Bill O’Boyle: Capitol Roundup: Gov. Wolf announces $185M to support local law enforcement

Sep. 5—Gov. Tom Wolf this week announced the availability of $185 million in state funding for two new programs that improve community safety by ensuring adequate resources for local law enforcement and county district attorneys' offices.

"With adequate resources, our local law enforcement and investigative offices can better protect and serve our communities," said Gov. Wolf. "This is $185 million to ensure answered calls for help, remove criminals from our streets, and prosecute violent crimes to the fullest extent possible. It's a down payment on peace of mind tomorrow and less sorrow and bloodshed in the years to come."

Gov. Wolf secured $135 million for a Local Law Enforcement Support Program and $50 million for a Gun Violence Investigation & Prosecution Program in his final capstone budget.

The $135 million Local Law Enforcement Program (LLES) provides law enforcement agencies with the necessary resources to implement information technology improvements, purchase or upgrade equipment, cover nontraditional law enforcement personnel costs, support retention and recruitment efforts, and provide necessary training. Priority consideration for these grants will be given to areas of Pennsylvania with high rates of violence or to law enforcement agencies with low clearance rates (i.e., lower ability to solve crimes).

Eligible applicants for the LLES program include local law enforcement agencies, campus police or university police, railroad or street railway police, airport authority police department, and county park police forces. Maximum project amounts are based on the population of the law enforcement agency's jurisdiction or agency type and range from $500,000 to $25 million to support project activities over a two-year period.

The $50 million Gun Violence Investigation & Prosecution Program (GVIP) provides county district attorneys' offices and local law enforcement agencies more tools to investigate and prosecute firearm violations and violent crimes committed with firearms. Funding can be spent on improving multi-agency gun violence task forces, personnel costs, technology and software to improve investigation or prosecutions or increase clearance rates, firearm tracing programs, and any other efforts that aid in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of a crime involving firearms.

Similar to the LLES program, maximum project amounts for the GVIP program are based on the population of the law enforcement agency's jurisdiction or agency type and range from $500,000 to $25 million to support project activities over a two-year period. Priority consideration for the GVIP grants will be given to areas of Pennsylvania with high rates of gun violence, with at least $5 million reserved for county district attorney's offices and law enforcement agencies serving rural communities.

"I am confident that safer communities are within reach," added Gov. Wolf. "We're cracking down on ghost guns, investing in community-based violence prevention programs, and ready to benefit from President Biden's Bipartisan Safer Communities Act."

Rep. Meuser re-introduces BASIC Act to

increase transparency in budget process

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, joined by U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-HI, this week re-introduced legislation that would increase accountability and transparency for the federal budget process by requiring Congress to account for interest costs that are accrued through the servicing of debt.

The Budgetary Accuracy in Scoring Interest Costs (BASIC) Act of 2022 updates Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) cost scoring requirements to include debt costs created by legislative proposals.

"Publicly held debt is at a staggering 98% of the United States' Gross Domestic Product. The Basic ACT of 2022 will bring greater integrity and transparency to the federal budget process," said Meuser. "It is vital to the success of our economy that we see the full and true cost of any new proposal. Only then can we begin to move away from years of misguided policies."

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires that the CBO and JCT provide budgetary and revenue scores for legislation to be considered by Congress.

Given the nation's current annual deficit, all new legislative proposals that include added costs are debt financed. Without this new reporting requirement, the full cost of any proposal can't be fully known.

CBO estimates that in 2022 net interest payments will amount to $399 billion, or 7 percent of total federal expenditures and 1.6 percent of GDP.

Meuser announces federal

grants for fire departments

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, this week also announced that the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded more than $1 million to 11 fire departments across Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program.

The projects funded through these grants will provide for professional training, wellness and fitness programs, personal protective equipment, modifications to facilities, and supplies that support firefighting and non-affiliated EMS operations and safety.

Included are::

—Glen Lyon-Alden Volunteer Hose Company, Newport Township, $65,476.19

—Sugarloaf Fire Company Inc., Sugarloaf, $30,476. 19

—Lehigh & Lausanne Rural Volunteer Fire Company, Weatherly, $105.333.33

DMVA to host virtual town hall

on veteran transportation issues

The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) will host the fourth in a five-part series of virtual town hall meetings for veterans on Wednesday, Sept. 14, from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m., according to Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake.

The discussion will focus on resources to assist veterans facing transportation issues.

One of the presenters will be Brig. Gen. (PA) Maureen Weigl, DMVA deputy adjutant general for veterans affairs.

"Older veterans and those with a disability often face the challenge of access to health care because of not having proper transportation available to them," said Weigl. "We want veterans to know that help is available. There are community organizations ready and able to provide veterans with transportation to and from the federal VA and other health care providers."

Veterans can participate by using a Microsoft Teams link available on the DMVA's website at www.dmva.pa.gov. They will have the opportunity to ask questions of the presenters live during the program through the chat feature.

The series of virtual town halls provides the Commonwealth's nearly 800,000 veterans with a convenient platform to learn and ask questions about programs and services earned through their military service.

Boback currently serves as majority chairman of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee.

Sen. Yaw: Skill games sustain

veterans' organizations, social clubs

Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, this week said Pennsylvania's skill games industry leaves money on the table for veteran's organizations, social clubs and the state.

"This industry was a lifeline for veteran's groups and social clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic," Yaw said. "Regulating and taxing skill games not only supports small businesses, but will also bring in annual revenue of more than $300 million to the state."

Yaw introduced Senate Bill 950 to provide a regulatory framework for the industry. Pennsylvania Skill, Miele Manufacturing and Pace-o-Matic say the legislation is key to supporting small businesses across the state.

Since 2018, Pennsylvania Skill's Charitable Giving program has donated more than $2 million in contributions from game operators to local nonprofits, fire departments, first responders, schools and veteran's groups.

"This is the only industry that has asked to be regulated and taxed during my entire legislative career," Yaw said. "Usually, we hear just the opposite, but here they are, asking us to regulate them and tax them for the benefit of the many worthy groups and causes skill game revenues support."

Skills games, unlike games of chance, must be played in person and — as the name suggests — require a level of skill that can change the outcome of the game. A 2014 Court of Common Pleas decision in Beaver County deemed skill games legal, though the state has taken no steps to regulate the industry since.

Yaw recently penned an op-ed that details the impact of skill games on Pennsylvania's economy and defends them against casino and lottery critics who falsely argue the industry hurts their revenues.

A study from Peter Zaleski, an economist and former professor at Villanova University, looked at four nearby states with lotteries and no skill games: Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. From 2012 to 2019, Pennsylvania's lottery sales growth exceeded these states by a rate of 2.22% — contrary to the cries of the gambling industry.

"This is one of my top legislative priorities," Yaw said. "We all know that these games are vital to American Legions, to VFWs, to social clubs, to any place where people congregate and that's very important in today's society."

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.