President Donald Trump and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s big bad abomination is the single largest cut to health care and food assistance in the history of our country. The U.S. Senate Reconciliation bill cuts over $1 trillion from Medicaid and $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade. Read more

“Alternate models are especially needed to ensure that lower-income households have access to sustainable homeownership," Freeman said. Read more

Legislation that would give municipalities another tool to plan their communities and streamline development passed the state House of Representatives today, according to prime sponsor Rep. Robert Freeman. Read more

HARRISBURG, July 1 — Legislation to support and sustain a strong, well-trained nursing workforce across Pennsylvania that was introduced by state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski was approved by the House Labor & Industry Committee today. The legislation, H.B. 1676 , addresses Pennsylvania’s growing nursing shortage. According to a Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania survey, Pennsylvania hospitals reported that an average of 14 percent of their nursing positions are unfilled, leaving existing nurses stretched thin and working longer hours. The situation is projected to worsen, with the state expected to face a shortage of 20,000 nurses by 2026. “Nurses are an integral part of our healthcare system, from providing critical bedside care to educating patients and families to advocating for patient needs with hospital staff,” said Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna. “Without them, our healthcare system won’t be able to provide lifesaving care to the public.” According to Kosierowski, fewer people entering the nursing profession has created an untenable workplace situation of longer hours and greater patient loads, causing many nurses to leave the profession due to high stress and burnout. In addition, many nurses are at retirement age and are expected to soon leave the profession. The result of having fewer nurses on hospital staffs has negatively impacted patient care, with increased mortality rates and diminished Read more

SCRANTON, June 27 —State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-Scranton, announced today she helped the nonprofit Friends of the Poor secure $413,013 in state infrastructure grants from the PA Department of Agriculture. Friends of the Poor, a Scranton nonprofit whose mission is to alleviate the burden of poverty and help to enhance the quality of life in low- to moderate-income communities, will use the funding to create a centralized cold-storage food distribution hub that will streamline nonprofit and farmer access to fresh food for thousands of residents. “I was honored to be in a position to help Friends of the Poor, a wonderful Scranton-based nonprofit, access critical funding that will enable them to develop the infrastructure that will give thousands of food-insecure members of our community access to fresh, nutritious food for their families and themselves” Kosierowski said. “The funding comes from a new, innovative program, Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure, which is an example of the great good that can be accomplished through federal and state partnerships.” The funding comes through Pennsylvania’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program — a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants to support food processing, distribution, and aggregation from multiple farms to help meet demand for local, seasonal, and fresh food. For qualifying Read more

HARRISBURG, June 27 – In the wake of major changes to a federal vaccine advisory panel that could threaten Pennsylvanians’ access to life-saving immunizations, state Reps. Arvind Venkat, Bridget Kosierowski and Tarik Khan, all health professionals, are preparing to introduce legislation that would require private insurers and Medicaid to cover FDA-approved vaccines that have been recommended by certain medical organizations. Venkat said the legislation is needed to ensure that critical immunization protections remain available to Pennsylvanians. “As a physician, I know that vaccines are among the most powerful tools we have in our arsenal for preventing disease. The administration of scheduled childhood vaccines and recommended vaccines to adults has protected all Pennsylvanians for decades,” said Venkat. “Unfortunately, recent developments at the federal level – including the firing of all members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and their replacement with at least several known anti-vaccine activists – is a warning sign. “If ACIP fails to continue recommending certain FDA-approved vaccines, insurers will no longer have to cover them, and critical immunizations that protect children and vulnerable Pennsylvanians from deadly diseases would disappear. Beyond the human toll, long-term health care Read more

“Municipalities with a large amount of tax-exempt properties are faced with the challenge of providing residents with essential services but without a sustaining real estate tax revenue base," Freeman said. Read more

“Our conservation officers deserve to be compensated fairly for the work they do protecting our state," Haddock said. Read more

State Rep. Jeanne McNeill is heralding the final passage of legislation she wrote to support the childcare workforce for childcare providers participating in the Child Care Works program. Read more

State Rep. Jeanne McNeill applauded today’s passage of her electronic nicotine delivery system directory legislation by the House of Representatives. Read more