HEALTH LEGISLATION:
SB 184 – In light of private equity firms buying up small hospitals and health care facilities resulting in many of them closing, Sen. Comitta has introduced legislation to provide for hospital closure procedure requirements, notice of proposed general hospital closures and for health equity impact assessments, with closure plans and enforcement actions.
ACTION: Call your PA Senator and urge them to support SB 184 by becoming a co-sponsor. If your Senator is on the Health and Human Services Committee, contact them to pass this legislation out of committee for a floor vote.
HB 1417 – restores dental coverage for medical assistance recipients This bill has passed the House with bipartisan support and it is now in the Health and Human Services Committee.
ACTION: Contact your Senator and urge them to support HB1417 by becoming a co-sponsor. If your Senator is on the Health and Human Services Committee, contact them to pass this legislation out of committee for a floor vote.
Medical Debt –Gov. Shapiro included $10 million in the budget to retire medical debt for Pennsylvanians who are earning less than the 400% poverty level or debt equivalent to 5% or more of the family income. In Pennsylvania, 25% of our citizens have medical debt which equates to $4 billion total medical debt in the Commonwealth. Current medical debt stands at $4 billion in PA and could be erased with a $40 mil investment from the Commonwealth. Here’s how Medical Debt Relief would work: The state would hire a third party i.e. RIP Medical Debt for $10-$15 million. This nonprofit would examine unpaid medical bills at health care providers and identify patients earning less than 400% of federal poverty level or debt equaling 5% or more of the family income. The nonprofit buys the debt (at a much lower cost), which prevents the patient from being targeted by bill collectors and the debt is retired. Rep. Venkat, primary sponsor of HB 78, predicts that using this outside nonprofit, $1 billion in debt would be eliminated this year.
ACTION: Contact your state senator and urge them to support HB 78, medical debt relief.
HOUSING: The proposed budget includes:
· Increasing the PHARE program funding cap to $100 million by 2027-28, with $10 million per year increases
· $50 million for the Whole Home Repairs Program
· $10 million for the Homeless Assistance Program
· $5 million for legal representation in eviction proceedings
· $5 million to local governments for rapid response to emergency housing situations
Tenant Rights: We are also watching legislation related to tenant rights, such as eviction protections and lead paint regulations, which are in various stages of the legislative process.
ACTION: Contact your both your Representative and Senator and urge them to support the increases in the 2024-25 budget for housing programs.
PUBLIC EDUCATION in the 2024-25 Budget – investments recommended by the Basic Education Funding Commission who toured the Commonwealth over the last year since the Fair Funding Court decision. “This is a budget worth fighting for.” Susan Spicka, Education Voters and PA Schools Work.
$1,072,000,000 increase in Basic Education Funding – the first down payment toward the $6.2 billion gap in state funding for public education in Pennsylvania.
Cyber charter reform will return $262 million to ALL PA school districts and help to keep cyber charter costs controlled moving forward. Also included are increases for special education funding, career and tech education, school and environmental repairs program, Pre-K programs, K-12 mental health and funding to support teacher recruitment and retention in PA.
ACTION: Call your PA Representative and PA Senatorand urge them to support the education funding in Gov. Shapiro’s budget. Remind them that PA has a $12 BILLION surplus and we must support our children’s future by passing this education budget.
POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN AND RALLY
PA Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
On Saturday March 2nd the Poor People’s Campaign is going to Harrisburg as part of a unified mass action across the country to lift their voices as the 140 million people in this country who are one paycheck away from financial ruin if we’re not already there. Stand with other UUs and like-minded individuals to call attention to the plight of poor people in our state. Gather at Grace United Methodist Church on State St. at 11:30 am on Saturday, March 2nd and move to the Capitol steps in the early afternoon to make a public statement. Advocating with legislators will occur on March 4th. Postcarding to alert our legislators that we care about systems that create and sustain poverty for millions of people and don’t want legislators to ignore these systems. The national organization will have this very organized with signs and speakers. They need us to show up!