MY TAX CUT BILL PASSES HOUSE

My bill to provide tax cuts to brewers and bolster Pennsylvania’s craft beer industry passed the Pennsylvania House with overwhelming bipartisan support this week.

Pennsylvania’s craft beer industry is a strong economic driver, creating jobs and supporting local agriculture while attracting visitors from across the country. From Erie to Philadelphia and everywhere in between, we should be doing everything we can to support breweries of all sizes as they face a range of uncertain economic factors.

FIRSTHAND VIEW OF TECH ADVANCEMENTS

Transportation technology was on display on Wednesday at the Capitol—everything from scooters and delivery vehicles to self-driving cars was showcased. As technology evolves, so must the law. It was helpful to see and try some of the technology firsthand and to learn what can be done to foster innovation while keeping people safe.

KEYSTONE GIRLS STATE

Three rising seniors at McDowell High School visited my office this week at the Capitol. Aubrey, Hannah and Madeline stopped in Harrisburg with Dept. of PA ALA Keystone Girls State before the group headed across the Susquehanna River to Carlisle. They knew to stop in my office since I had also met with McDowell Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, where they each serve as cadets.

It’s always great to see young people involved in organizations laying the foundation needed for young people to develop into our community’s next leaders.

Their visit came a week after Millcreek students from Keystone Boys State visited my office.

ANIMAL PROTECTION WORK CONTINUES

Harrisburg is always better when there are pups on the prowl! This is Phoebe, a survivor of animal testing. The horrors that she and other beagles were saved from motivated me to introduce the Beagle Freedom Bills. These bills build on my work with Libre’s Law and would prohibit the import and sale of animals from kennels and dealers with multiple Animal Welfare Act citations, extend whistleblower protections to people who report violations, and require that dogs and cats used as research subjects be offered for adoption.

PAIRING PEOPLE WITH RESCUES

The ANNA Shelter announced another Ryan's Rescue. I sponsor an adoption program to help veterans open their hearts and their homes to adopted animals by covering some of the related costs.

William served our country in the U.S. Army and wanted a companion on the farm to ride along on the side by side and enjoy the country life! Vanizzle quickly won he and his wife over with her gentle demeanor and farm dog charm. I was happy to play a small part in Vanizzle finding a forever home.

SAVE THE DATE, AUG. 17

Join us on Monday, August 17th from 9 a.m. to noon for a one-stop-shop event connecting seniors, caregivers, and families with valuable resources, services, health information, veteran benefits, technology assistance, consumer protection support, and so much more.

Last year’s event brought out more than 1,400 attendees, and we’re looking forward to making this year even bigger and better.

Bayfront Convention Center
1 Sassafras Pier
Erie, PA 16507

Please spread the word, or contact my office if your organization would like to participate.

HOW WE VOTED

The House votes in Harrisburg each week this month on legislation. While the House passed a bipartisan budget in April, negotiations with the Senate on a final agreement are ongoing.

On Thursday morning, the House codified standards (HB 2198) to hold data center developers accountable and protect our communities, including requiring developers to pay for their own power generation without passing costs on to consumers. The bill also ends tax exemptions, removing another burden from taxpayers. Other bills the House passed this week included HB 2496, which allows local governments to place a six-month ban on data center development so communities have time to fully review and respond to projects; HB 2437, which eases restrictions to better fund local bridge repairs; HB 2621, which formalizes a path to study pregnancy, childbirth, and infant health to identify risks and improve healthcare; HB 75 and HB 76, which loosen restrictions on physician assistants, allowing medical professionals to spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork; and HB 2632, which adds transparency to $680 million in taxpayer dollars spent on EITC/OSTC tax credits to ensure students who need scholarships have access to them.

You can see how I voted on all these bills here.

STATEWIDE WORK WITH POLICY COMMITTEE

As Chairman of the PA House Democratic Policy Committee and a member of the House Majority Leadership team, I travel across the state with the Policy Committee to hear from workers, seniors, advocates, business leaders, and officials on emerging issues and initiatives. We examine how policies are working for people across the state and identify opportunities to advance reforms that would help even more residents.

The committee has held 71 hearings, hosted by 49 different leaders, across 47 neighborhoods so far, this legislative session.

UP NEXT: The committee kicks off eight weeks of summer and fall travel when we host events in Allegheny County from July 20-22.

AMERICA 250 EVENTS IN ERIE

This year’s America250PA celebration events began this month. The celebration continues with an August event:

🎉 The America250 Birthday Bash on the Bayfront on August 21st

Additional events throughout the year will feature library reading challenges, local history programming, trivia nights, and more as Erie County celebrates our shared history while bringing communities together for the future.

You can learn more and stay updated by visiting eriecounty250.org.

America250PA, alongside partners throughout Pennsylvania and across the nation, is rolling out free and low-cost activations to help communities celebrate the U.S. Semiquincentennial this summer.

Learn more about these activations here.

WE ARE READY TO HELP YOU

So far this year my dedicated team closed more than 7,100 cases. We have completed nearly 650 Property Tax & Rent Rebates, returning $420,000 to the region. If you need help filing your Property Tax/Rent Rebate, trust the professionals — we’re here to make it easy.

Stop by our Millcreek office or contact us if you have questions. A member of my team can also be reached at the Fairview Township Building on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

MY OFFICE CAN HELP YOU

If you need assistance with state programs, my office can help!

Last year, we:

helped 1,200+ people apply for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program,
resolved 4,500+ issues with PennDOT, and
completed 38,000+ items of casework.

Trust the professionals! Bring your issues to my team, we can help.