Keystone State News Connection

August 9, 2021

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Emily Scott

HARRISBURG, Pa. – For many young people, the social isolation of the pandemic has had negative effects, and as Commonwealth students prepare to return to the classroom, educators want districts to use funds from the American Rescue Plan to support mental-health services.

Pennsylvania is receiving $5 billion federal dollars, most of which will go toward addressing learning loss and expanding after-school programs. The state will have $1.6 billion left for other areas.

Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said he hopes part of the money goes toward hiring more school counselors and other mental health professionals.

“Student mental health and emotional well-being, it has to be a top priority,” said Askey. “And this is going to be important for the health of our students, but it also ties to their academic achievement. It all comes together, so as we know it’s a lot harder for students to excel when they’re dealing with mental and emotional health issues.”

In a survey from the Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 71% of parents said the pandemic has taken a toll on their children’s mental health.

School districts in Pennsylvania have until 2024 to use funds received from the American Rescue Plan.

Joe Welch teaches eighth grade social studies at North Hills Middle School in Pittsburgh.

He said he’s preparing to head back into the classroom after a year and a half of a mix of virtual and in-person learning, and said it’s been difficult connecting with students he wasn’t seeing face-to-face.

Welch said his school already used some federal funds to double its number of school psychologists, from two to four. Still, he said there’s more work to be done to serve the mental well being of the four thousand students in his district.

“But what I would like to continue to see is that this is a priority, that we continue to have specialists and educators be at the forefront of working together as a team,” said Welch. “It’s really – it is a glaring need. It was before COVID. And I don’t think anybody will dispute that.”

Lamb joins crowded race for open Pennsylvania Senate seat
By MARC LEVY and MICHAEL RUBINKAM undefined
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb says he is running for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat, joining a crowded Democratic field in one of the nation’s most competitive races. Lamb is seeking the nomination to replace outgoing GOP Sen. Pat Toomey. He’s a former Marine and federal prosecutor who rose to political prominence three years ago when he beat a Donald Trump-backed Republican in a special election that foreshadowed the 2018 Democratic takeover of the House. The Senate race is wide open on both sides and is expected to be among the most expensive in next year’s election. Toomey is retiring after two terms.

US hiring surges in July, unemployment rate drops to 5.4%
By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring surged in July as American employers added 943,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4%  as the U.S. economy continues to bounce back with surprising vigor from last year’s coronavirus shutdown. The July numbers exceeded economists’ forecast for more than 860,000 new jobs. Hotels and restaurants, reopening and doing brisk business, added 327,000 jobs last month. The number of people who reported they had jobs surged by 1 million, pushing the jobless rate down from 5.9% in June. The economy and job market, however, face a growing threat from the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.

(File Photo)

HARRISBURG – Republican leaders in the House and Senate informed Gov. Wolf today of their continued commitment to fight back against the scourge of opioid abuse in the Commonwealth but those efforts do not require an additional emergency declaration.

In a letter to the governor, House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) and Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Centre) highlight the collaboration with medical professionals, first responders and many others that have resulted in numerous laws aimed at saving lives.

“We believe that rather than renewing the disaster declaration for a fifteenth time, we assure you of our commitment to continuing our vital work in the weeks, months and year ahead,” the letter states in part.

In addition, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) and Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) noted that addressing the opioid crisis will be a top legislative priority for both majority caucuses in the fall.

“Far too many Pennsylvania families have felt the impact of this crisis personally and permanently, and this epidemic has not gone away and has only gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that many of the benefits of the opioid disaster emergency declaration are now accomplished through other means, it is clear renewing the declaration is unnecessary. As it stands, many bills have been introduced to combat the opioid crisis and we plan to work collaboratively with the administration and make this a top legislative priority this fall,” Benninghoff said.

“The ongoing public health crisis brought on by opioid use continues to challenge the people and communities across Pennsylvania. While the actions taken to date by the Wolf administration and the General Assembly are not lost, it is more important that we advance those actions in a more collaborative manner to combat the opioid epidemic,” said Ward. “The Pennsylvania Senate is committed to working with the Wolf administration on a legislative agenda that will help to eradicate the opioid issue in the towns, cities and rural communities across our Commonwealth. Allowing the emergency declaration to expire is not downgrading the importance of this issue. It is eliminating barriers allowing government to work better together to help Pennsylvanians.”

Proposal Would Align State Regulations with Federal Regulations and Clarify Pipeline Operator’s Responsibility for Safe Operation

 

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today moved to seek public comment on proposed amendments to state pipeline safety regulations which would align with federal pipeline safety regulations concerning the operation and maintenance of service lines for natural gas or other gas by pipeline.

The Commission voted 4-0 to approve the tentative implementation order and gather comments from concerned parties.

The tentative implementation order proposes revisions to clarify that a public utility pipeline operator is responsible for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the pipe, regardless of whether the service line is owned by the utility or the customer.

The proposed revisions would also require that the public utility perform repairs or renewals of customer-owned service lines upstream of the meter, and that the public utility may bill the customer for all costs for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a customer’s service line upstream of the inlet of the meter serving the customer, in accordance with its tariff.  The customer would be responsible for repairs or renewals downstream of the meter, and the public utility could shut off gas service until such repairs are made to ensure safe and reliable gas service.
Public Comment

The Commission is seeking comment on the proposed amendments to pipeline regulations, along with comments on a broad range of related financial and customer-service related issues, including:

• Cost recovery for repairs and maintenance to customer-owner service lines.
• The ability to include costs in a utility’s Distribution System Improvement Change.
• Service termination for non-payment of costs or refusal to provide access for repairs.
• Capitalization of costs in a utility’s base rates, rather than charging individual customers.
• Tariff language related to billing, collection and rates.
• Utility communication with customers about costs, billing and scheduling of repairs.
• Access to customer property to complete required repairs.
• Other related issues that concerned parties may wish to raise.

The tentative implementation order will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and posted on the PUC website. Interested parties may submit written comments at Docket No. L 2020-3019417 within 40 days of publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Comments should be eFiled through the Commission’s eFiling System (per the Commission’s Emergency Order dated March 20, 2020). You may set up a free eFiling account with the Commission at https://efiling.puc.pa.gov/. Filing instructions are available on the Commission’s website at http://www.puc.pa.gov/filing_resources.aspx.

Public documents filed relative to this proceeding will be available for inspection by searching under the docket number for this proceeding on the Commission’s website at https://www.puc.pa.gov/search/document-search/.

(File Photo)

Governor Tom Wolf issued a statement  Thursday on the death of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

The Governor said “I extend my deepest condolences to the Trumka family. Our commonwealth and our nation have lost a good man and a great leader, and we grieve his loss with you.

“Rich came from a coal mining family here in Pennsylvania. He knew the value – and the cost – of hard work. In his life and career, he was an indefatigable advocate for American workers. As the head of one of our nation’s leading labor organizations, Rich was a strong supporter of the rights of workers, and a proponent of laws and policies that safeguard those rights.

“Rich stood up for the working class people who built our nation, and for the democracy that keeps our nation strong. He will be missed.”