![]() |
||
In this update:
Congratulations to Eagle Scout Nathan BaileyCongratulations to Nathan Bailey Schussler of Troop 155 in Red Lion on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout! It was an honor to recently present him with a congratulatory citation from the Senate of Pennsylvania in recognition of his significant achievement! Nathan, the son of Philip and Sara Schussler, designed and constructed a patio prayer garden for the Living Word Community Church. Well done, Nathan! Celebrating 44th annual Red Lion Street FairAfter a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Lion Street Fair was back and better than ever! Representative Stan Saylor and I had a legislative table to bring YOUR General Assembly to YOUR community. I had several great conversations with many of our neighbors throughout the day about many important state-related issues. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, said hello, asked questions and picked up information on YOUR state government! Visit our mobile Senate office at the Dallastown CarnivalTonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) night, I will be at the Dallastown Carnival at the Dallastown Community Park. The Carnival runs from 5 – 10 p.m. tonight and 5 – 10 p.m. on Saturday night. I hope you stop by our table and pick up helpful state guides, firearm safety information and more! Learning materials are also available for children. Hard work and dedication pay off for 2021 Downtown First Award recipientsIt was an honor to present several congratulatory citations from the Senate of Pennsylvania to several locally owned small businesses that earned the Downtown First Award, presented by Downtown Inc. These locally owned businesses and community leaders fought through many obstacles over this past year to earn this prestigious award. This year’s award recipients include: Outstanding Large Business Warehaus Outstanding Small Business Grace Manor Bed & Breakfast Outstanding New Business m.elene Vintage Outstanding Merchant My Girlfriend’s Wardrobe Outstanding Nonprofit Rainbow Rose Center Better York Appell Beautification Cornerstone Barbershop and Shave Parlour Outstanding Individual Pastor Bill Kerney Change Maker Commissioner Michael Muldrow Congratulations to all of these small businesses and individuals for your tireless dedication to making York a better place to live, work and raise a family! Legislative Review: Supporting VeteransPennsylvania is home to nearly 800,000 veterans in addition to active members of the military. Supporting these men and women, and their families, is a top priority. The Senate passed several bills this year to assist Pennsylvanians who served our nation. Act 31 of 2021 extends employment protections to Pennsylvania citizens who are members of another state’s National Guard. Act 55 of 2021 increases the maximum donation amounts to the Veterans’ Trust Fund from $3 to $5 when applying for or renewing a driver’s license, ID card or vehicle registration and from $6 to $10 when applying for a two-year vehicle registration. Act 63 of 2021 adds a member of the State Veterans Commission to the Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Council. Senate Bill 248 designates March 6 as Persian Gulf War Veterans Day and October 7 as Global War on Terrorism Veterans Day. Senate Bill 486 provides members of the Pennsylvania National Guard and reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces who serve on active duty, as well as their spouses, preference for placement into job training programs for one year after discharge. You can find a full list of bills of note passed by the Senate in 2021 here. Public hearing on child protective services law revisionsProposed changes to a state law aimed at protecting children from abuse was the topic of a Senate hearing this week. The Senate Aging and Youth Committee took testimony on revisions to Pennsylvania’s child protective services law proposed by the state Department of Human Services. Among the changes would be the removal of time frames for the expungement of state records on child abuse cases. Currently, state law requires that unfounded child protective services reports and invalid general protective services reports be expunged from the state database after one year and that validated general protective services reports be expunged after 10 years or until the youngest child in the report turns 23. The change is aimed at aiding efforts to identify children at risk of future abuse. You can watch the hearing and read testimony here. Education financial assistance available to eligible children of veteransThe Educational Gratuity Program provides financial assistance for those attending post-high school education or training at an approved institution in the Commonwealth. The program supports children of honorably discharged veterans who have 100% service-connected disabilities and served during a period of war or armed conflict, or children of veterans who die or died in service during a period of war or armed conflict. All applicants must have a financial need. Payments will not exceed $500 per term or semester per qualified child to each approved educational institution over a total of eight terms or semesters. More information on the program and how to apply can be found here. REMINDER: Federal unemployment benefit programs to end Sept. 4I am sending out another friendly reminder that federal unemployment benefit programs, including Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), will end September 4. This includes the additional $300 per week provided by the federal program. The state’s regular unemployment compensation program and those receiving benefits from it are unaffected. Individuals currently enrolled in PEUC and PUA can take advantage of free jobseeker services offered through PA CareerLink. These services include access to a free job database, resume assistance, information about reskilling opportunities and more. To schedule an appointment, contact your local PA CareerLink office listed here. Last call to take my latest survey on per-mile-tax suggested by Gov. Wolf’s commissionYou can always send me an email, letter, call or stop by the office to let me know your opinion on any state-related matter. However, if you want to have your support or opposition to a plan to increase various fees and taxes in order to phase out the state’s gas ta, please let me know by taking my survey. Take my survey here. Hundreds of our neighbors have already weighed in on this important matter. I plan to compile the results and share them with you next week. Thank you to those who took the time to weigh in and offer solutions to the issue. Upcoming PennDOT projects PennDOT will post its list of upcoming scheduled maintenance projects to its website. You can view the schedule for next week here. |
||
|
||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() If you do not wish to receive this email, click here to unsubscribe. 2023 © Senate of Pennsylvania | https://senatorkristin.com | Privacy Policy |