CARNEGIE, PA — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced a report from the Congressional Regional Leadership Council showing how the policies within the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) benefit the people of Pennsylvania’s 17^th Congressional District.

In this community, approximately 23,000 people enrolled in ACA marketplace health insurance in 2023, and the average enrollee will save $1,540 in premiums this year thanks to the IRA. Without the provisions in the IRA, the report states that the average premium would have increased 66%, from $2,320 to $3,870.

“No one should have to choose between filling a prescription or seeing a doctor and paying their bills. Everybody should have healthcare, period,” said Rep. Deluzio. “I am thrilled that laws like the Inflation Reduction Act are making it cheaper to get health insurance. I will keep fighting for policies that help my Western Pennsylvania constituents get the care they need, so that no one ever has to face a choice between their health or financial ruin.”

Individual families in the district can realize significantly larger savings. For example, here are the savings three representative families buying a benchmark silver plan would receive:

• A 60-year-old couple with a household income of $80,000 could obtain coverage this year for $5,640. Without the IRA’s extension of the ARP’s enhanced subsidies, the couple would have had to pay $17,482 in premiums, which would be a 210% increase in premiums. In dollar terms, this couple is projected to save $11,842 in premiums for health insurance coverage.
• A family with a 35-year-old single parent with one child and a household income of $30,000 could obtain coverage this year for $168. Without the IRA’s extension of the ARP’s enhanced subsidies, the family would have had to pay $1,440 in premiums, which would be an increase of 757%. In dollar terms, this family is projected to save $1,272 in premiums for health insurance coverage.
• A family with two 40-year-old adults, two children, and a household income of $75,000 could obtain coverage this year for $3,612. Without the IRA’s extension of the ARP’s enhanced subsidies, the family would have had to pay $6,708 in premiums, which would be an increase of 86%. In dollar terms, this family is projected to save $3,096 in premiums for health insurance coverage.

The full report is available here.

(Photo courtesy of Senate Republican Communications Office)

HARRISBURG – In the midst of Penn State’s Ag Progress Days and with federal negotiations underway regarding the 2023 Farm Bill, members of the Senate and House Agriculture and Rural Affairs committees joined for an informational meeting yesterday to discuss with stakeholders the potential impacts the impending legislation will have on Pennsylvania.

Senate committee leaders, Majority Chair Sen. Elder Vogel, Jr. (R-47) and Democratic Chair Sen. Judy Schwank (D-11); and House committee leaders, Majority Chair Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski (D-121) and Republican Chair Rep. Dan Moul (R-91), led the discussion with Congressman Glenn Thompson contributing to the conversation from a federal perspective.

“While our state continuously invests in the agricultural priorities our industry holds dear, the Farm Bill opens the door to critical federal funding and helps ensure the creation and continuation of national agriculture-based programs and incentives which benefit our residents,” said Vogel. “Today’s meeting really highlighted that our state remains united in its support for a fair and well-rounded bill that will benefit our Pennsylvania farmers.”

“It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with Senators Vogel & Schwank and Representative Moul as Chairs of the Senate and House Ag Committees to highlight how important the Federal Farm Bill is for Pennsylvania Agriculture and all of Pennsylvania’s citizens,” said Pashinski. “Today’s informational meeting demonstrates how critical the Farm Bill is in supporting our farmers & producers and making sure that we continue putting quality food on all our tables.”

Pashinski added, “Pennsylvania is also fortunate to have Congressman GT Thompson as Chair of our nation’s congressional Agriculture Committee to help guide this process and place our commonwealth in an excellent position for significant improvements from the new Federal Farm Bill later this year.”

Negotiations for the Farm Bill began on Jan. 7, 2023, and are expected to potentially wrap up on Sept. 30, 2023, which happens to be the expiration date of the enacted 2018 Farm Bill.

This legislation will provide funding for various farm programs; conservation efforts; food assistance programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Emergency Food Assistance Program; and other critical efforts such as trade promotion, forest management, rural broadband, biofuel development, and the national animal vaccine bank.

Stakeholders who were in attendance and provided testimony included Richard Roush, dean of Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences; Russell C. Redding, secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture; Chris Hoffman, President, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau; and Hannah Smith-Brubaker, executive director, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

“This is a critical year for Pennsylvanians and our farmers, one that sees the passage of Federal Farm Bill and a recommitment to the Pennsylvania Farm Bill. Just last week Governor Shapiro signed into law a commonsense, bi-partisan budget that makes critical investments in the future of agriculture,” said Redding. “The Ag Progress Days Joint Informational Hearing of the House and Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs committees is another moment to work together and discuss ways to meet the needs of our farmers and communities, whether through funding to increase farmland preservation across our Commonwealth, conservation programs that ensure clean water and healthy soils, and funding to address food insecurity affecting our children, our seniors, and our most vulnerable.”

Testifiers covered much ground and expressed their support of various initiatives and programs that remain at the center of discussion for the state and national agriculture industry including adjusting excessive conservation regulations on farmers; allowing whole milk as a drink option in school; further investments into SNAP benefits and other nutrition-focused programs; reauthorization of the Research Facilities Act; and addressing current veterinarian shortages.

“The federal farm bill impacts every Pennsylvania farmer in some way. It’s crucial our voices are heard as our federal lawmakers go about putting together the 2023 federal farm bill,” said Schwank. “Today’s hearing laid out very neatly what aspects of the 2018 farm bill have helped our agriculture sector and where we’d like to see improvements. Regardless of what the federal farm bill looks like, we will be ready to work at the state level to fill holes as needed.”

“As the federal government negotiates this important piece of legislation, it must not and cannot ignore the voice of the most critical piece of the equation…the farmer,” said Moul. “Agriculture is such an integral part of this country’s economy and potential for growth. We are asking more and more from Pennsylvanians who are the ones in the fields and barns, and need to make sure that we take into account what works best for them in working with them.”

The United States’ first ever Farm Bill was enacted back in 1933 with 2023 marking the 90^th anniversary of its inception.

WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — A self-proclaimed white supremacist was arrested Thursday on charges that he made online threats toward the jury and witnesses at the trial of a man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Hardy Carroll Lloyd of Follansbee, West Virginia, is accused of sending threatening social media posts and emails along with comments on websites about the trial of Robert Bowers. In addition, Lloyd, 45, allegedly was responsible for stickers placed in predominantly Jewish areas of Pittsburgh directing people to a website containing his threats and antisemitic messages, the Justice Department said in a news release.

“Jury trials are a hallmark of the American justice system and attempts to intimidate witnesses or jurors will be met with a strong response,” U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said. “The use of hateful threats in an effort to undermine a trial is especially troubling.”

Bowers was sentenced to death last week after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.

The Justice Department described Lloyd as a self-proclaimed “reverend” of a white supremacy movement. He was being held without bond in the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville. Jail records didn’t indicate whether Lloyd has an attorney who could comment on the charges.

Lloyd, who was arrested without incident, is charged with obstruction of the due administration of justice, transmitting threats in interstate and foreign commerce, and witness tampering. The charges carry a total maximum punishment of 35 years in prison upon conviction.

In May 2022, the Texas Department of Public Safety offered a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to Lloyd’s arrest after he allegedly posted a series of comments online threatening to carry a firearm onto the Texas State Capitol grounds and challenge any police officer who tried to “take enforcement actions” against him. A statement from the department said Lloyd was a convicted felon.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Coming off a pair of draining, tight losses and facing an early deficit against perhaps the best team in baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates could have bailed.

It’s August. They’re essentially out of the playoff mix following a scorching start. Their focus over the final third of the season is essentially trying to see how far along the young core they’ve been cultivating has come.

That core provided a pretty emphatic answer on Thursday, rallying past Atlanta 7-5 to earn a four-game split against a team that has long been where the Pirates are trying to go.

“We gave (the Braves) all they wanted this series,” Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds said. “It was good to get this one and even it out.”

Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in three runs for the third straight game for Pittsburgh. Liover Peguero knocked in two and newly acquired reliever Thomas Hatch picked up his first win in nearly three years as Pittsburgh finished off an eight-game stretch against division leaders Atlanta and Milwaukee a respectable 4-4.

“That’s what winning teams do,” Hatch said. “I think for them to do it at this age shows what is on the horizon.”

Hatch, claimed off waivers from Toronto on Sunday, worked four scoreless innings in relief of Bailey Falter. Colin Holderman worked around an RBI single by Ronald Acuña Jr. in the ninth to earn the second save of his career.

“I like where we are right now as far as playing hard, doing the little things,” Hayes said. “That’s what it’s going to take to win ball games, compete with the good teams.”

Matt Olson hit his 40th home run of the season for Atlanta to move into a tie with Shohei Ohtani for the major-league lead but struck out looking as the tying run in the ninth to end it.

Orlando Arcia also homered for the Braves. Austin Riley added three hits, but Bryce Elder (8-4) couldn’t protect an early 4-0 lead.

The Braves are comfortably atop the East as they chase a sixth straight division title but their starting pitching has hit a rough spot. Elder (8-4) gave up five runs and six hits with two walks and five strikeouts in five innings. Atlanta’s starters have posted an ERA of 10.59 over the club’s past six games.

The bullpen did enough to help the Braves pull out taut wins late on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Not this time around.

Pittsburgh took the lead in the sixth off Atlanta reliever Joe Jimenez and pulled away in the seventh. Reynolds led off the seventh with a single and Hayes followed with a triple to the gap in right-center field to become the first Pirate to drive in three runs in three consecutive games since outfielder Jason Bay did it from May 24-27, 2006.

Hayes, all of 26, suddenly finds himself one of the elder statesmen on a team that includes Peguero, catcher/outfielder Henry Davis, outfielder Jack Suwinski and injured shortstop Oneil Cruz.

While not everyone will stick, the vibe — particularly since the trade deadline — has shifted. The future in Pittsburgh is edging closer. They’re hoping what they’ve shown of late is a glimpse of what’s to come.

“It’s very easy against really good teams when you get in deficit games when you have a young club, and even more so on a day game when you’re getting beat it’s easy to not continue to grind through your at-bats,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s why I’m so proud of them.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it could soon launch a formal evaluation of risks posed by vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical that burned in a towering plume of toxic black smoke following the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The Environmental Protection Agency is set to review risks posed by a handful of chemicals later this year, and is considering chemicals used for plastic production as a key benchmark. Vinyl chloride is among a range of chemicals eligible for review, and “EPA could begin a risk evaluation on vinyl chloride in the near future,” the agency said in a statement to The Associated Press.

If selected, EPA would study vinyl chloride to determine whether it poses an “unreasonable risk to human health or the environment,” a process that would take at least three years.

Environmental and public health activists cheered the development, saying EPA should have banned vinyl chloride years ago.

“If one positive thing can come out of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine — and I would argue nothing positive has come out of it so far — it is for the Biden administration to use their existing legal authority to start the process to ban vinyl chloride,″ said Judith Enck, a former regional EPA administrator and president of Beyond Plastics, an advocacy group that seeks to end plastic pollution.

“That accident was a chilling warning that we must act now to ban petrochemicals like vinyl chloride, and keep communities safe from known carcinogens,” added Heather McTeer Toney, another former regional EPA administrator who leads a separate group called Beyond Petrochemicals.

Vinyl chloride is a flammable gas used to make polyvinyl chloride plastic, better known as PVC. The chemical is found in plastic PVC pipes, as well as vinyl siding, packaging and a range of consumer goods, including furniture, car parts, shower curtains and toys used by children and pets.

Inhalation of vinyl chloride has been linked to liver cancer and other health problems, according to the National Cancer Institute, and its use has long been banned in cosmetics, hair spray and other personal products. PVC plastic is not a known or suspected carcinogen, the agency said.

The Vinyl Institute, a trade group that represents manufacturers, called the effort to ban vinyl chloride misguided.

A July 27 news conference at EPA headquarters, attended by Enck, Toney and other activists, was little more than a “publicity stunt that irresponsibly ignores decades of credible science” showing that vinyl chloride is “safely and responsibly manufactured in the United States,” Ned Monroe, president and CEO of the Vinyl Institute, said in a statement.

“Regrettably, Beyond Plastics has chosen to use the tragic events of East Palestine to advance deceptive and disproven claims about our industry that only serve to mislead the public,” Monroe added.

Vinyl chloride monomer is an intermediary chemical found in PVC products used every day, Monroe said, “including PVC pipes that deliver clean drinking water, vinyl windows, siding for energy-efficient homes and lifesaving medical products like IV blood bags.”

Debate over vinyl chloride has simmered for years, but gained a new urgency after the Feb. 3 derailment of a 50-car Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine. Three days later, emergency crews released toxic vinyl chloride from five tank cars and burned it to keep them from exploding.

That sent a billowing plume of black smoke over the town near the Pennsylvania border and prompted the evacuation of about half of its 5,000 residents. Months later, residents are concerned about lingering impacts on health, even though state and federal officials say tests show the town’s air and water are safe.

Since an evacuation order was lifted near the derailment site, vinyl chloride has not been found in the community at or above an intermediate screening level, the EPA said. The intermediate level represents an estimate of exposure to a contaminant that is not expected to cause non‐cancer health effects over a period of at least 15 days.

Jessica Conard, an East Palestine resident who lives near the crash site, called the Ohio train derailment “a very grim warning.” The crash demonstrates that the rail industry “values profit over human lives and the environment,” while state and federal regulators “failed to keep the industry in check,” she said.

Conard faulted what she called “an insatiable demand” by Americans for plastic products that has “driven the need for increased transport of these hazardous substances, placing communities like mine at risk every single day.”

Conard and other activists delivered more than 27,500 signatures to the EPA urging a ban on vinyl chloride.

“We’re here today for one reason and one reason only: to tell the EPA that it’s time now. We can’t wait to ban vinyl chloride. We can’t slow-walk this,” said Daniel Winston, co-executive director of River Valley Organizing, a community group in eastern Ohio.

Winston, who lives 17 miles from the derailment site, said the controlled burn, conducted just three days after the derailment, allowed Norfolk Southern to quickly reopen the tracks “so they could get their profits back up. And now a community and the surrounding area is affected by this in a way that people are still getting sick today.”

The Feb. 6 burn sparked worries that it could have formed dioxins, a known carcinogen created from burning chlorinated carbon materials.

“Vinyl chloride is bad, dioxins are worse as carcinogens and that comes from burning,” said Neil Donahue, a chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dioxins are a group of persistent environmental pollutants that last in the ground and body for years and have been one of the major environmental problems and controversies in the United States.

EPA ordered testing for the highly toxic compounds after the derailment and said results so far suggest there’s a low chance that dioxins were released following the derailment.

Dr. Stephanie Laggini Fiore, Associate Vice Provost and Sr. Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, hosts a faculty teaching circle on artificial intelligence on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, at Temple University in Philadelphia. Educators say they want to embrace the technology’s potential to teach and learn in new ways, but when it comes to assessing students, they see a need to “ChatGPT-proof” test questions and assignments. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots have become the go-to source for cheating in college. Now, educators are rethinking how they’ll teach courses this fall from Writing 101 to computer science. Educators say they want to embrace the technology’s potential to teach and learn in new ways, but when it comes to assessing students, they see a need to “ChatGPT-proof” test questions and assignments. For some instructors that means a return to paper exams, after years of digital-only tests. Some professors will be requiring students to show editing history and drafts to prove their thought process.