June 30 is looming in the very near future. By the end of our Commonwealth’s fiscal year, we, the General Assembly, are supposed to present Governor Shapiro with a budget outlining where state funding will go over the next 12 months. This is a process that began back in February, when the Governor offered his budget proposal. In the months since then, my colleagues and I have spent countless hours attending budget hearings, crafting legislation, and listening to you, our constituents, about your spending priorities.

This year’s budget process has proven to be particularly complicated. You may have heard about the back-and-forth negotiations going on in Washington D.C. as Congress tries to agree on what the federal government’s budget will look like. While the House of Representatives passed a version of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the Senate still has to weigh in before a final product can be delivered to the President’s desk by the July 4 deadline.  

Lawmakers at the federal level are considering significant cuts to social services such as Medicaid and food stamps, programs that millions across the country and here in Pennsylvania rely on to make it day by day. Furthermore, the Trump administration has threatened cutting funding to K-12 schools in PA, jeopardizing programs that aid disadvantaged students and convoluting our state’s already inadequate, inequitable education funding system.

Our state alone cannot meet the financial requirements that these vital services demand. In 2022, Pennsylvania received $45.2 billion in federal funds, making up just under 40% of the Commonwealth’s overall revenue that year. Without a clear picture of how the federal government will be distributing funds to the individual states, the mountainous job of finalizing our state’s budget becomes even more difficult.  

But my colleagues and I have been working all week, and we will continue to work through the deadline if necessary. Both chambers passed dozens of bills this week, and to offer a bit of insight as a rank-and-file member, I see this as a sign of good things to come. No, these pieces of legislation won’t address the impending dearth of federal funding. But a lot of them have been stagnant for some time now, sitting in committee and waiting on votes, so the sudden breaking of the logjam shows me that House and Senate leadership are looking to play ball, as some may say. I hope to be a part of even more fruitful negotiations over the next week or two as we continue to move toward a budget.  

One of those logjam-breaking bills that the House passed this week, with strong bipartisan support, was Senate Bill 466. This important legislation would make it easier for individuals already trained in fire suppression — such as corrections officers and other public servants — to become certified volunteer firefighters. Currently, even though their jobs require extensive fire suppression training, that experience does not count toward Firefighter I certification. SB 466 addresses that gap. 

The bill also strengthens emergency response services across the Commonwealth by improving transparency for federal emergency grants and allowing fire and EMS companies more flexibility with grant applications and reporting deadlines in cases of hardship. 

SB 466 now awaits Governor Shapiro’s signature. I am hopeful it will soon become law, helping more Pennsylvanians serve their communities while also supporting the vital work of our fire and EMS personnel. 

It was a pleasure working with Congresswoman Madeleine Dean’s office and the staff at Legal Aid of Southeastern PA at our Expungement Clinic this past weekend!  

LASP is hosting a number of expungement-related clinics this summer in case you weren’t able to make it to ours. See the flyers above, or go to www.lasp.org/events for the most up-to-date information.  

If you used SNAP benefits to purchase food that was lost in the power outages last weekend, you can ask for replacement SNAP benefits to help restock!  

To request your replacement benefits, contact the Montgomery County Assistance Office (or your county's CAO) at (610) 270-3500 within 10 days of when the disaster occurred to complete the replacement affidavit. To be safe, we recommend submitting the affidavit by end of day Sunday, June 29, if not earlier. 

Several state agencies are warning PA residents to stay vigilant after a scam was reported involving someone posing as a Commonwealth employee targeting older Pennsylvanians and requesting money through licensed financial institutions to receive a fake inheritance.

The reported incident involved someone using an email resembling an official Commonwealth address claiming to be a representative of an alleged credit union located outside the U.S. and informing the victim that a wealthy distant relative from another county had left a large inheritance in their name that could only be accessed after paying a series of upfront fees.  

Some reminders to keep yourself safe from these scam attempts: 

• Don’t respond to suspicious emails, texts, or calls.

• Don’t trust messages about winning money or getting an inheritance from someone you do not know. 

• Don’t feel pressured to act quickly or in secrecy.

• Check email addresses. Scammers can spoof emails, sending an email that looks like it is from a trusted source. Official emails from Commonwealth agencies always end in @pa.gov.

• Same with websites. Official Commonwealth websites end in pa.gov and will always display the Commonwealth logo with the text “Official website of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” on the top left corner of a webpage 

If you are contacted by a potential scammer, report the incident to the PA Department of Insurance or Department of Banking & Securities at 1-866-PAComplaint or online. If you feel you have been scammed, contact the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection by calling 1-800-441-2555.