WILKES-BARRE — Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger this week announced the approval of $36 million through the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) to assist low-income individuals and improve distressed areas in Pennsylvania communities.
The NAP, which provides tax credits to businesses that contribute to nonprofit organizations’ efforts to revitalize communities, will support 261 projects across the Commonwealth.
The funding will support a variety of important community projects across Pennsylvania, including nearly $1.2 million total in several in Luzerne County.
“By encouraging businesses to make impactful investments in their local communities, the Neighborhood Assistance Program is driving investment to worthy causes and helping improve the lives of our fellow Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said.
Through the NAP, businesses can receive tax credits of up to 80% on the contributions they make to a qualifying community project.
“The NAP helps our low-income areas in a way that very few state or federal programs do — by promoting and encouraging the public-private partnerships that put communities on the right track to fiscal health and long-term prosperity,” Siger said.
Luzerne County projects are:
• Commission on Economic Opportunity, $200,000 (Coterra Energy) — to support each of the five work areas identified for the project: Food acquisition, operational and partner capacity building for food distribution, partner network development, transportation and other household level barrier mitigation, and public awareness campaigns.
• Diamond City Partnership, Wilkes-Barre, $160,000 (Coterra Energy) — In year 2, DCP will manage supplementary sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal, and maintenance via DCP Downtown Ambassador team; improve Downtown curb appeal through beautification; repair Midtown Village Clock Tower and Public Square information kiosk; initiate development of a comprehensive Downtown Walkability Study to improve walkability, bikeability, and vehicular connectivity; initiate planning for architectural lighting of key landmarks.
• Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress, $80,000 (Wells Fargo; Reading & Northern Railroad) — In year 5, this project will continue to focus on four priority areas of need: (1) Education & Entrepreneurship Assistance; (2) Expanded Arts & Cultural Programming, (3) Hispanic Business Integration & Community Leadership Development; and (4) Marketing & Business Recruitment.
• Diamond City Partnership, Wilkes-Barre, $7,500 (FNCB Bank; Community Bank) — DCP intends to continue its data-driven business recruitment and retention strategy to help businesses address the implications of pandemic-fueled structural changes to the Downtown economy.
• Greater Wyoming Valley Area YMCA, Dennison Township, $45,000 (FNCB Bank; M&T Bank; UPMC Work Alliance) — Camp Kresge’s Summer Food and Fun @ the Park program offers low income children access to free summer enrichment and social programming for 4 hours a day for 8 weeks to combat the summer slide. The project would provide a larger oven and an appropriate transport vehicle, which will enable the YMCA to increase the number of children served to 70 next year, or 25 additional children.
• Junior Achievement, Wilkes-Barre, $26,250 (M&T Bank; FNCB; Fidelity Bank) — Junior Achievement’s Inspire Career Discovery Initiative will expand in 2024 to include an additional 1,000 students from low income households with engaging curriculum on career pathways, an inspiring two-day, hands-on experiential career event, and a constructive follow up program that uses collected data to connect students with internships, job shadows, immediate employment, and post-secondary education opportunities.
• NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania, Pittston, $39,999 (Big Sandy Gas Co.; Coterra Energy; GasSearch Drilling Services; Susquehanna Real Estate Corp.) — 2024 Beautiful Blocks program goal cycle is to provide approximately $50,000 in matching funds for exterior home improvements to about 25 households in Pittston. The improvements to residential homes in the City of Pittston will compliment ongoing efforts to bring successful commercial revitalization to the downtown Pittston corridor, which has seen tremendous investments in downtown housing, business development, and public art.
• DDC Wilkes, LLC, Wilkes-Barre, $500,000 (N/A) — The tenant, Building Blocks Early Learning Center (BBELC), a regional early childhood education operator with an established track record, will provide much needed additional access to daycare services within Downtown Wilkes-Barre. BBELC’s new facility will provide another incentive encouraging workers to return to downtown offices, facilitating the district’s ongoing revitalization and its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the overall project will advance Downtown Wilkes-Barre’s repositioning as a walkable “live/work” urban neighborhood. BBELC plans to hire 25 new employees to their organization to operate this new location.
• Commission on Economic, $179,850 (Gerrity’s Supermarkets, Cargill Meat Solutions, Sheetz, Price Chopper Operating Co.; McLane Eastern) — The CEO Weinberg Northeast Regional Foodbank coordinates the charitable food system in Northeast Pennsylvania an provides food for distribution to over 275 partner organizations, including food pantries, soup kitchens, mobile food distributions, schools and child care centers.
Sen. Casey introduces legislation to
strengthen Black Lung Benefits Program
A bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and his colleagues would ensure every coal miner who suffers from black lung disease receives the benefits they are entitled to.
Casey said that since 1968, more than 76,000 people have died as a result of “Black Lung” disease.
This week, Sen. Casey, D-Scranton, Casey, and his colleagues, Sen. John Fetterman, D- Braddock, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Joe Manchin (D-WV); and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act to help miners who have suffered from “black lung” disease and their survivors access the workers compensation they are entitled to receive under the Black Lung Benefits Program.
Casey said this legislation would ease the burdens preventing miners and their survivors from accessing the totality of their benefits such as lengthy processing times, lack of a legal representative, and inflation.
“Coal miners have moved our Nation forward for generations, risking their lives and their long-term health to power our factories and heat our homes,” Casey said. “This bill will ensure that every coal miner that is suffering from black lung disease receives the benefits they are entitled to. Coal miners have risked their lives for our nation and I’ll keep fighting to make sure they aren’t left behind.”
Ranking Member Scott, House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said that decades ago, Congress established the Black Lung Benefits Act to provide monthly compensation and medical coverage for coal miners who develop black lung disease and are totally disabled.
Unfortunately, Scott said a 2009 GAO report found that miners often lack the necessary medical and legal resources to develop evidence to prove their claims.
“Coal miners do some of the toughest work on earth and have played a critical role in Pennsylvania’s regional economy and powering our nation. We cannot turn our backs on them now as they deal with the fallout of extreme occupational hazards,” said Sen. Fetterman. “This bill will help coal miners affected by Black Lung access the benefits they’re owed and deliver justice and care for people across Appalachia.”
UMWA President Cecil Roberts said that over the past century, more than 100,000 coal miners have tragically succumbed to the painful effects of Black Lung disease, a consequence of their exposure to respirable dust in their workplace.
“Moreover, there is a concerning surge in black lung cases, particularly among younger miners, largely attributed to the heightened presence of silica dust in the mine atmosphere,” Roberts said.
The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act makes needed updates to ensure Congress is fulfilling its commitment to the Nation’s coal miners by:
• Restoring lost cost-of-living benefit increases for black lung beneficiaries and ensuring cost-of-living increases are never withheld in the future.
• Helping claimants secure legal representation by providing interim attorney fees if miners prevail at various stages of their claim.
• Allowing miners or their survivors to reopen their cases if they had been denied because of medical interpretations that have subsequently been discredited.
• Prohibiting unethical conduct by attorneys and doctors in the black lung claims process and helping miners review and rebut potentially biased or inaccurate medical evidence developed by coal companies.
The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act is endorsed by United Mine Workers (UMWA), Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center (UCLC), and Appalachian Voices.