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Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier today announced that thousands of Pennsylvanians will begin receiving an extra $300 per week in unemployment payments starting this week. The extension of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program is part of the federal stimulus that Congress passed last month. “This boost in unemployment benefits is vital to hardworking Pennsylvania families who have lost their income as a result of the global pandemic,” said Berrier. “I am pleased that L&I was able to work with the federal Department of Labor (DOL) to get the information needed to quickly restart this program and get payments into the pockets of Pennsylvanians in need.” The $300 is automatically added to each claimants’ payment; they do not need to apply. Approximately 127,000 claimants in the Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits programs will receive the $300 FPUC boost as soon as Tuesday. The program runs the claim weeks ending January 2, 2021 to March 13, 2021. There is no additional cost to the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. L&I is still awaiting additional information from the federal DOL on the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) programs. Because of program changes made in the federal CARES Act extension, this information is necessary to ensure Read more
HARRISBURG, Jan. 5 – State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, today was sworn in to represent the 121 st Legislative District for his eighth term in the state House. “It’s a tremendous honor and a privilege to be able to continue to represent the 121st legislative district as our community, commonwealth and country fight to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild our economy,” Pashinski said. “I will continue working as hard as I can to defeat this virus and to move towards a more enjoyable normal, with hope and a positive future for all. Our federal and state governments must do everything we can to provide financial assistance to all who qualify due to hardships caused by the virus until enough vaccines are produced and administered to allow a safe return to business and life as usual. I pushed for this help in 2020 and I resolve to continue fighting for a better and safer future for ALL in 2021 and beyond.” Pashinski has served as the Democratic chairman of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee since 2017. Pashinski also previously served on the Insurance, State Government, Human Services, Aging, Gaming and Commerce committees. “I look forward to keeping up the fight for the things our neighbors need, like property tax relief, jobs that pay a living wage, appropriate funding for public education, access to affordable quality healthcare and more,” Pashinski said. The Pennsylvania House Read more
HANOVER TWP., Dec. 30 – State Reps. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, and Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, have been instrumental in bringing home a $433,000 environmental grant that will be used for a Hanover Township wastewater project. The grant is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The project is expected to reduce sediment pollutants in Warrior Creek Stream, which is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County. “Protecting our watershed and addressing wastewater and nutrient and sediment reduction is vitally important in Luzerne County,” Mullery said. “We must continue to improve and protect our watersheds from pollution associated with abandoned mine drainage, stormwater runoff and other legacy mine impacts. This grant provides much needed funds to assist in protecting our environment.” Pashinski said every Pennsylvanian has the right to clean air, to pure water and to preserve our natural land. “Congratulations and thank you to the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority for successfully working to obtain this Growing Greener funding to improve the health and quality of Warrior Creek in Hanover Township,” Pashinski said. “Together with Governor Wolf, DEP, Representative Jerry Mullery, and other state officials, we’ll continue working to ensure our local communities can safely enjoy the water and land around Read more
WILKES-BARRE, Dec. 23 – State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, announced today the approval of a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant totaling $2.5 million to the Greater Wilkes-Barre Industrial Fund HUD Inc. for the Gateway Center II project in the city of Wilkes-Barre. “The approval of this funding is an important step toward the completion of the Gateway Center project helping the city of Wilkes-Barre overcome the loss of the Sterling Hotel in 2013,” Pashinski said. “This will be a huge advancement for the city of Wilkes-Barre, significantly improving our downtown’s quality of life by making our city more walkable, more shoppable, more beautiful and, indeed, more livable.” The project’s goals include: the creation of an active, lively pedestrian experience at street level; the reinforcement of key pedestrian connections along Market Street toward the Public Square office core, along River and Franklin Streets to the two college campuses and across River Street to the River Common; the incorporation of a mix of uses in order to help create an “18-hour downtown;” and an emphasis on design quality reflecting the project’s key role in the downtown cityscape. “I would like to thank Governor Tom Wolf for understanding how important this project is and approving this grant funding,” Pashinski said. “It’s also important to note that completion of this project will Read more
Americans have a long and proud history of pulling together in times of crisis, making sacrifices to make sure we all benefit. Read more
Vaccines are safe and effective and the best way to protect?you and those around you?from serious illnesses. There is not yet an authorized or approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19, however, the COVID-19 vaccine is currently being developed and when available, will be distributed to Pennsylvanians in a phased approach. Read more
WILKES-BARRE, Nov. 12 – State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, applauded today’s announcement from the Department of Community and Economic Development that downtown Wilkes-Barre has officially been designated as a Keystone Communities Main Street, allowing for funding that supports targeted investment and development to address community needs. The Diamond City Partnership will be the administering agency responsible for implementing the revitalization effort in downtown Wilkes-Barre. “The Keystone Communities Main Street designation is another big step in the revitalization and growth of downtown Wilkes-Barre,” Pashinski said. “Thank you to DCED Secretary Dennis Davin and his department for prioritizing the need for more funding and targeted investments in downtown Wilkes-Barre. I look forward to continuing to advocate for funding and programming that builds on the incredible progress we’re making here in Wilkes-Barre to make our downtown an attractive place to live, work, and enjoy life.” As a DCED-designated Keystone Communities Main Street, downtown Wilkes-Barre will be eligible for complimentary technical assistance and programmatic support from the Pennsylvania Downtown Center over the next five years and will receive priority status for various funding applications submitted to DCED. It will also be eligible for Neighborhood Assistance Program Enterprise Zone tax credits for private sector development Read more
As of this writing, there are approximately 750,000 Pennsylvania votes that need to be counted. That is more than 750,000 Pennsylvanians who lawfully casted their vote and deserve to be heard. Counting every citizen’s legal, timely vote is imperative. As workers securely make progress on tallying the results, we must be patient. This process may take several days, but the integrity and sanctity of the vote in our state must be maintained. Last Fall, in a bipartisan showing, the Pennsylvania General Assembly agreed to allow for mail-in ballots. Since then, House Democrats have made many efforts to help clarify any confusion about the process and give local election boards the tools needed to securely and expeditiously process votes cast by mail. Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues chose political gamesmanship over a genuine effort to ensure a smooth election. Their inaction failed to allow for the early processing of ballots received – as 32 other states permit-- and, in turn, why there is a delay in knowing the outcome of this election. The ambiguity in the law did not address their local official’s concerns; nor does it protect every Pennsylvanian’s constitutional right to vote and our obligation to make sure those votes are counted. Now, more than ever, we must ensure that we uphold the freedoms guaranteed in our state and nation’s constitution. In these unprecedented times, the voters must have the final say, not the candidates or Read more
Information about how to vote on election day, November 3, what to do if you still have a mail-in ballots to hand-in, why we need to be patient waiting for results, and more! Read more
This Election Night won’t be like any we’ve experienced before in Luzerne County and Pennsylvania, but there’s no need to panic. The delay in receiving full results is due to an incredible amount of interest in voting by mail. Because of this, we should all be prepared to patiently wait for ALL votes to be accurately counted here in Luzerne County, across Pennsylvania and in the United States of America. Currently, it is expected that it will take at least until Thursday to have a solid number for Luzerne County given the logistics of counting all of the mail-in ballots, which is a time-consuming and partially manual process, requiring sorting, the opening of two envelopes, preparing the ballots for the tabulating machine, and securing all ballots after they have been tabulated. While I understand it’s nice to know who won and who lost on Election Night, it’s more important that we count every vote to ensure that the voters are heard. This year is unlike any other, but as we can see, Luzerne County has procedures in place to ensure a complete, transparent and accurate count as quickly as conditions allow. To help provide a rough estimate of how long it will take to tabulate votes, a team of interested people and I have put together a basic formula using the number of people processing ballots and the total number of mail-in ballots to be processed. This formula was developed by timing the actual manual opening and preparing of the Read more
The Luzerne County COVID-19 Grant Program for small businesses and non-profits application portal is now open! All applications must be received by 11:59pm on October 14th, 2020. More information about who qualifies as well as the application are available using the link.Please note, grants are NOT first-come-first-served. Please take your time to review ALL of the information below as well as all the information on the Application Portal. Read more
Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jerry Oleksiak reminded eligible Pennsylvanians to apply as soon as possible for up to six weeks of assistance through the federal Lost Wages Assistance Program (LWA), which provides up to $300 a week extra in additional funds to individuals that are unemployed (or partially unemployed) because of COVID-19. Read more
Use this link to learn more about the Luzerne County COVID-19 Grant Program and application process. Please note, the portal is not yet open. Once the portal opens, there will be a 2-week window to apply. While the exact dates have not yet been announced, the portal is expected to open during the first week of October. Read more
Learn more about state-related issues impacting our district, my legislation, programs to help you and more in my Fall 2020 Newsletter. Read more
There is nothing more sacred to our democracy than the right of each American citizen to vote for their representatives in government. Perhaps just as important is the confidence our citizens place in our voting systems that determine who will represent ALL of us. That is why it is imperative that we institute policies that secure each citizen’s right to vote – while safeguarding against fraud and those who wish to undermine our system of elections. Read more
There is nothing more sacred to our democracy than the right of each American citizen to vote for their representatives in government. Perhaps just as important is the confidence our citizens place in our voting systems that determine who will represent ALL of us. That is why it is imperative that we institute policies that secure each citizen’s right to vote – while safeguarding against fraud and those who wish to undermine our system of elections. Mail-in voting, available in Pennsylvania since this year’s primary election, offers another option to make your voice heard without worrying about finding time to make it to the polls or the weather on election day. During a health emergency, this option provides a safe alternative to in-person voting and is widely available across the country. In fact, according to the Washington Post , 76 percent of eligible voters – 180 million people – are currently eligible to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 general election. Disturbingly, some of the very people who utilize vote by mail are trying to cast doubts on its security . That is why it’s important to remember that while no excuse mail-in voting may be new to most Pennsylvanians, it has been used by the U.S. military since Republicans implemented it during the Civil War . Five states now primarily conduct their elections by mail – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington – while another 28 states allow Read more
HARRISBURG, Aug. 17 – State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, today announced the approval by the Commonwealth Financing Authority of two PA Small Water and Sewer fund grants totaling $400,000 to Hanover Township and Mountaintop Area Joint Sanitary Authority. The funds will go toward two separate projects, including: $100,000 to Hanover Township for Phase 3 of the Solomon Creek Interceptor rehabilitation. $300,000 to the Mountaintop Area Joint Sanitary Authority to replace the sanitary sewer system for Glen Summit development in Fairview Township. “Each of these grants will help to fund important projects improving the quality of our water and our lives locally,” Pashinski said. “Once completed, these efforts will reduce pollution and provide safe and reliable service for local users. I’m truly appreciative to my Senate colleagues for their support for these projects, as well as Governor Tom Wolf and his administration for seeing the value in investing these funds in our area.” Hanover Township’s grant will go toward the rehabilitation of 560 linear feet of an existing sewer interceptor along Ferry Road that is over a century old and in failing condition. The improvements will increase the interceptor’s capacity, reduce the infiltration of groundwater, reduce ongoing maintenance needs and provide more reliable sewer services for residents. Mountaintop Area Joint Sanitary Read more
Pa. state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski participated in a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing to discuss the many issues involved in the safe reopening of our schools this Fall. Read more
Renters and homeowners who were financially impacted by the economic slowdown related to the coronavirus pandemic will be able to access applications for rent and mortgage relief beginning Monday, June 29. At that time, applications will be accessible from a red banner on the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s website at www.PHFA.org . Homeowners who became unemployed after March 1 or who suffered at least a 30 percent reduction in annual income due to reduced work hours and wages related to COVID-19 may be eligible for financial assistance to help with missed mortgage payments. To qualify for the Pandemic Mortgage Assistance Program, the applicant must be an owner-occupant of their residence, the dwelling must consist of one or two separate units, the mortgage must be at least 30 days delinquent, and the applicant-homeowner’s annual household income must not exceed the Area Median Income for their county of residence adjusted for the number of people in their home. For renters to be eligible for financial assistance under the CARES Rent Relief Program, they will need to document at least a 30 percent reduction in annual income since March 1 related to COVID-19, or they must have become unemployed after March 1. If unemployed, they must have filed for Unemployment Compensation. Their household income cannot exceed the Area Median Income for their county of residence adjusted for the number of people in their home. For more information Read more
Applications are expected to be available June 30 for a new program aimed at providing critical funding to local businesses hurt by the coronavirus. Read more
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