WILKES-BARRE — Rick Siger, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) secretary, joined local leaders this week to tour businesses and organizations that are focused on advancing innovation in the technology and life sciences sectors.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed 2025-2026 budget includes a total of $50 million for the new PA Innovation program — which includes a one-time $30 million initiative to spur life sciences job growth and $20 million to provide annual funding to support large-scale innovation.
“The success of technology and life sciences entrepreneurs is key to Pennsylvania’s economic growth in every region of our Commonwealth,” said Secretary Siger. “Pennsylvania is open for business, and Gov. Shapiro’s proposed PA Innovation program will continue to spur economic development, create jobs, and drive world-leading innovation.”
Gov. Shapiro has had many major economic development successes at the midway point of his first term including:
• Creating the first statewide economic development strategy in nearly two decades with a focus on five key industry sectors: agriculture, energy, life sciences, manufacturing, and robotics and technology.
• Securing $500 million in state funds to significantly expand the PA SITES program to develop shovel-ready sites and bring more commercial and industrial sites to Pennsylvania, building on the success of the pilot program that awarded $10.6 million to seven projects.
• Creating the new Main Street Matters program and securing $20 million to fund it and support downtowns, main streets, and surrounding neighborhoods.
• Expanding opportunities for small, minority-owned businesses by securing a $20 million investment for the Historically Disadvantaged Business Program in his first and second budgets.
Rep. Meuser introduces bill to improve payment integrity laws
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, announced this week that he will soon introduce the PIIA Reform Act — legislation which will improve payment integrity laws to more effectively identify and reduce improper payments, especially over-payments in the federal government.
In FY2023, Meuser said federal agencies estimated a staggering $236 billion in improper payments, spanning 71 programs. Since FY2003, the total estimated amount of improper payments has surpassed $2.7 trillion.
Meuser said these figures are likely under-reported, as many agencies fail to comply with existing payment integrity laws. He said the PIIA Reform Act addresses these issues by implementing new measures and expanding accountability to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent more responsibly.
Meuser said the PIIA Reform Act strengthens oversight by establishing an Over-payment Czar to reduce waste and enforce compliance. He said the legislation also expands reporting requirements for federal agencies and states, increasing transparency and accountability.
To ensure enforcement, the bill introduces penalties — including budget reductions — for agencies that fail to meet payment integrity standards. It also enhances fraud detection in Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, and WIC and mandates continuous data sharing between the Social Security Administration and the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system to prevent payments to deceased individuals.
“The PIIA Reform Act is a crucial step toward addressing the billions of taxpayer dollars lost to improper payments every year,” Rep. Meuser said. “Our social safety net programs must be accountable, efficient, and free from fraud. By establishing new oversight mechanisms and expanding reporting requirements, this bill will ensure that our federal agencies and states are held to higher standards of integrity. I am pleased to introduce this legislation to protect the American taxpayer and improve the delivery of services to those who need it most.”
The PIIA Reform Act will be introduced on Monday and will be referred to the House Oversight and Reform Committee for further consideration.
AG DeFoor releases cyber charter school performance audit; calls funding reform
Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor this week released a performance audit of five cyber charter schools which shows from 2020 to 2023, they legally increased revenues by $425 million and reserves by 144%, due in part to an outdated funding formula that does not use actual instruction costs to determine tuition, set guidelines for spending or set limits for cyber charter school reserve funds.
“I am now the third auditor general to look at this issue and the third to come to the same conclusion: the cyber charter funding formula needs to change to reflect what is actually being spent to educate students and set reasonable limits to the amount of money these schools can keep in reserve,” AG DeFoor said. “Our recommendation is that in the next six months the Governor should appoint a task force to review the funding formula and direct it to issue a report within nine months determining a new formula that is equitable, reasonable and sustainable, and the General Assembly should act within six months of the task force’s report to facilitate the enactment of legislation.”
The five cyber charter schools selected for the audit were:
• Commonwealth Charter Academy.
• Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School.
• Insight PA Cyber Charter School.
• Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
• Reach Cyber Charter School.
“In this audit, we found these cyber charter schools legally increased their revenue from $473 million in the 2019-2020 fiscal year to $898 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year,” AG DeFoor said. “We found instances of the cyber charter schools legally using taxpayer dollars on things like staff bonuses, gift cards, vehicle payments and fuel stipends. Additionally, Commonwealth Charter Academy spent $196 million to purchase and/or renovate 21 buildings, which to us seems a bit out of the ordinary for a public school that is based in online instruction.”
To view the full audit, including each school’s specific audit, visit https://bit.ly/434HEoR.