HARRISBURG, July 13 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, introduced legislation this week that would create a two-year pilot program administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development to help renovate and redevelop historic and older buildings across the commonwealth. “Pennsylvania is rich in history,” Ciresi said. “Just walk down a neighborhood street, you can find historic homes and older buildings recalling our commonwealth’s storied past. Unfortunately, as too many of them require expensive renovations to bring them up to code, many people have been forced to abandon them and leave our downtowns filled with vacant buildings.” House Bill 1573 would create a two-year pilot program administered by DCED to help renovate and redevelop historic and older buildings across Pennsylvania. The program, the “Historic and Older Building Redevelopment Assistance Grant Program,” would address the greater challenges and higher costs involved in bringing older buildings up to code. Grant funds could be used to bring mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems up to code through the installation of modern equipment such as sprinklers, efficient HVAC systems, elevators, and extra stairs, as well as to make entryways and other building features more accessible for people with disabilities. These improvements would be intended for and evaluated based on their ability to Read more
HARRISBURG, July 8 – In a bipartisan vote, the PA House yesterday passed state Rep. Joe Ciresi’s legislation (H.B 1422) that would modernize Pennsylvania’s charter school law to specifically address cyber charter schools to ensure transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility. “The vast majority of the commonwealth’s elected school boards have told legislators PA’s charter school law is in desperate need of reform,” Ciresi said. “Today we passed a comprehensive reform bill that holds cyber charter schools to the same standards we expect of anyone who receives public funds, including transparency, ethical standards and greater oversight of spending. By ending $455 million in overpayments and making sure that taxpayer dollars are being properly spent on their intended purpose – educating students – this reform bill will help all our students and taxpayers.” In 2015, the General Assembly passed a law to create an education funding formula based on actual student enrollment and cost factors to address an outdated, flawed and inequitable system of funding school districts. However, the bill did not address cyber charter schools, which continue to receive the same funding as brick-and-mortar charter schools despite having materially lower costs, leading Ciresi to sponsor H.B. 1422 to address this issue. Ciresi’s legislation would set a single statewide tuition rate for non-special Read more
HARRISBURG, July 6 – After his vote to approve the state budget this week, state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, highlighted its progress in education funding and significant expansion of property tax relief as the reasons for his support. Pennsylvania’s 2023-24 budget includes $717 million in funding for public schools statewide, including $100 million in “Level Up” funding dedicated for the most underfunded school districts that Ciresi had pushed to include in the budget. “While this budget doesn’t finish the job in addressing education underfunding, we’ve now come farther than ever before in shrinking the funding gap for our underfunded districts, especially our most-underfunded districts like Pottstown,” Ciresi said. “With the help of supplemental ‘Level Up’ funding to help these districts catch up, I’m proud that we’ve delivered almost $10 million in new, recurring state funding for Pottstown School District in the past three years. This funding is helping our schools and led to Pottstown residents even getting a local tax rebate this year.” Locally, the budget increases funding for Montgomery County school districts, including $6 million in increased funding for school districts in the 146th Legislative District: Pottstown School District: $3,363,052 increase. Spring-Ford Area School District: $1,588,175 increase. Pottsgrove School District: Read more
Replacing state song Read more
HARRISBURG, June 29 – State Reps. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, and Kristin Marcell, R-Bucks, introduced a bill this week aimed at helping the state’s intermediate units. House Bill 1526 would permit IUs to own facilities, allowing them to own instructional space and use facilities they already have for instructional purposes. Currently, IUs are only permitted to own office space and warehouse facilities, a limitation that prohibits them from owning facilities used for instructional space that does not apply to school districts, area career and technical schools, or charter schools. Many IUs operate classrooms and other instructional spaces as providers of important special education, pre-school programs and other educational services. All these instructional facilities must be leased, burdening IUs with rental costs that sometimes greatly exceed what it would cost the IU to purchase and own the facility themselves. “As a former school board member, I have seen firsthand the important work that the state’s intermediate units do every day,” Ciresi said. “This bill will help our IUs provide better services to our children and save taxpayer dollars by empowering IUs to avoid costly long-term leases of buildings essential for providing educational services.” Both Ciresi and Marcell served on school boards prior to serving in the PA House. Ciresi was a Read more
HARRISBURG, June 29 – A resolution (H.R. 41) sponsored by State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, to replace the state song was adopted by the House this afternoon. “The problem is this: most Pennsylvanians don’t know we have a state song, but they’ll probably recognize the state songs of Georgia, West Virginia, or New York,” Ciresi said. “State symbols are supposed to bring us together and be part of our identity. We should have a state song that everyone knows and loves because it reflects who we are as a people, and it should work to represent and market Pennsylvania and help bring in tourism.” In 1990, the state legislature adopted the current state song, “Pennsylvania,” by Eddie Khoury and Ronnie Bonner. State law establishes this as Pennsylvania’s official song for all public purposes, and the song is often performed at public events, such as gubernatorial inaugurations. “I’m very glad that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle voted to pass this resolution. We need a song that we take pride in singing because it reflects our pride in Pennsylvania, the cradle of liberty and home to today’s dynamic industries and diverse communities,” Ciresi said. The resolution will establish an independent commission to study the history of the state song, solicit submissions from the public, and recommend changes to the state song. The legislature will then have the option of passing Read more
HARRISBURG, June 21 – With over two million electric vehicles (EV) already on the road and projections forecasting continued growth in EV adoption, state Rep. Joseph Ciresi, D-Montgomery, introduced legislation that would help to create more charging stations throughout Pennsylvania. House Bill 1474 would add electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects as an eligible project type under Pennsylvania’s Property-Assessed Clean Energy program (C-PACE). C-PACE, which was created by Act 30 of 2018 , has facilitated over $250 million in investments in energy efficiency, clean energy, conservation, and other projects by connecting property owners with long-term financing. The investments are funded entirely through private capital, so it would not impose any financial burden on the commonwealth or local governments, according to Ciresi. “As electric vehicles become increasingly common, we need to make sure we have a developed statewide infrastructure with access to convenient charging stations,” Ciresi said. “This bill will unlock financing that would help businesses, workplaces, apartment buildings, and more locations install EV charging stations, offering important access for EV drivers and helping businesses that want to make these types of investments.” Read more
HARRISBURG, June 5 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, today announced the introduction of legislation (H.B. 1311) to increase Level Up funding to $400 million for fiscal year 2023-2024. “Our state’s inequitable school funding system has produced severely underfunded school districts where it is a challenge for students to get a good education,” Ciresi said. “The Commonwealth Court ruling this year declaring Pennsylvania’s school funding system unconstitutional is a call to action. We need to act by working to level the playing field for Pennsylvania’s children and ensure that every child has access to a high quality education. “Level Up has been one of our best tools for reducing inequity in education and ensuring all students have the opportunities to succeed, regardless of zip code. But without additional funding for Level Up, it will take decades or more for our underfunded school districts to reach adequate funding – too long for our children to wait.” According to Ciresi, Pennsylvania began leveling the playing field in 2016 by providing much-needed resources for public education: the enactment of a weighted formula for Basic Education Funding based on need and gradual increases in state education funding. Level Up has played a key role in providing dedicated funding for the 100 most underfunded school districts since it was implemented in FY 2021-2022 and expanded in 2022-2023. “Since its Read more
HARRISBURG, May 23 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, today announced the introduction of legislation (H.B. 1244) that will make predictable the cost of recording documents charged by Recorders of Deeds. “My legislation would simplify the recordation process, eliminate the potential for user error, and guarantee predictability for fees, which will benefit consumers, lenders, businesses, attorneys, and others who record documents in the Commonwealth,” Ciresi said. The current method for calculating the cost of recording is dependent on page count, number of names, number of parcels, and number of marginal document references. According to Ciresi, the last-minute addition or removal of a page, or a miscalculation, can lead to the incorrect amount being included for a filing and subsequent rejection, causing uncertainty, delays, and potential harm to those involved in the transaction. In 2016, the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee conducted a review of the fees collected by recorders of deeds. Its findings included: (1) “Fees charged by County Recorders of Deeds are difficult to predict because they can vary based on factors such as the number of pages and the number of names that need to be indexed” and (2) “Many states are moving toward predictable recording fees to avoid delays and penalties at settlement.” “Not only does the current method create potential for surprises Read more
HARRISBURG, May 9 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, yesterday introduced legislation (H.B. 1137) to pay down the unfunded liabilities in the state and school employees’ pensions systems using state surplus funds to relieve tax burdens on local taxpayers and school districts. “While our teachers and state employees deserve the retirements they were promised, the unfunded liabilities in our state pension systems – accumulated years and decades ago – increases costs for our taxpayers and school districts as we work to pay that down,” Ciresi said. “My bill would help provide relief by using our state’s surplus funds to reduce these unfunded liabilities, saving taxpayers money in the long term and speeding up progress on addressing our public pensions.” According to Ciresi, the state pension systems— the Public School Employees’ Retirement System and the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System —generate billions of dollars for the economy every year. In 2020 for example, PSERS and SERS supported about 55,000 jobs and provided about $1.2 billion in state tax revenue . Although the pension systems provide a yearly financial windfall, local taxpayers and school districts are required to pay down the pension systems’ unfunded liabilities. These payments significantly increased since pension reforms in 2010 which, in addition to reforming benefits, prompted expanded pension Read more
State Reps. Joe Ciresi and Joe Webster held a road dedication ceremony in Trappe to unveil a memorial sign in honor of Trooper Branden T. Sisca, who was killed in the line of duty in 2022. Read more
Bills sponsored by state Rep. Joe Ciresi seek to aid students going into the mental health field, and those already there. Read more
A $50,000 grant that will pay for facility improvements at North End Fire Company No. 1, 301 Prospect St., was personally delivered earlier this week to firefighters by 146th District Rep. Joe Ciresi, his office reported. Read more
Solutions offered to address mental health care burnout | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Read more
HARRISBURG, May 2 – The House yesterday passed state Rep. Joe Ciresi’s red-tape cutting legislation that would make it easier for relatives to claim a deceased person’s property being held by the state. According to Ciresi, the Pennsylvania treasury holds some $4 billion in unclaimed property, such as uncashed checks, lost stocks or bonds, or closed bank accounts. Due to an inconsistency in inheritance law, some categories of relatives have a harder time legitimately claiming that property on behalf of their deceased relatives. Under current law, surviving spouses, children, parents and siblings can file for unclaimed property using a notarized sworn relationship affidavit, saving them the effort and expense of having to open or re-open the deceased’s estate. But grandchildren, nephews, nieces and others cannot claim by affidavit even if they are the closest surviving relative. “My legislation would change Pennsylvania’s law for claiming unclaimed property to match the existing intestate succession law, making it easier for grandchildren and other relatives to claim money held in the name of their deceased relatives,” Ciresi, D-Montgomery, said “This would only apply to situations where an affidavit can already be used to claim: for properties under $11,000 and when no estate was ever opened or five years have passed since it was opened.” Ciresi learned about this issue from the work his staff was doing trying to Read more
HARRISBURG, April 28 – State Reps. Joe Ciresi and Joe Webster, both D-Montgomery, held a road dedication ceremony today in Trappe to unveil a memorial sign in honor of Trooper Branden T. Sisca, who was killed in the line of duty in 2022. “Branden Sisca dedicated his life to protecting others in service of the community he loved,” Ciresi said. “Although nothing can fill the void that Branden’s tragic passing left, Rep. Webster and I thought weaving Branden’s legacy into the fabric of the community through the road dedication would help us all heal. From this day forward, everyone traveling through Trappe will be reminded of Branden’s life of public service as a volunteer firefighter and Pennsylvania State Trooper. Thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly to make today’s ceremony a tremendous success.” The memorial sign designates a portion of State Route 4031 (Main Street) between Fifth Avenue and State Route 4048, also known as Seventh Avenue, in Trappe as the Trooper Branden T. Sisca Memorial Highway. “Today we honor the life and service of Trappe Fire Chief and PA State Trooper Branden Sisca who dedicated his life to public service and protection of our community,” Webster said. “This dedication stands as a show of our sincere gratitude for his service and our pledge to honor his memory and sacrifice. Thank you to everyone who ensured today’s ceremony was a fitting tribute.” Read more
HARRISBURG, April 25 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, today announced the introduction of legislation that would ensure the proper use of electric vehicle charging spots in Pennsylvania. There are currently more than 2 million electric vehicles on the road nationwide, with more sold each year, but there is a limited availability of public charging stations. According to Ciresi, the blocking of charging stations for reasons other than charging is a common frustration among many EV owners and has been cited by planners in Pennsylvania as a challenge to EV deployment. His legislation, H.B. 1043, would ensure that spots clearly marked as reserved for electric vehicle charging are properly utilized and cannot be used by non-electric vehicles or vehicles not connected for charging, similar to existing laws restricting improper use of reserved disability parking spaces. “We want to make it easy for people to adopt electric vehicles to alleviate our reliance on fossil fuels to support a clean environment and reduce the impact of climate change,” Ciresi said. “Unfortunately, too often EV drivers find the reserved and marked EV charging stations blocked when they need it, leaving many electric vehicle owners struggling to find places to charge their vehicles. The lack of charging station availability is a serious impediment, impacting EV owners from everything from planning a trip to going about daily errands.” Eighteen states, including Read more
POTTSTOWN, April 20 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, on Sunday presented $50,000 in state funding to the North End Fire Company No. 1 in Pottstown. The PA Department of Community and Economic Development grant Ciresi secured will allow facility improvements to the fire company, specifically for a new shower room and a new training room. “The officers, career staff and members are extremely humbled for the efforts that Joe Ciresi and his staff dedicated in making every attempt to help the North End,” said Jeff Swider, treasurer of the North End Fire Company. “Joe presented the North End with a $50,000 check for capital projects to our fire house. Joe, thank you for stepping up and keeping your word to stand by and help the North End! We cannot thank you enough!” “On behalf of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this grant recognizes the importance that local fire companies play in critical public services,” Ciresi said. “Our fire companies do a lot to keep us safe with limited resources. I will always look for ways to connect them to state funding to meet their needs, so that they can continue doing their outstanding work for the Pottstown community.” Read more
Spring 2023 newsletter Read more
ROYERSFORD, April 13 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, today announced the introduction of legislation that would exempt at-home medical test kits from the sales tax in Pennsylvania. Diagnostic testing materials are currently subject to sales tax in the state. According to Ciresi, this creates additional barriers to diagnosis. His H.B. 875 would exempt at-home medical test kits from the state’s sales tax, including at-home pregnancy tests, COVID-19 tests, and all other test kits and equipment used for the diagnosis, treatment or monitoring of diseases or medical conditions. “It is our responsibility to provide Pennsylvanians with as many tools as possible to live long, happy lives, and exempting at-home medical tests from the sales tax is one more tool we can provide,” Ciresi said. “This would enable more of us to protect our own and others' health while remaining in the comfort of our own homes.” During COVID-19, at-home testing kits became more available, allowing residents showing symptoms of the virus to remain home and keep others safe. Ciresi said these tests are vital to public health and should not be taxed when Pennsylvanians are trying to keep themselves and others healthy. Read more
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