Recent News
Pittman and Smith Announce $2 Million State Grant Awarded to Address Water Emergency in Barr Slope, Green Township
Indiana County Municipal Service Authority (ICMSA) has been awarded a state grant in the amount of $2 million to be used for an emergency water interconnection for the village of Barr Slope in Green Township, according to Sen. Joe Pittman (R-41) and Rep. Brian Smith (R-66). [Read More]
E-news Updates – February 14, 2025
In this Update: Manor Township VFC Centennial Celebration Independent Energy Office Budget Hearings Begin Next Week to Examine Shapiroโs Unrealistic Spending Plan Senate Votes to Strengthen Penalties for Harming PA Public Transit Operators State Funding Approved for Fire Companies and EMS Bill Ensuring Great Care at State Veteransโ Homes Passes Senate Senate Passes Bill Providing […] [Read More]
Pittman, Smith and Struzzi Announce $318,000 in State Funding for Indiana County Fire Companies and EMS
State Sen. Joe Pittman (R-41), State Rep. Brian Smith (R-66), and State Rep. Jim Struzzi (R-62) announced today that 22 local fire departments and two emergency medical services providers in Indiana County will receive $318,505.98 in state grant funds. [Read More]
E-news Updates – February 7, 2025
In this Update: Senate Approves Bipartisan Legislation to Repeal RGGI Electricity Tax Shapiro Presents Unrealistic Spending Plan Pittman & Bashline Announce $600,000 for Kittanning Borough Demolition Project Senate Supports Bill to Combat High Egg Prices, HPAI Groundhog Day 2025 Bills to Exempt Newer Vehicles from Emissions Testing Passes Senate Trout Stocking Schedule Announced Recognizing National […] [Read More]
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๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐
๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐
I was honored to attend a Centennial Celebration dinner for Manor Township VFC. Congratulations to all members, past and present, for 100 years of dedicated service to Armstrong County #Communities!
It was great to see many familiar faces โ a special shoutout to my dear friends, Sam & Jane Schreckengost. Sam is the oldest and longest serving active member with 65 years of service, having joined in 1959. Jane is a member of Ladies Auxiliary.
#Volunteerfirefighters deserve our gratitude and recognition every day for the time and effort they put forth to keep our local communities safe and protected. VFC members give up much of their personal time while on #emergency calls, completing required training and fundraising for their department. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this special event!
๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐
๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐
I was honored to attend a Centennial Celebration dinner for Manor Township VFC. Congratulations to all members, past and present, for 100 years of dedicated service to Armstrong County #Communities!
It was great to see many familiar faces โ a special shoutout to my dear friends, Sam & Jane Schreckengost. Sam is the oldest and longest serving active member with 65 years of service, having joined in 1959. Jane is a member of Ladies Auxiliary.
#Volunteerfirefighters deserve our gratitude and recognition every day for the time and effort they put forth to keep our local communities safe and protected. VFC members give up much of their personal time while on #emergency calls, completing required training and fundraising for their department. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this special event!
๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐๐
Iโm a Steelers fan through and through, but on Sunday Iโll be rooting for the Eagles. Letโs hope they make Pennsylvania proud! Fly Eagles Fly! ๐ฆ
๐
๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐๐
Iโm a Steelers fan through and through, but on Sunday Iโll be rooting for the Eagles. Letโs hope they make Pennsylvania proud! Fly Eagles Fly! ๐ฆ
๐
๐๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ, ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ
In response to recent outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and skyrocketing prices for #eggs, the Senate passed legislation to expand the number of certified poultry technicians in #Pennsylvania. It now advances to the governor to be signed into law.
At the request of the stateโs egg #farmers, House Bill 324 would offer flexibility to farmers and their employees to test poultry for dangerous transmittable diseases that have the potential to decimate poultry flocks.
This measure would equip trained technicians to more quickly detect HPAI and contain any further spread. The bill would also update the outdated blood testing provision to modernize and expand testing to more accurately reflect the various types of dangerous transmittable diseases of poultry . House Bill 324 would safeguard the health of poultry flocks and protect the stateโs $7 billion poultry industry.
Thank you to Senate Agriculture & Rural Chairman Senator Elder Vogel Jr. for his work on this important bill!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ, ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ
In response to recent outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and skyrocketing prices for #eggs, the Senate passed legislation to expand the number of certified poultry technicians in #Pennsylvania. It now advances to the governor to be signed into law.
At the request of the stateโs egg #farmers, House Bill 324 would offer flexibility to farmers and their employees to test poultry for dangerous transmittable diseases that have the potential to decimate poultry flocks.
This measure would equip trained technicians to more quickly detect HPAI and contain any further spread. The bill would also update the outdated blood testing provision to modernize and expand testing to more accurately reflect the various types of dangerous transmittable diseases of poultry . House Bill 324 would safeguard the health of poultry flocks and protect the stateโs $7 billion poultry industry.
Thank you to Senate Agriculture & Rural Chairman Senator Elder Vogel Jr. for his work on this important bill!
๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐จโ๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐
On Tuesday, Governor Shapiro presented a $51.5 billion #budget plan for fiscal year 2025-2026, which would increase state spending by $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% over the current yearโs budget.
PA Senate Republicans raised concerns that the governorโs overly optimistic future revenue projections and wildly inaccurate future expenditure assumptions could eliminate the stateโs emergency savings (also known as the Rainy Day Fund) and create the need for a multi-billion-dollar tax increase on #Pennsylvania families within a year and a half.
This was just the beginning of our state budget process. Now itโs time for our full review to take place, as we do our due diligence fighting for #taxpayers. The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a series of hearings to closely examine the spending plan to determine how it can be improved. The hearings will begin Feb. 18 and run through March 6.
๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐จโ๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐
On Tuesday, Governor Shapiro presented a $51.5 billion #budget plan for fiscal year 2025-2026, which would increase state spending by $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% over the current yearโs budget.
PA Senate Republicans raised concerns that the governorโs overly optimistic future revenue projections and wildly inaccurate future expenditure assumptions could eliminate the stateโs emergency savings (also known as the Rainy Day Fund) and create the need for a multi-billion-dollar tax increase on #Pennsylvania families within a year and a half.
This was just the beginning of our state budget process. Now itโs time for our full review to take place, as we do our due diligence fighting for #taxpayers. The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a series of hearings to closely examine the spending plan to determine how it can be improved. The hearings will begin Feb. 18 and run through March 6.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง & ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ $๐๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ
Iโm pleased to join @repbashline to announce the approval of $600,000 in state funding for Kittanning Borough.
The funding is being awarded through the Department of Community and Economic Developmentโs Keystone Communities Program, to support the recent emergency demolition of the McConnell-Watterson building on Market Street in Kittanning. The building was deemed unstable as it began to collapse, becoming a public safety hazard.
I applaud Armstrong County Commissioners and Kittanning Borough Council for working together to ensure the safety of area residents and businesses. This state support will go a long way to help address the concerns and costs associated with demolition of the structure.
Last summer, an emergency action was taken by Kittanning Borough Council to expedite the process of demolishing the dilapidated building and to assist two Market Street businesses impacted by the adjacent structure. This grant will in no way let the negligent property owner off the hook, but rather protects the borough taxpayer from being stuck footing the bill.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง & ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ $๐๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ
Iโm pleased to join @repbashline to announce the approval of $600,000 in state funding for Kittanning Borough.
The funding is being awarded through the Department of Community and Economic Developmentโs Keystone Communities Program, to support the recent emergency demolition of the McConnell-Watterson building on Market Street in Kittanning. The building was deemed unstable as it began to collapse, becoming a public safety hazard.
I applaud Armstrong County Commissioners and Kittanning Borough Council for working together to ensure the safety of area residents and businesses. This state support will go a long way to help address the concerns and costs associated with demolition of the structure.
Last summer, an emergency action was taken by Kittanning Borough Council to expedite the process of demolishing the dilapidated building and to assist two Market Street businesses impacted by the adjacent structure. This grant will in no way let the negligent property owner off the hook, but rather protects the borough taxpayer from being stuck footing the bill.
Happy Groundhog Day 2025! @punxsyphil saw his shadow on this #sundayfunday at Gobblerโs Knob. Bundle up for 6 more weeks of #winter! โ๏ธ
Happy Groundhog Day 2025! @punxsyphil saw his shadow on this #sundayfunday at Gobblerโs Knob. Bundle up for 6 more weeks of #winter! โ๏ธ
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ข๐
Governor Shapiro has touted an agreement this week with PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for our #electricity. This announcement does nothing to make energy less expensive in Pennsylvania. The claim of $21 billion in savings is something consumers of electricity will never see materialize because rates will continue to rise even under this agreement. Here is a video of remarks I made yesterday on the #PASenate floor taking about the reality of energy here in #Pennsylvania.
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ข๐
Governor Shapiro has touted an agreement this week with PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for our #electricity. This announcement does nothing to make energy less expensive in Pennsylvania. The claim of $21 billion in savings is something consumers of electricity will never see materialize because rates will continue to rise even under this agreement. Here is a video of remarks I made yesterday on the #PASenate floor taking about the reality of energy here in #Pennsylvania.
During this session we will continue to examine ways to best support students in their learning environments, while also placing a significant value on empowering parents when it comes to the education and well-being of their children. #nationalschoolchoiceweek
During this session we will continue to examine ways to best support students in their learning environments, while also placing a significant value on empowering parents when it comes to the education and well-being of their children. #nationalschoolchoiceweek
