Did you know that cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania have mismanaged your property tax dollars paying for sports tickets, car washes and going out to eat? School choice is perfectly acceptable, but Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Auditor General Tim DeFoor and I support reforming the way cyber charter schools are funded with taxpayer dollars. Read a story about the auditor general’s report on cyber charter funding here.

Please join me and the House Education Committee for a public hearing to get the answers you deserve about what these taxpayer-funded schools are doing with your money. The hearing takes place at 10 a.m. May 8 at the Stroudsburg High School Auditorium.

Please join me and The Partnership for Gun Safety for a Town Hall to talk about the ways that we can make our communities safer, including how to safely store your weapons. This free event will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 29 at Stroudsburg Junior High School Auditorium. I look forward to the discussion on this important topic.

Save the date for this summer’s Women’s Expo, which I am excited to again host with state Rep. Maureen Madden. Stay tuned for more info about the variety of programs and services that will be available on June 21. If you are interested in being an exhibitor, registration is open at this link.

My staff is here to help you with a wide range of state services, from filing for a Property Tax/Rent Rebate to obtaining a disability placard – to name just a few. We also have weekly satellite hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Lehman Township and Delaware Township. Don’t hesitate to contact us at (570) 420-2850 or stop by the office at 18 S. 9th St. in Stroudsburg.

My state House of Representatives colleagues and I are passing important bills that will help our neighbors and improve our communities.

We’re providing critical worker protections by:

• Updating the Workers’ Compensation Act to ensure that workers who are seriously or permanently disfigured are eligible for workers’ compensation (HB 183).
• Adding 911 operators to the list of professions that are considered emergency responders (HB 453).

We’re protecting and supporting kids by requiring that child care facilities be equipped with carbon monoxide alarms (HB 156) and providing for driver’s licenses for youth experiencing homelessness (HB 472).

We’re making communities safer by banning remote stalking - the unauthorized tracking of victims using AirTags and similar devices (HB 407).

We’re ensuring access to food for our neighbors in need while combatting food waste by providing liability protection to donors of food that is donated after the recommended label date but is still otherwise safe to eat (HB 615).

We’re increasing the revenue cap for the PA Housing and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) Fund, enabling more people to have safe, affordable housing (HB 643).

We’re addressing substance use disorder by requiring the state to develop a poster that explains the signs of an opioid-related overdose, what to do in the event of an opioid-related overdose, where to find an opioid antagonist such as naloxone, and where to find additional resources and information (HB 269).

We’re protecting seniors from losing their PACE and PACENET eligibility by extending the current Social Security COLA moratorium until December 31, 2027 (HB 923).

We’re helping long-time retirees by providing a cost-of-living increase for those who were state employees and public school employees (HB 411).

We’re supporting our veterans by requiring employers to display a poster containing information on veterans’ benefits and services (HB 799).

If any of these are important to you, please contact your state Senator and urge her to pass them in the state Senate.

The municipal Primary Election is coming up on May 20, so ensure you are registered to vote before the May 5 deadline. Pennsylvania holds closed primary elections, which means you must be a registered Republican or Democrat to vote for that party’s nominees. You can register to vote, update your registration, or check your voter registration status online.

If you plan on voting by mail, the deadline to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot is May 13. For information on how to apply, go to the PA Department of State website.

Stroudsburg Borough recently released a report, which can be found here, that was done by an independent environmental company for the soil samples behind Bryant Street proving that it is a wetland/vernal pool. This finding should now require PennDOT to add a 75-foot buffer through Bryant Street, thus leading to a redesign of the expansion project.

Not only was the vegetation there, but we are also confident that we will find threatened and endangered species. We believe it to be a wildlife corridor already. Had these studies been done in 2019 when PennFuture and the Brodhead Water Association requested them from PennDOT, we could have saved ourselves a lot of agony wondering what was going to happen.

There is more to come! I will keep you posted.

District Office

18 South 9th Street, Suite 105
Stroudsburg, PA 18360
(570) 420-2850

Pennsylvania State Capitol

5-A East Wing  Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120
(717) 772-1421