HARRISBURG, June 3 – The Pennsylvania House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committee heard testimony today about legislation that would help expand the state’s energy production by modernizing the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, announced Rep. Rob Matzie, majority chairman.

Matzie, D-Beaver, said H.B. 2338 aims to ensure that the state’s public financing agency is positioned to tap an unprecedented influx of funding from the federal government under the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“This is about jobs, jobs and jobs,” Matzie said. “We have talked for a long time about the importance of having a diverse, all-in energy portfolio and the job creation and energy independence that brings. This bill moves us closer to that goal by positioning us to take advantage of hundreds of billions in federal funding coming to the states.

“We need to act sooner, rather than later. Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel – Pennsylvania already has a mechanism in place with PEDA. Now, we just need to make sure the agency is ready to hit the ground running and seize every bit of our share.”

Matzie noted that stakeholders testifying voiced unanimous support for the legislation, which was introduced by state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila. Other prime co-sponsors include Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware; and Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny.

A 2004 executive order revitalized PEDA and transferred it to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which now provides staffing for the authority.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the verdict in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial and on the Middle East, from the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, May 31, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the grinding, nearly 8-month-old Mideast war.

Biden added that Hamas is “no longer capable” of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release the remaining hostages for an extended cease-fire.

The Democratic president in remarks from the White House called the proposal “a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages.”

Biden said the first phase of the proposed deal would would last for six weeks and would include a “full and complete cease-fire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

American hostages would be released at this stage, and remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families. Humanitarian assistance would surge during the first phase, with 600 trucks being allowed into Gaza each day.

The second phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.

“And as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, the temporary cease-fire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, ‘the cessation of hostilities permanently,’” Biden said.

The third phase calls for the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from devastation caused by the war. The 4-1/2 page Israeli proposal was transmitted to Hamas on Thursday.

Meanwhile, congressional leaders on Friday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address at the U.S. Capitol. The invitation from House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has been in the works for some time though there is great concern, especially among the Democrats, about Israel’s pursuit of the war.

No date for the speech was set.

Biden acknowledged that keeping the Israeli proposal on track would be difficult, saying there were a number of “details to negotiate” to move from the first phase to the second.

One roadblock to overcome during the first phase would involve the two sides agreeing on the ratio of hostages to prisoners to be released during the next phase, according to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

Biden’s remarks came as the Israeli military confirmed that its forces are now operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. Biden called it “a truly a decisive moment.” He added that Hamas said it wants a cease-fire and that an Israeli-phased deal is an opportunity to prove “whether they really mean it.”

But even as Biden pressed for the “war to end and for the day after to begin,” Israeli officials have made clear they remain committed to a military defeat of Hamas. The Democrat is in the midst of a tough reelection battle and has faced backlash from some on the political left who want to see him put greater pressure on Netanyahu’s government to end the war.

Netanyahu’s office in a statement following Biden’s speech said that he authorized Israel’s hostage negotiating team to find a way to release the remaining hostages.

But the Israelis maintain “the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our abductees and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.” The prime minister’s office also called for the “exact outline” proposed by Israel to be followed.

Matt Duss, executive vice president for the Center for International Policy in Washington, said the Netanyahu reaction suggested the “possibility of daylight between a proposal Israel would accept and what President Biden outlined.”

Hamas said in a statement it viewed the proposal presented by Biden “positively” and called on the Israelis to declare explicit commitment to an agreement that includes a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a prisoner exchange and other conditions

Israel has faced growing international criticism for its strategy of systematic destruction in Gaza, at a huge cost in civilian lives. Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in the besieged territory have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Biden also addressed those in Israel who resist ending the war. Some members of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition have opposed any deal that falls short of eradicating Hamas and they have called for an enduring occupation of Gaza.

“They want to keep fighting for years, and the hostages are not a priority to them,” Biden said. “I’ve urged leadership of Israel to stand behind this deal.”

Biden in his remarks made no mention of establishing Palestinian statehood, something that he has repeatedly said is key to achieving long-term peace in the region. The U.S. administration has also been working to forge normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the region’s two biggest powers. But the Saudis are opposed to any agreement that does not include concrete steps toward creation of a Palestinian state.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

Ceasefire talks ground to a halt at the beginning of the month after a major push by the U.S. and other mediators to secure a deal, in hopes of averting a planned Israeli invasion of the southern city of Rafah.

The talks were stymied by a central sticking point: Hamas demands guarantees that the war will end and Israeli troops will withdraw from Gaza completely in return for a release of all the hostages, a demand Israel rejects.

The outline of the new Israeli proposal is “nearly identical to Hamas’s own proposals of only a few weeks ago,” according to the Biden administration official.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — A crew working in the basement area of an Ohio building intentionally cut a gas line not knowing it was pressurized before a deadly explosion this week, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.

NTSB board member Tom Chapman said preliminary investigation shows workers were in the basement to clear out piping and other outdated infrastructure and debris from the basement and vault area — which extends underneath the sidewalk next to the building — in anticipation of a city project to fill in the area and replace the sidewalks. A crew of five people and a supervisor had been on site that day and four of the workers were there when it happened, he said.

“It was an apparently abandoned service line coming off the main, which ran parallel to the street,” Chapman said.

He said workers smelled no gas before they started cutting the pipe and knew there was a problem when they made the third cut.

At that point, workers pulled the fire alarm and alerted residents and bank employees to evacuate. Chapman said the explosion happened six minutes later. He also said all indications are that it was accidental.

Investigators will try to determine why the pipe was pressurized and how long it had been that way.

Chapman said the investigation would continue without access to the inside of the building until engineers can determine if the building is safe to enter. He said the NTSB has gotten security video from inside the bank and other video evidence.

The explosion Tuesday afternoon blew out much of the ground floor of Realty Tower, killing a bank employee and injuring several others. It collapsed part of the ground floor into its basement and sent the façade across the street. Bricks, glass and other debris littered the sidewalk outside the 13-story building, which had a Chase Bank branch at street level and apartments in upper floors.

Investigators are also trying to discern whether people in the bank heard the fire alarm.

Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said in a news release Friday that the city had contracted with a construction company called GreenHeart to perform private utility relocation in the basement of the Realty Tower. He said “there is no evidence” that cutting the gas line the NTSB mentioned was necessary to complete that work.

Greenheart did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

The bank employee, 27-year-old Akil Drake, had been seen inside the building just before the blast, police have said. Firefighters rescued others as they cleared the building.

Seven injured people were taken to a Youngstown hospital. One woman remained hospitalized as of Thursday in critical condition, but her name and further details on her injuries have not been disclosed. Three others were in stable condition, and the other three were released.

A shooting killed two people and wounded several others at Ballers Hookah Lounge and Cigar Bar in Penn Hills, Pa on Sunday, June 2, 2024. (Jacob Geanous/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

PENN HILLS, Pa. (AP) — An exchange of gunfire in a bar in suburban Pittsburgh over the weekend has left two people dead and seven others injured, police in western Pennsylvania said.

Allegheny County police said the early morning Sunday shooting occurred at the Ballers Hookah Lounge and Cigar Bar in Penn Hills.

First responders discovered the bodies of an adult male and adult female inside the bar around 3 a.m. Sunday, county police said. Seven additional victims were reported, some transported from the scene and others showing up at hospitals, police said in a statement posted on social media.

One of the victims was in critical condition, while the others had injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Preliminary information indicates that “an altercation took place inside the bar and multiple individuals opened fire,” county police said.

No arrests were immediately reported. Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the County Police Tip Line 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.

FILE – The Pennsylvania Capitol is seen, Feb. 6, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. Pennsylvania lawmakers will return to session Monday, June 3, as they begin a four-week countdown to the state government’s new fiscal year, as Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican lawmakers offer competing visions for how to use a massive surplus. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lawmakers return to session Monday to begin a four-week countdown to the start of the state’s next fiscal year, with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican lawmakers offering competing visions for how to use a massive surplus.

Shapiro has floated an admittedly “ambitious” $48.3 billion budget plan that would rely on about $3 billion in reserve cash and would feature a top Democratic priority: boosting public school funding.

Republicans, who control the state Senate, said the governor’s proposal would put the state on course to drain a $14 billion surplus within a few years before they passed their own $3 billion tax-cutting plan, which Democrats said would have a similar effect.

Meanwhile, June may also feature efforts to reconcile differences between competing plans from Shapiro and Republican lawmakers to boost college enrollment and affordability in Pennsylvania.

The ramping up of negotiations before the July 1 start of the fiscal year comes against the backdrop of an ugly budget blowup last year over an 11th-hour deal between Shapiro and Republicans to start a new $100 million private school funding program. Democrats who control the House dug in against it, precipitating a fight over a $45 billion budget plan that dragged into December.

Shapiro has spent much of the spring on the road promoting his priorities, and his office has said little about his talks with lawmakers.

“You can expect to see the governor continuing to be on the road in June, meeting Pennsylvanians where they are, meeting them in their communities, and talking about how we need to get stuff done on the issues that matter most,” said Shapiro’s press secretary, Manuel Bonder.

In recent weeks, Shapiro went Jet Skiing on Lake Wallenpaupack in northeastern Pennsylvania and threw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game in Lancaster as part of a week-long tour to highlight his tourism rebranding of Pennsylvania as the “Great American Getaway.”

He rode a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority train in suburban Philadelphia to tout a proposal for a $283 million increase, or nearly 25% more, for public transit agencies. And he visited centers that help people with intellectual disabilities to promote his plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to end a waiting list of thousands of families seeking help for an intellectually disabled adult relative.

The question remains, however, about whether Shapiro can coax the nation’s only politically divided Legislature into a timely budget deal.

Thus far, lawmakers have taken no budget votes.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said budget negotiations are in the early stages, as the sides sort out which issues they might be able to settle in June.

“That’s how budgetary processes start,” Pittman said. “I think the next 30 days or so will be very dynamic. But I think there’s certainly a willingness to try to get to the brass tacks of what it’s going to take to finish up a responsible budget.”

That said, it may take past July 1 to finish — time that Senate Republicans are prepared to take to get a good result, Pittman said.

A dominant feature of the new spending sought by Shapiro is a $1.1 billion boost, or 14% more, for public schools.

That reflects recommendations produced in January by Shapiro appointees and Democratic lawmakers to respond to a court decision that found that Pennsylvania’s system of public school funding violates the constitutional rights of students in the poorest districts.

Democratic lawmakers support Shapiro’s plan, but Republicans are signaling that they oppose that level of spending as unsustainable. Instead, they are pushing for more money for private schools.

As for the Republicans’ plan to cut taxes on personal income and electricity service, neither Shapiro nor Democrats have said “no” to it.

When it passed the Senate, it picked up votes from eight Democrats, and Shapiro’s office and Democrats say it marks a change in posture by Republicans, from refusing to touch the surplus to now being willing to use it.

Still, Democrats suggest they will want to redirect the tax cuts, pointing to their proposals to help poorer school districts that have high property tax bills and to cut taxes for the lowest-wage workers through the earned income tax credit.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, R-Montgomery, said his caucus is pragmatic and open to a discussion with Republicans.

“Before it was ‘gloom and doom’ and ‘batten down the hatches,’” Bradford said. “And now we’re talking about returning money to working Pennsylvanians.”