Pennsylvania's current gun laws impact not only our Commonwealth but also our neighboring states. Due to the lenient nature of our laws, Pennsylvania is unfortunately part of what’s known as The Iron Pipeline, a network of states with weak gun laws exploited by criminals to obtain guns through unlawful means. In addition to increasing the numbers of illegal guns in PA, these guns are then taken to other states and cities with stricter gun laws and used in violent crime, making Pennsylvania a supplier state for illegal firearms. Read more
Senator Comitta and I played a vital role in helping Paoli Hospital secure state funds to improve their facilities and expand the ER. Paoli Hospital is invaluable to our community: from providing critical healthcare to jobs. They show up for our community every day. Read more
NEWLY LISTED PROGRAMS Department of Agriculture: Urban Agricultural Infrastructure Grant Who May Apply: A person may apply to the Department for a grant for an eligible project in an urban municipality. Use: To improve urban agricultural infrastructure in an urban area, improve or facilitate the aggregation of agricultural products in an urban area, entail the sharing of resources among urban agricultural entities or community organizations, and/or support community development in the project area. Funds: $500,000 is expected to be available contingent on the 2025-26 budget. Application Deadline: October 31, 2025 More information: Pennsylvania Bulletin PROGRAMS OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Department of Community and Economic Development: PA SITES Who May Apply: Municipalities, economic development organizations, redevelopment authorities, municipal authorities, industrial development agencies, and for-profit organizations. Use: To develop competitive sites for businesses to relocate or expand within Pennsylvania. Funds: $400 million in funding is available. Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and approved on a quarterly basis More information: DCED Website Department of Community and Economic Development: Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant Who May Apply: Technical and trade schools, school districts, post-secondary Read more
Fall is almost upon us! This year my colleagues and I are working tirelessly to pass good legislation that benefits our communities. Read more
NEWLY LISTED PROGRAMS Office of the State Fire Commissioner: Fire Company and Emergency Medical Services Grant Who May Apply: All fire companies, emergency medical services, and volunteer rescue squads Use: Facility improvements, equipment purchases, debt reduction, training, education, and recruitment and retention Funds: Grants will be not less than $2,500 and not more than $20,000 per applicant fire company and no more than $15,000 per applicant emergency medical service. Application Deadline: October 20, 2025 More information: OSFC Website Commission on Crime and Delinquency: Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Who May Apply: Counties, county jails/county work release centers, Single County Authorities, and/or County Behavioral Health Administrators. Use: To support counties seeking to increase opportunities to provide Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in combination with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to individuals in county jails and work release centers and upon release to the community. Funds: A total of $1,130,905 in federal Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) funds is being announced to support this initiative. RSAT funds require a 25 percent cash or in-kind match. The applicant’s source for the cash match must be state or local funds. Federal funds may not be used to meet the match requirement. PCCD expects to fund approximately five grants with budgets not to Read more
NEWLY LISTED PROGRAMS Office of the Budget: Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) Who May Apply: Applicants must have been previously itemized in a Capital Budget Project Itemization Act. Use: Applicants can use funds for the purposes prescribed in the Capital Budget Project Itemization Act. Funds: Varied. Application Deadline: September 23, 2025 More information: OB website Department of Community and Economic Development: Local Share Account Statewide Who May Apply: Counties, municipalities, municipal authorities, economic development agencies, redevelopment authorities, land banks, or councils of government. Non-profits may partner with an eligible applicant to apply on their behalf. Use: Projects in the public interest. Projects that improve the quality of life of citizens in the community. Eligible projects must be owned and maintained by an eligible applicant or a nonprofit organization. Funds: The PA Race Horse Development and Gaming Act provides for the distribution of gaming revenues through the Commonwealth Financing Authority to support projects in the public interest. Grant requests must be at a minimum $25,000 and no more than $1,000,000. Application Deadline: November 30, 2025 More information: DCED Website Department of Agriculture: Agriculture and Youth Organization Grant Program Who May Apply: Agriculture and youth organizations, Read more
For too long, state budget debates have focused on the politically manufactured conflict between urban/suburban counties and rural counties. Our commonwealth’s urban/suburban counties churn out the tax revenue keeping our state’s coffers full, while rural counties’ vast roads and state-funded police consume more state tax dollars than they contribute. This conflict too often results in deprioritizing our suburban and urban counties and a viewpoint that funding them is a “handout”. The accurate truth is that this funding is an investment in the economic engine that drives our state forward. Read more
“Our back is against the wall,” she said. “Southeast Pennsylvania brings in 40 percent of the revenue for the state, and SEPTA – mass transit – it’s our backbone.” Read more
NEWLY LISTED PROGRAMS Department of Education: Keystone Grant for Public Library Facilities Who May Apply: Grant applications are required to be submitted by a municipality on behalf of the project library. Use: Planning, acquisition, development, construction, or rehabilitation of a public library. Funds: Funding is available through the Keystone Recreation, Park, and Conservation Fund. This grant program is a dollar-for-dollar match, and the maximum grant award is $750,000. There is no minimum grant award. Application Deadline: October 10, 2025 More information: PDE Website Department of Environmental Protection: Coastal Zone Grant Program Who May Apply: An authority, incorporated non-profit organization, a political subdivision, or an educational institution with a project within the Delaware estuary coastal Zone or the Lake Erie Coastal Zone. Use: To protect and enhance coastal resources in this Commonwealth. Funds: Application Deadline: October 14, 2025 More information: DEP Website Department of Environmental Protection: Driving PA Forward Initiative: Pennsylvania Freight Innovations in Transportation (PA-FIT) Grant Program Who May Apply: Businesses, non-profits, state, local or tribal government agencies, air quality or transportation organizations, metropolitan or rural/regional planning organizations, or federal government agencies. Use: To Read more
I am working hard to continue to advocate, negotiate and fund SEPTA adequately. In early August, the House - including my YES vote – sent the Senate a new omnibus transportation bill (our 5th in the past 2 years) which includes safety, security, cleanliness and oversight requirements – things Republican state Senators representing southeastern PA have said publicly are needed to fund SEPTA. It also includes funding for roads and bridges across the state – without raising taxes. Read more
“For years I’ve listened to my honorable Republican colleagues disparage southeast PA, our communities, our diversity, our schools, our mass transit and our quote-unquote out-of-control spending without offering any meaningful solutions or compromise that is responsible or economically effective,” Shusterman says. “We here are the driver of the economic engine of the entire state.” Read more
“You know, we fund the roads and bridges that rural PA uses for transportation,” said Rep. Shusterman in an interview, “And we’ve been on board with that — it’s been a sense of pride.”“But we need to be able to keep enough of that funding to ensure that our own mass transit runs so our regional economy can continue to drive the state economy. We are not OK with our tax dollars going to the rest of the state while we make transit cuts. That is why I created the legislation.” Read more
Ms. Shusterman is correct that, for all practical purposes, Pennsylvania’s urbanized regions, even with all their flaws, significantly economically subsidize its rural communities. This isn’t just a Pennsylvania issue, nor is it only a 21st century issue — though recent consolidation of economic power has worsened it. Dense developments almost by definition punch above their weight economically: The dynamism produced by having so many people, institutions, corporations and so on all in one place is a force-multiplier for economic activity. Read more
In response, state Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-Chester, has made a (mostly) tongue-in-cheek proposal to sequester Pennsylvania tax dollars by economic region, with generally poorer rural counties supporting themselves and generally richer urban counties supporting themselves. The clear message (or threat): Rural Pennsylvania would shrivel up even further were it not for the economic dynamism provided by the state’s urban centers. If rural representatives don’t want to support urban necessities, they can go it alone. Read more
State Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-Chester, believes southeastern Pennsylvania should make decisions with its own state tax revenue if rural Republican legislators won’t fully fund SEPTA.“We are not okay with our tax dollars going to the rest of the state while we face those cuts,” Shusterman told WHYY News. Read more
“I believe the current system for collecting state income, property, sales and corporate taxes does not do enough to provide financial stability at the local level,” Shusterman said. “We need a different approach to address the constant funding disparities in our communities and help residents see the direct impacts of their hard-earned tax dollars. I have been listening to my Republican colleagues for years. I understand they do not want to invest in Southeastern PA, so this is a solution that honors those goals, whereby each region funds their own schools, roads, police and other projects.” Read more
"The people of Schuylkill Township have been looking forward to these improvements for a long time,” Shusterman said. “Route 23 has been left neglected for far too long. I am relieved that these federal funds were secured and look forward to the people of Chester County benefiting from these safer roads at no additional cost to them." Read more
“I’d like to thank Speaker McClinton for giving me this opportunity to further serve my constituents and the Commonwealth,” said Shusterman. “The work of the BFTDA and its regional partner centers is critical to Pennsylvania’s economic development and the ongoing creation of quality job opportunities right here in PA. We must continue to ensure that we are investing in our future.” Read more
Today I joined my Chester County legislative colleagues in West Chester for a press conference on our fight to provide adequate funding for SEPTA. My House colleagues and I have voted FOUR times to properly fund SEPTA and roads and bridges – without raising taxes. We continue to wait on the Senate to come back to Harrisburg to put a transportation funding bill to a vote. Read more
“The Paoli-Thorndale line runs through my district, and it is the heartbeat of our community,” said state Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-Chester. “I want to emphatically echo the voices of my neighbors who have shared with me that public transit is not a luxury, it is a lifeline. If transit stops, we all stop.” Read more
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