in recovery in math and 31st in recovery in reading. Chronic absenteeism has significantly contributed to the slow recovery of student performance. According to the study, which was conducted by researchers at Stanford and Harvard, many states that closed for a shorter period than Pennsylvania have significantly less learning loss. Louisiana, Alabama, and Hawaii have made up the most ground, with Louisiana standing as the only state in the study to improve academic outcomes from 2019 to 2024. The results are clear – lockdowns set students back and too many have yet to catch up. Telephone Town Hall on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in State Government
Almost 6,000 people from Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties joined me for a telephone town hall last week. This was the first of eight town halls I’ll sponsor in the next few months—both via telephone and in person, designed to review the good, the bad, and the really ugly of how our state government operates. I asked everyone on the call to weigh in on five questions currently confronting our state government.
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