HARRISBURG, May 26 – State Rep. Rob Matzie announced today that he will be introducing a package of bills to strengthen the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, including a bill to ensure the state fully distributes the annual federal funding it receives to residents in need.

Matzie, who is Democratic chairman of the PA House Consumer Affairs Committee, said he is introducing the legislation to end an arbitrary state practice that is hurting low-income families.

“Every year, Pennsylvania receives federal funding for home energy assistance, and even though that funding arrives annually, the state makes a policy decision not to use all of it, but to hold some of it back for the following year,” Matzie said. “Some years, the unused portion is $10 million, but this year, it’s estimated to be between $50 million and $100 million.

“This funding helps hundreds of thousands of people with a real and immediate need – paying the gas, oil and electric bill. That need doesn’t disappear after the state arbitrarily ends funding for the year. We need to do a better job of driving out those federal dollars – particularly now, with rising inflation and gas prices leaving more families struggling.”

Matzie said his five bills would:

• Require the state Department of Human Services to expend all the federal money it receives annually from the federal government.
• Create the Retail Electric and Gas Customer Assistance Program, which would use $500 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help electric and gas customers with accounts in arrears during the COVID pandemic pay down their accounts.
• Create a new LIHEAP program in Pennsylvania that is open year-round to assist with both home heating and cooling. The bill would be funded by the current federal funding along with a supplemental state appropriation to make up the difference. There are 11 other states with year-round programs.
• Codify the makeup of the LIHEAP Advisory Council and add legislative appointments.
• Require the state to create a plan identifying how it can leverage resources to provide more assistance to those in need.

Funding under LIHEAP is distributed via cash and crisis grants. More information about the current program is available at this link: https://www.dhs.pa.gov/Services/Assistance/Pages/LIHEAP.aspx.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing long-term single-lane closures on Business Loop 376 (Route 3160) in Moon Township, Allegheny County will resume Tuesday, May 31 weather permitting.

Single-lane closures in both directions on Business Loop 376 will occur from 9 a.m. Tuesday continuously through mid-July as crews conduct storm inlet and median barrier removal and replacement work. The lane closures will occur between the eastbound Halverson Drive on-ramp and the I-376 Moon (Exit 57) interchange. Crews will work in an approximate one mile segment of roadway before moving to the next section.

Lindy Paving is the prime contractor on this $6.09 million project which includes milling and paving, shoulder and base repairs, drainage improvements, guide rail updates, signage and pavement marking installation, and other miscellaneous construction activities. The overall project will conclude in the fall of 2022.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say at least four people have been killed and others might still be missing after a house explosion in a suburb northwest of Pennsylvania. Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller confirmed in a press conference that the explosion occurred Thursday just after 8 p.m. in Pottstown, about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Two other people were hospitalized. Their conditions are unknown. It is not immediately known what caused the explosion. Police have not yet named those who were killed or injured in the explosion. No additional details have been released.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Just 910 votes separate the two leading candidates in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. That means counties are preparing to start a recount in the race between celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick. Oz has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. At least six counties — Bedford, Clinton, Crawford, Lehigh, Montour, Tioga and Warren — said they’ll begin Friday. Most other counties will begin next week. Some counties were still counting remaining votes from last week’s primary election. The winner will take on Democrat John Fetterman in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators is trying to find a compromise on gun legislation. That’s after Democrats’ first attempt at responding to the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, failed Thursday in the Senate. Republicans blocked debate on a domestic terrorism bill that would’ve opened debate on hate crimes and gun policy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he’ll give negotiations about two weeks while Congress is in recess. The bipartisan group of senators met after the vote and focused on background checks for guns purchased online or at gun shows, red-flag laws designed to keep guns away from those who could do harm and school security measures.

(AP)- Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67. An official at the Dominican Republic’s National Forensic Science Institute who was not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the death of Ray Liotta and said his body was taken to the Cristo Redentor morgue. Representatives for Liotta told The Hollywood Reporter and NBC News that he died in his sleep Wednesday night in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a new movie. Liotta’s most iconic role, as real life mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” came in 1990.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration says $33 million in infrastructure money will be used to clean up some 277 of an estimated 15,000 abandoned oil and gas wells on federal land. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says the money is part of $250 million provided through the infrastructure law for cleaning up orphaned wells and well sites on federal public lands, national parks, national wildlife refuges and national forests. Wildlife refuges and a park in Louisiana hold 163 of the high priority wells covered in Wednesday’s announcement. Others are in California, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan on Monday.

Harrisburg, PA – With Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer travel season, less than a week away, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), and Highway Safety Network (HSN) are urging motorists to drive safe. The agencies are working with municipal police departments and other safety partners across the commonwealth to participate in the National “Click It or Ticket” (CIOT) Enforcement Mobilization running through June 5.

“Seat belts save lives,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “Through continued enforcement and education, we hope to see more people buckling up and fewer fatal crashes on Pennsylvania’s roads.”

In 2021 there were 12,672 crashes in Pennsylvania where at least one occupant was not wearing a seat belt, resulting in 378 fatalities.

In 2020, it is estimated that 94% of unbelted occupants, or 305 people, who were killed in crashes while traveling in passenger vehicles, including cars, small trucks, vans, and SUVs, could have survived if they had been buckled up.

PSP data from 2021 indicated during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, troopers investigated 844 crashes that resulted in eight fatalities and 183 injuries. State Police also cited 1,025 individuals for not wearing seat belts and issued 144 tickets for not securing children in safety seats.

As part of the enforcement mobilization, state and local police, along with law enforcement across the United States, participated in a Border-to-Border initiative on May 23 to provide increased seat belt enforcement at state borders, reinforcing the states’ focus on safety.

Pennsylvania law requires any occupant younger than 18 to buckle up when riding in a vehicle, as well as drivers and front-seat passengers. Children under the age of 2 must be secured in a rear-facing car seat, and children under the age of 4 must be restrained in an approved child safety seat. Children must ride in a booster seat until their eighth birthday.

In addition to adopting a zero-tolerance approach toward violators, troopers certified as child passenger safety technicians will offer car seat fittings and inspections throughout Pennsylvania, helping ensure that car seats are in good working condition, installed properly, and free from recalls.

“State police child passenger safety technicians undergo thorough training and are available to assist you,” said Major Jeremy Richard, acting PSP deputy commissioner of operations. “We encourage everyone to take advantage of this free resource to help keep their youngest passengers safe while traveling.”

A complete list of child passenger seat fitting stations is available at psp.pa.gov.

Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Liaisons (LEL), a grant-funded program administered by the Highway Safety Network (HSN), are a vital link between PennDOT and local police agencies across the state. More than 400 municipal agencies are participating in the CIOT enforcement and education initiative to help reduce unbelted injuries and deaths on all Pennsylvania roadways.

“Once again, we are coordinating with our law enforcement agencies and highway safety partners during the national “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaign to educate people on the importance of wearing seat belts,” said HSN Executive Director Bob Schaeffer. “Law enforcement plays a critical role in increasing seat belt use by combining public awareness activities with targeted seat belt enforcement. Seat belts save lives. The single, most important thing you can do to protect yourself in a vehicle is to buckle up every time.”

The CIOT enforcement is part of Pennsylvania’s Highway Safety Program and is funded by part of PennDOT’s investment of federal funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

PennDOT encourages motorists to visit 511PA’s Historic Holiday Traffic page to plan optimal travel times on major roadways across the state this Memorial Day weekend. The holiday travel tool allows the public to see how traffic speeds on the Friday before and on Memorial Day in 2019 and 2021 compare to traffic conditions during a typical, non-holiday week. Users can choose their region and view an hour-by-hour, color-coded representation of traffic speeds to help determine the best times to travel during the holiday.

While PennDOT will remove lane restrictions and suspend construction projects wherever possible, the Historic Holiday Traffic page also allows the public to view interstate restrictions that will be in place during the holiday travel period.

The public can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles in Pennsylvania by visiting www.511PA.com. The service, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

For more information on seat belt safety visit, www.PennDOT.pa.gov/Safety.