Harrisburg, PA – In keeping with Governor Shapiro’s commitment to strengthening our democracy and keeping our elections safe and secure, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced redesigned mail ballot materials that will be rolled out in the 2024 primary election. The redesigned envelopes and instruction sheets have revised language to better inform voters how to properly fill out and return their mail-in ballots, with the goal of decreasing voter confusion that can lead to completed ballots being rejected and assisting county election workers in efficiently processing mail-in ballots.

“Governor Shapiro has made it clear that the Commonwealth should help people succeed, not get in their way. In each election cycle since 2020, when no-excuse mail-in voting was implemented in Pennsylvania, we have seen thousands of mail ballots not be counted because of unintended technical errors voters made when completing their ballot,” Schmidt said. “The Shapiro Administration is committed to giving every eligible Pennsylvanian the opportunity to cast their vote and make their voice heard. Our hope is that these new materials will better assist voters in making sure their completed mail ballot packet is filled out correctly and can be counted.”

The Department of State is prescribing more uniformity in county mail ballot materials to aid both voters and election officials. Voters can expect to see mail-in ballots that incorporate the following requirements, based on counties current best practices:

• New, more easily identifiable secrecy envelopes on a yellow background, with watermarking to discourage stray marks.
• Coloring to make it easier for voters to distinguish the inner and outer envelopes.
• Standardized full-page instructions with helpful graphics to depict the order of envelope placement.
• A pre-filled “20” at the beginning of the year on the outer envelope to alert voters to write the current date, not their birthdate, in that field.
• Coloring on the return envelope to highlight fields the voter must complete in the voter declaration including signature and date.
• Colorized outer return envelopes to help post office employees expediently identify and deliver ballots mailed close to Election Day.
• Uniform blue ink on outgoing mail ballots.

Counties will also have discretion to implement the use of a hole punch in the return envelope to help county election workers identify when an inner secrecy envelope is missing, which will also be easier to identify with the new watermarking and yellow coloring on the inner envelope.

 

In the 2023 primary, counties rejected about 17,000 mail ballots, which is about 2.8% of the 597,000 mail-in and absentee ballots cast. Approximately 21,800 mail ballots were rejected in the 2020 general election, and approximately 23,700 mail ballots were rejected in the 2022 general election. Data on rejected ballots from recent elections demonstrate the critical need for these revisions.

 

The most common reasons for mail ballot rejection in the 2023 primary were receipt after Election Day (46.8% of all rejected ballots), lack of a date (20.3%), lack of a secrecy envelope (14.9%), incorrect date (8.4%), and lack of a signature (4.7%). The newly revised materials address these problems by providing clearer instructions on how to fill out and submit a mail ballot, which will decrease voter confusion and ensure fewer mail ballots are rejected in each election.

 

“Voting by mail is a safe, secure, and accessible way for Pennsylvanians to participate in the election process. We have worked with counties, vendors, and the Center for Civic Design to develop these new mail ballot materials to improve voters’ compliance with the instructions so their vote can be counted,” Schmidt said.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published November 29, 2023 11:27 A.M.

(Hopewell Township, Pa) Gar Hutzler has served the district by working at Independence Elementary School and has resigned to take a position at West Allegheny School District. Also leaving is Board member Dr. Matt Erickson, who served his last meeting as a board member Tuesday night.
Lizzie Firich and Molly Shrum, resigned from their lifeguard positions effective on November 29, 2023.
The board entered into a PIAA cooperative sponsorship agreement for boys varsity tennis teams between the Hopewell and Ambridge Area School District’s for the 2023-24 school year.
The board meets on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 7 pm.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio.; Published November 29, 2023 11:22 A.M.

(Hopewell Township, Pa) The Hopewell Township Planning Commission approved Scarmazzi Homes’ application for the development on October 23, 2023, and the commissioners gave the final approval at Monday night’s regular meeting. The housing plan is in the area of Airport Road in the township.
Also at the meeting, a resolution was adopted authorizing the submission of a request by PennDOT to provide 75% reimbursement to the township for all cost, less any betterments incurred in relocating the sewer facility affected by State Route 3014 PennDOT Highway Improvement in Beaver County.
The Holiday trail is Saturday, December 2, 2023 from noon to 4 pm at the township park. Santa will visit along with the township’s annual Christmas event from 4 to 7 pm.

FILE – (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

WASHINGTON, DC – Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman today introduced legislation to ensure long-term housing affordability. The Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act would encourage plans for long-term housing affordability as part of the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program, ensuring that revitalizing efforts benefit longtime community members.

“Hardworking people should be able to find housing in the communities where they grew up. This is especially true in forgotten communities – places where opportunity dried up as factories and plants closed, but where we are making investments to bring life back,” said Senator Fetterman. “We must invest in the whole community, not just the parts that big businesses and luxury developers can profit from. This bill will allow us to be proactive in how we capitalize on infrastructure investments in forgotten communities, so we can ensure the benefits are passed on to middle- and lower-income residents.”

As communities do the critical work to revitalize towns and cities across the country, the people who stayed and stuck out the hard times are often priced out. The same residents who came up with the revitalizing projects — from converting closed factories into startup incubators, to renovating abandoned rail lines into greenspace — are then pushed out of existing affordable housing by rising rents and private equity buy-ups. These critical revitalizing efforts need to happen in these communities, but they must also include housing opportunities for the people who have long called these places home. Infrastructure policy needs to incorporate housing considerations from day one and the plans should prioritize models that keep housing affordable for existing residents.

Community land trusts (CLTs) buy land and preserve the housing as affordable forever. Homeowners can stay and profit from their investment, and the home will stay affordable for the next working-class owner. And we can do it for relatively cheap – much cheaper than building new units or trying to undo displacement after costs have already risen. It’s a proven model that has been active for years.

The Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act would help grant recipients looking to redevelop community-severing infrastructure for new uses to consider the impact on housing. They would be able to evaluate the impact of the project on workforce housing in the neighborhood, and use funds to plan for long-term affordability, create or preserve long-term affordable housing units in the neighborhood, and support the creation or expansion of CLTs.

The Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act is endorsed by Grounded Solutions Network, NeighborWorks, the National Housing Law Project, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Trust, the Center for Community Progress, and American Planning Association PA. It is also endorsed by many of Pennsylvania’s CLTs – the Women’s Community Revitalization Project (Philadelphia), City of Bridges Community Land Trust (Pittsburgh), Mosaic Community Land Trust (Pottstown), Lehigh Valley Community Land Trust, State College Community Land Trust, and Centre County Community Land Trust.

BADEN, PA – With hearts broken by the violence and suffering in the Holy Land and arms open to all who wish to grieve, pray, and hold space for peace together, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden are hosting an interfaith prayer service on Thursday, November 30, at 6:30 p.m. at Motherhouse Chapel, located at 1020 West State Street in Baden.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend this interfaith service, which draws inspiration from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith traditions and will offer guests the chance to leave olive branches at the foot of the cross as a sign of God’s promise to be our light, even in the darkest of times.

Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 13, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves participated in the inaugural meeting of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience. At the event, he highlighted the vital work of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center along with several other key steps the Department is taking to lower costs for American families, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness, protect U.S. national security, and create good jobs and broad-based economic opportunity by increasing the resilience of supply chains. This work is about more than preventing shortages like those seen at the height of the pandemic, it is about ensuring U.S. companies lead the industries of the future and that all Americans benefit from the prosperity and security that comes with this leadership and freedom from unsustainable dependencies. The fact sheet on the Biden-Harris Administration efforts to strengthen supply chains is [here].

 

“Increasing U.S. supply chain resilience is, without question, one of the top priorities here at the Department of Commerce,” said Deputy Secretary Graves. “By utilizing a whole-of-Commerce approach, the full force of the Department is working to ensure that we have the tools and resources necessary to create an economy that works for all Americans, starting with resilient supply chains.”

 

Deputy Secretary Graves described the unique contributions to U.S. supply chain work being made by the newly established Supply Chain Center launched by Commerce earlier this year. Housed in Commerce’s Industry and Analysis unit, the Center aims to be the analytic engine for supply chain resilience policy action within the U.S. Government. The Supply Chain Center integrates industry expertise and data analytics to develop innovative supply chain risk assessment tools and coordinate deep-dive analyses on select critical supply chains to drive targeted actions. The Center is proactive in getting ahead of supply chain challenges, strategic in setting priorities for policy focus and action based on data-driven risk analysis, a force multiplier in improving the targeting and effectiveness of U.S. Government investments, and a partner to industry in building resilient supply chains and supporting U.S. businesses to lead the industries of the future.

 

Deputy Secretary Graves made additional announcements and highlighted the wide range of contributions Commerce is making as a leader on U.S. supply chain resiliency, which include the following:

 

• Supply Chain Data Summit: The Department, led by the Supply Chain Center and the Industry and Analysis unit, will convene a diverse array of public and private stakeholders at a Supply Chain Data and Analytics Summit in 2024. The event will gather expert input to inform supply chain risk assessment models and tools and facilitate expanded sharing of data and analytic capabilities.

 

• CHIPS Notice of Funding Opportunity: Commerce, along with CHIPS for America, has driven action on semiconductor supply chains. On September 29, Commerce released a second funding opportunity to strengthen the resilience of the semiconductor supply chain, advance U.S. technology leadership, and support vibrant domestic semiconductor clusters. The funding opportunity seeks applications for commercial semiconductor materials and manufacturing equipment facilities with capital investments less than $300 million. It builds upon the Department’s announcement in June 2023 expanding funding to larger supply chain projects. Supply chain applicants are vital to producing semiconductors in the United States, supporting the domestic manufacturing ecosystem, and creating jobs and opportunities in communities across the country.

 

• Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP): Small and medium-sized manufacturers are vital to U.S. supply chains, and Commerce has been expanding its work to support them. Administered by DOC’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, the network of MEPs works to drive innovation and sustainability in manufacturing and build U.S. manufacturing capacity at all tiers in the supply chain ecosystem. In June, MEP awarded more than $20 million across the MEP National network to create the Supply Chain Optimization and Innovation Network, or S-COIN, which will focus on providing supplier scouting services, establishing new service offerings to improve existing supply chain networks, filling gaps in the supply chain by connecting original equipment manufacturers with small and medium-sized manufacturers, and creating a complete map of U.S. supplier capability and capacity.

 

• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF): The United States and 13 regional partner nations have substantially concluded negotiations on agreements under IPEF. Commerce has played a leading role in reaching agreement on historic cooperation around supply chains, climate and sustainability, preventing and combatting corruption, and improving tax transparency and tax administration. In particular, the Supply Chain Agreement is a first-of-its-kind, innovative accord that will help build resilience and competitiveness into critical supply chains, and Commerce is kickstarting this effort through pilot projects to enhance the resilience of key supply chains, including those related to semiconductors, critical minerals, and cold chain services.

 

• Census Data Collection: Through the Census Open Innovations Lab (COIL), the Census Bureau is currently in phase 2 of the StatVentures Supply Chain Challenge, which seeks innovative data ideas from the public, industry, and academia to improve measurement of supply chains. Census is also developing new data and visualization tools to expand U.S. Government insights into manufacturing, imports/exports, movement of goods, sale of goods, labor supply, and more.

(New Brighton, Pa) The Borough of New Brighton released a statement that Friday, December 1 will be the last scheduled day of street sweeping and leaf collection in New Brighton. Leaf collection will continue as needed and weather permitting, into December, although no parking tickets will be issued for failing to move vehicles during posted street sweeping hours. Street sweeping resumes on April 1, 2024.

Keystone State News Service – Danielle Smith

Clean-energy companies and supporters are calling on federal officials to prioritize the development of charging infrastructure for EV powered medium and heavy duty trucks in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

Trucks transported more than 11 billion tons of freight last year, spewing air pollutants and greenhouse gases along the way.

John Boesel, CEO of CALSTART, a clean-transportation nonprofit group, said the EPA’s “Phase 3” program would greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all commercial vehicles, improving the health and safety of communities.

“Going forward in the future, we can see a society where we have trucks rolling around with zero-emission and zero-noise and really benefiting communities over the decades that have been hard hit by diesel pollution and emission,” Boesel explained.

Pennsylvania has taken a significant step toward electrifying its transportation system with the installation of its first federally funded electric-vehicle charging station in Pittston. Some in the trucking industry have concerns about EV costs, mileage, range, battery safety, charging time and availability.

Boesel emphasized the importance of the Biden administration implementing robust regulations to strengthen the United States’ position as a global leader and drive meaningful progress toward the Paris Agreement’s objectives. He contends the Inflation Reduction Act provides a lot of incentives for investment in U.S. electric battery technology and production.

“The Inflation Reduction Act will really help spur the growth of the zero-emission commercial vehicle industry. And I think this will end up being a real benefit for the United States from an economic perspective, and from an environmental perspective,” Boesel added.

Boesel pointed out the United States is one of 27 nations that have agreed to non-binding targets, which suggests that 30% of all new commercial vehicles sold could be zero emission by 2030.

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Harrisburg, PA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that Fitch Ratings has upgraded Pennsylvania’s credit rating to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-,’ building on positive credit rating outlooks from Moody’s and S&P’s Global Ratings in September. This fiscal progress comes as the result of a growing economy, balanced 2023-24 budget, and responsible financial management by the Shapiro Administration since taking office.

 

Pennsylvania’s credit rating was upgraded as a result of “recent use of revenue surpluses to build its reserves to historical highs” and Fitch’s expectation that substantial reserves will be maintained in the near term. Fitch’s assessment found that Pennsylvania deserved the credit rating upgrade thanks to “improved operating performance, as well as a low long-term liability burden and broad flexibility to manage spending pressures, which offset modest baseline revenue growth and a historically contentious decision-making environment.”

 

“Fitch Ratings becomes the third credit rating agency since September to affirm that our Commonwealth is on sound financial footing thanks to our commonsense investments and responsible budgetary practices – creating opportunity for Pennsylvanians and continuing to set Pennsylvania up for success,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “My Administration will continue to work with leaders in both parties to make smart investments that responsibly manage taxpayer funds while strengthening Pennsylvania schools and businesses, creating safer communities, and supporting our law enforcement and first responders as we build an economy that works for all.”

 

“With our third positive affirmation in the last three months that Pennsylvania is on the path for economic and financial success, it’s clear that our responsible investments are working to keep the Commonwealth on a sound fiscal trajectory while supporting Pennsylvania families,” said Secretary of the Budget Uri Monson.

 

The announcement is the latest affirmation that that Pennsylvania’s economy is strong under Governor Shapiro’s leadership and that his Administration’s sound fiscal management is setting Pennsylvania up for long-term success. In September, the Governor announced that Moody’s reaffirmed Pennsylvania’s Aa3 issuer credit rating and upgraded the Commonwealth’s rating outlook to positive from stable. Later that month, S&P Global Ratings also improved Pennsylvania’s outlook to ‘positive’ from stable and affirmed its A+ long-term rating.

 

The Commonwealth has also been awarded the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the Annual Budget for fiscal year 2023-24 and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting – the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting – from the Government Finance Officers Association.

Holiday decorations adorn the Grand Foyer of the White House for the 2023 theme “Magic, Wonder, and Joy,” Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has chosen a White House holiday décor that she hopes will inspire guests to feel like kids again. “Magic, wonder and joy” is her theme. Guests will walk underneath the branches of a tree to enter. They will stroll along a hallway decorated with oversized holiday candy and other sweets. They will see Santa’s sleigh and reindeer suspended above the grand foyer. The first lady unveiled the décor on Monday. It also celebrates the 200th anniversary of the publication of the poem commonly known as ”’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” She plans Wednesday to unveil a holiday ice rink on the White House lawn.