“Now more than ever, we need schools and teachers to be educated on how the pandemic may have further impacted ACEs in their students and how they can better assist students in handling this unforeseen and widespread traumatic experience.” Read more
HARRISBURG, July 1 – State Reps. Stephen Kinsey and Manuel Guzman today announced that they will soon introduce legislation that would mandate ammunition manufacturers to encode ammunition for retail sale with serial numbers, making the bullet a more useable piece of evidence for law enforcement to solve more crimes in the wake of increasing gun violence. The bill would also require manufacturers to provide the serial numbers to the Pennsylvania State Police, who would be responsible for keeping a database on all encoded ammunition sold in Pennsylvania and allow law enforcement to easily trace the ownership of any ammunition involved in a crime. “Our commonwealth has experienced an uptick in gun violence, and very few of these crimes have resulted in an arrest or conviction because all that’s left at the crime scene is a victim and spent shell-casings,” said Kinsey, D-Phila. “Our bill that would require every piece of ammunition sold in this state to be encoded with identifying serial numbers -- much like the guns they’re discharged from. It is time for us to keep track of these lethal weapons and ensure that we have the tools necessary to convict individuals who use their firearms for unlawful purposes.” “Police investigations involving firearms go cold over a lack of evidence too often,” said Guzman, D-Berks. “By encoding ammunition, we will provide a much-needed tool in the fight to reduce firearm Read more
HARRISBURG, June 26 – State Rep. Manny Guzman, D-Berks, on Friday voted to pass a state budget that will bring $176,767,992 in vital basic, special, and Ready to Learn block grant education funding, including more than $6 million in “Level Up” funds that invest in the poorest school districts, back to Reading School District. “Investments in communities like the beautiful, burgeoning city of Reading will undoubtedly ripple beyond our city limits,” Guzman said. “And that is especially so when it comes to funding that will help our schools and invest in the children in our community and their education.” A new initiative called “Level Up,” through which $100 million will be allocated to each of the 100 poorest schools in Pennsylvania, will provide Reading School District with $6.5 million in funding. That’s on top of more than $150.7 million in Pennsylvania’s Basic Education Funding, more than $14.7 million in Special Education Funding and $4.7 million in Ready to Learn Block Grants. The Level Up money can be used to hire more educators, upgrade schools that were built more than a century ago and provide students and faculty with 21 st century technology. “The children in our community and their education must be a top priority,” Guzman said. “For too long, our schools haven’t received the funding they need to meet students’ needs. I Read more
The courts proved again and again that the November 2020 election was fair and secure, and Nelson wants to work in a bipartisan fashion to address genuine improvements to election operations. Read more
“We should have done better. Just know that I will continue working tirelessly for students, for infrastructure and transit, for health care and reduced property tax burdens. The fight continues.” Read more
Shusterman’s bill (H.B. 909) was incorporated into S.B. 664. If enacted, S.B. 664 would give all students in the commonwealth the choice to repeat a grade level during the 2021-22 school year due to potentially lost educational opportunities in the last year due to COVID-19. Read more
Schools like the Pottstown School District need more funding so they can survive events like the pandemic. Read more
e wants to equitably fund schools, ensuring safe learning environments for kids and easing local property taxes. He says that by enacting the Pa. Rescue Plan we can create good-paying jobs, support local small businesses, and improve infrastructure across the state. Read more
He says the biggest fight is for equitable school funding to make sure his school districts have the money they need to invest in our children and save taxpayers money on local property taxes. In addition, he’s fighting hard for public transportation and a study to restore Reading-Philadelphia passenger train service. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Joe Webster talks about methane gas regulations on low producing wells that leak, creating 50% of the methane in Pa. He says that today we know a lot better than we used to, and we know that leaks, waste products, and by-products of these wells are toxic and hurting families. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Joe Ciresi introduces Julia Smith, a student at Pottstown School District, to talk about how her school district is underfunded. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Joe Webster says we should be talking about education, jobs, economic growth, healthcare, equity, and quality of life. Instead we continue to rehash the 2020 presidential election. We know our election was fair and secure. We must move past this and get back to working for Pennsylvania. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Joe Webster talks about fair and equitable education funding in Pa. He says that we have a onetime opportunity with a budget surplus and money from the American Rescue plan to invest in our children and put all our education funding through the fair funding formula, not just new dollars. This will ensure that every child has the same opportunities, lower local school property taxes, and support our schools. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Joe Ciresi stood with healthcare workers from across Pennsylvania as they rallied at the state Capitol for better wages and safer staffing levels. Ciresi says their sacrifices helped us through the pandemic and they deserve better. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Mary Jo Daley wants Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. She says there's a big focus on workforce development, as coal plants are closing. For the many people that have spent their career in that industry, RGGI would raise funds to help retrain them and provide them with new opportunities. Read more
We have an opportunity to create sustainable energy and use fees and developmental dollars from that transition to fund workplace development, environmental cleanup, and other efforts. Read more
While similar bills have been introduced in previous legislative sessions, the Sanchez/Schlossberg legislation would extend beyond the “gay” and “trans” terminology to include all members of this marginalized community by prohibiting the court system from allowing a defense of this nature in consideration of serious provocation or insanity. Read more
“It’s time to commit ourselves to using real data based on actual need to fund education, which is the reason we created these formulas in the first place. H.B. 1595 would put Pennsylvania back on track to fairly distributing education dollars so that we can achieve equitable funding for every student.” Read more
Ambition to create distrust is not a characteristic of an effective legislator, and it is not the job of a sitting Pennsylvania senator. Read more
The citation will be presented at this year’s host for Delco Day festivities, Marty Magee’s Irish Pub, 1110 Lincoln Ave., Prospect Park. Live music and activities will take place from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, June 12 into Sunday, June 13. Read more
Please use the form below to sign up for email updates. By completing this form you are acknowledging your request to receive periodic email updates.
By completing this form, you are verifying your request to opt in for email updates.
Thank you. Your email signup has been sent. You should start getting emails within 24 hours.