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In this Update:
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nearly 250 years ago, the Second Continental Congress proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving in honor of the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga. The battle was an important one for our new country. After the Continental Army had been in retreat, the British discovered that despite what they originally thought, the American army would not be easily defeated. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday on the last Thursday in November. Gathering with loved ones gives us the opportunity to celebrate our own perseverance and successes. This Thanksgiving, may you be blessed with full tables and full hearts. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, my office will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29. Pennsylvania Mountains Rural Health Conference
I appreciated being invited to speak at the 3rd annual Pennsylvania Mountains Healthcare Alliance (PMHA) Conference hosted by IRMC and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, served as the keynote speaker. PMHA is a group of seventeen facilities that banded together in 1996 with a goal of working toward efficiencies to enable hospitals to improve their operations and maintain some independence. The current group includes thirty senior leaders from regional hospitals and medical centers. I commend PMHA for their efforts and support of rural healthcare. Working together we can help to increase access to quality healthcare throughout all our rural communities! Governor Must Consider All Taxpayers in Transportation Discussion
Gov. Josh Shapiro recently decided to flex $153 million of federal highway and bridge capital funds to give to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). Our Senate Republican Caucus has made it clear from the outset that we will examine transit funding that makes sense and can be justified to commonwealth taxpayers who are being asked to pay the bill. We will not and we have not wavered from our position. We reached a bipartisan agreement in July to temporarily fund SEPTA and other transit agencies to the tune of $80.5 million. Conditions of this funding included a re-examination of the delivery model given recent reductions in ridership, which are a direct result of Covid, people not working full-time in cities, and major safety concerns within the system. Rather than making prudent, sensible changes, they have chosen to politicize and pillage critical infrastructure projects for other districts which are well outside of SEPTA reach, ironically, the majority being in Republican districts. It is apparent the Democrats’ mindset is we can just spend more money on transit regardless of where it comes from. The fact of the matter is that the governor made a fairytale wish list to sizably increase SEPTA funding absent legislative involvement, which he failed to deliver. Equally troubling is the fact that SEPTA relied on this fairytale wish list in their budgeting process. We would be hard-pressed to find businesses in the commonwealth that operate on this type of budgeting principle. Now, instead of getting stuff done, the governor is taking stuff away by allowing roads and bridges in Republican districts to deteriorate. Transit funding is one side of a very large coin. The other side of the coin includes critical infrastructure projects of roads and bridges. These roads and bridges carry millions of commonwealth residents daily. Pennsylvania is the fourth largest contributor to mass transit in the country. Simply throwing more money at the problem without addressing the root causes will only further burden taxpayers and take away from road and bridge projects in the commonwealth as a whole. Robbing Peter to pay Paul should not be the solution to this problem. Whether the governor likes it or not, Pennsylvania does have a structural budget deficit. The action by the governor will do nothing but harm millions of hard-working Pennsylvanians by depriving their areas of critical infrastructure. We will not apologize for being fiscal stewards of tax dollars. The bottom line is that there must be a significant overall re-examination of the SEPTA delivery model and mass transit. My colleagues and I remain committed to common sense reform with stakeholder input that benefits all commonwealth taxpayers. Regular Firearms Deer Season Begins Nov. 30
Regular firearms season runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 14 in most areas of the state. Certain wildlife management units (WMUs) offer additional hunting opportunities. WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D have an extended season from Dec. 26 to Jan. 25, 2025. WMUs 4A, 4D and 5A have an extended season from Jan. 2-20, 2025. Pennsylvania hunters have shared their deer harvest since 1991, helping Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) distribute 2.5 million pounds of venison. Hunters can drop off a whole field-dressed deer at a participating processor. There is no fee to donate a deer. In an average hunting season, HSH hopes to provide the state’s food banks with 100,000 pounds of processed venison. The food banks then re-distribute the meat to more than 5,000 local provider charities such as food pantries, missions, homeless shelters, Salvation Army facilities and churches. Hunters’ donations help combat food insecurity, which more than 1.6 million Pennsylvanians currently experience. Shopping Small Boosts Our Local Economy
To spotlight the role that small businesses play, Small Business Saturday will be held Saturday, Nov. 30. The holiday season is a wonderful time to shop small. More than 1.1 million small businesses in Pennsylvania benefit their local economies and employ 2.5 million people. The state offers helpful information for people who are considering starting or expanding their business. Learn more about writing a business plan, registering your business and choosing a business structure.
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