7 de marzo de 2023
El senador estatal Jim Brewster ha emitido hoy la siguiente declaración sobre el discurso inaugural del gobernador Shapiro sobre el presupuesto:
El presupuesto del gobernador ofrece un marco sólido para seguir mejorando la educación, la seguridad pública y el medio ambiente. Estoy deseando trabajar con la administración para completar el marco con los detalles que ayudarán a las comunidades a prosperar y a mantener a nuestros vecinos seguros y sanos.
La economía de Pensilvania ha proporcionado ingresos que, a su vez, brindarán la oportunidad de abordar el abandono sistémico y a largo plazo de nuestro sistema de educación pública, un sistema que ha sido declarado inconstitucional por su desigualdad.
Al mismo tiempo, aplaudo al gobernador por esbozar una manera de cambiar la forma en que financiamos la Policía Estatal para crear inversiones sostenibles a largo plazo en la seguridad pública a través de la expansión y mejoras continuas en la formación y equipamiento de nuestros soldados.
Desde mejoras en el cuidado de los niños hasta la ampliación del Programa de Reembolso del Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles y Alquileres, el presupuesto debería levantar a los habitantes de Pensilvania de todas las edades y en todas las regiones. Es un enfoque reflexivo y equilibrado para gobernar y estoy deseando completar los detalles en los próximos meses. Para más detalles sobre el presupuesto visite pasenate.com/budget.
Julio 21, 2022
McKeesport, Julio 21,2022 – State Sen. Jim Brewster’s efforts to protect Pennsylvania schools have paid off with a $200 million increase in funds for safety and security and mental health in the 2022-23 PA State Budget.
“This new School Code contains a historic financial commitment to school safety as well as focused regulation to make sure every school achieves baseline requirements,” Brewster said.
Since its 2018 creation, Brewster has been a member of Pennsylvania’s School Safety and Security Committee facilitated by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and an advocate for hardening schools while at the same time addressing core causes by making mental health assessment more prevalent and counseling more available.
In 2019 Brewster sent a letter to the committee asking it to establish baseline standards of safety for every school in the Commonwealth. Specifically, he encouraged the committee members to establish physical baselines, including items such as door locks and cameras; mental health baselines, including school counselors and psychologists; and environmental baselines, including air quality monitors as well as lead and mold abatement.
The latest School Code changes the requirement for active shooter training from every 5 years to yearly training, an important piece of school safety.
“Everyone in the building should be trained on how to protect themselves in the event of an active shooter,” Brewster said. “This updated requirement in the School Code is a necessary improvement to keep our schools safe.”
After years of partnership and hard work by the School Safety and Security Committee, the PCCD, the General Assembly, and the Governor, the recently passed state budget contains historic new investments of $100 million for school safety infrastructure and another $100 million for school mental health grants.
The money, Brewster said, is only part of the progress. Pennsylvania’s School Code now requires the schools to conduct surveys to see if standards for mental health services are being evaluated and baselines are being met. This survey must be completed by Agosto 31.
Just as important, the new School Code provides incentives for training new school mental health counselors through a School-Based Mental Health Internship Grant Program through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). The program is intended to encourage careers as school counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers.
PHEAA will be required to keep track of grant applicants and awardees to assess the effort of bringing more mental health professionals to careers in schools.
11 de julio de 2022
Harrisburg, 11 de julio de 2022 - Con una inversión estatal récord en gastos de prevención de la violencia en el nuevo presupuesto, el senador estatal Jim Brewster anunció hoy que ha sido nombrado de nuevo miembro del Comité de Seguridad Escolar, el principal conducto para los programas de intervención en el estado.
"Nos encontramos en un momento crítico para la seguridad pública tras el aumento de la violencia que acompañó a la pandemia", declaró Brewster. "El Comité de Seguridad Escolar ha desempeñado un papel central en la revisión y evaluación de los esfuerzos de intervención y prevención y en la orientación de los fondos estatales hacia donde pueden ser más eficaces".
El comité de 17 miembros fue creado mediante la Ley 44 de 2018 con el objetivo de elaborar políticas y proporcionar subvenciones para frenar la violencia escolar y comunitaria. El comité trabaja bajo los auspicios de la Comisión de Delincuencia y Crimen de Pensilvania (PCCD).
En julio de 2019, el senador Brewster envió una carta al comité pidiéndoles que establecieran estándares de referencia de seguridad para cada escuela en la Commonwealth para mantener seguros a los estudiantes, maestros y administradores. Específicamente, les pidió que establecieran líneas de base físicas, incluidos elementos como cerraduras de puertas y cámaras; líneas de base de salud mental, incluidos consejeros escolares y psicólogos; y líneas de base ambientales, incluidos monitores de calidad del aire y reducción de plomo / moho.
"Durante mi tiempo en el Comité de Seguridad Escolar, he estado abogando por el establecimiento de criterios de referencia para asegurar que estamos utilizando mejor el dinero", dijo Brewster. "Estoy encantado de ver que por primera vez los fondos se priorizarán para que todas las escuelas lleguen a la línea de base".
El año pasado, el Estado destinó la cifra récord de 30 millones de dólares a la seguridad escolar, y el presupuesto estatal de este año más que triplica esa cantidad, hasta 105 millones de dólares, con la ayuda de los fondos del Plan de Rescate de Estados Unidos.
"Para reducir la violencia en la comunidad, tenemos que abordar las causas fundamentales", dijo Brewster. "La pobreza, la salud mental y la adicción son graves motores de la delincuencia en nuestras comunidades, y esta comisión está invirtiendo fondos adicionales para hacer frente a estos problemas."
A la hora de conceder subvenciones el año pasado, Brewster dijo que el comité adoptó un enfoque amplio ante lo que percibía como un problema complejo con un amplio abanico de causas. El comité financió los esfuerzos de grandes instituciones académicas que estudian el problema desde el punto de vista de los datos, así como pequeñas iniciativas de base con presupuestos de miles de personas y los pies en la calle.
Como senador, Brewster ha estado en primera línea en cuestiones de seguridad escolar. Su nombramiento fue realizado por el líder demócrata del Senado, Jay Costa.
Julio 8, 2022
Harrisburg, PA − Julio 7, 2022 − State Sen. Jim Brewster, Democratic Chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, released the following statement today regarding passage of the 2022-2023 state spending plan:
“This budget represents a significant act of sober and realistic governance at a time of unprecedented divisiveness and political acrimony in Harrisburg. I am grateful that, at the end of a process that was unnecessarily late and acrimonious, leaders prevailed in completing the process with an agreement that does not fulfill everyone’s wish list, but makes progress in areas where Pennsylvanians have demanded it.
“It continues years of improvement in funding education, including more money being passed through the Level Up program to help historically disadvantaged school districts in a state that currently ranks 47th in education equity.
“School districts in the 45th district will receive more than $7 million in new Level Up funding, as well as education increases across the board of more than 10 percent, which comes on top of years of continued progress on education funding.
“This budget utilizes more than $2.1 billion in American Rescue Plan funds that will be used in a variety of programs that support health and child-care workers, public safety and anti-violence initiatives, housing, infrastructure and higher education.
“As a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s School Safety Committee, it’s important to acknowledge significant increases in programs aimed at curbing violence and ensuring safety in our schools.
“We were able to triple the amount of money available for grass-roots, street-level violence prevention from $30 million last year to more than $105 million this year. I look forward as a member of the committee to review the applications for these grants. On top of that, another $50 million will be invested in prosecution and investigation of violence.
“We’ll also be making dramatic increases in funding for mental health initiatives putting $100 million into behavioral health programs that can stem many of our societal problems before they ever result in crime or death.
“Even with these increased supports for our social safety net and education, we were able to cut corporate income taxes, putting us on a path to halve the Corporate Net Income tax in the coming years, making Pennsylvania more attractive in a competitive environment.
“It must be acknowledged that these critical investments were made possible by years of astute fiscal stewardship by legislative leaders and the Wolf administration which produced a historic $9 billion fund balance that allows these needs to be met while leaving billions in the Rainy Day Fund.
“This stewardship includes the staunch preservation of a billion-dollar revenue stream supplied by the state liquor store system, a system that has weathered constant attack by special interests while delivering for taxpayers.
“At the end of a difficult process we were able to negotiate, compromise and govern. Starting tomorrow we will continue our advocacy in the areas we fell short.”
4 de febrero de 2020
Spending plan invests in school safety, pushes charter school funding reform
Harrisburg – Febrero 4, 2020 – State Sen. Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny/Westmoreland) today said that Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed 2020-21 state budget plan is a solid spending framework that emphasizes charter school funding reforms and investments in school safety.
Gov. Tom Wolf presented his $36 billion General Fund spending plan to a joint session of the General Assembly this morning at the state Capitol.
Brewster, who has been a leading advocate of charter school funding reform and school safety initiatives — including mental health counselors, remediation of safety hazards and better security at schools — said he was pleased that these areas were a focus of the governor’s budget.
The governor’s plan does not include a call for broad-based tax increases. The charter school reforms would generate an estimated $280 million in savings for school districts and taxpayers.
A continuación figura la declaración de Brewster:
“The governor’s proposed budget does not include a call for additional taxes, which is a win for all taxpayers. The plan does include investments and important initiatives that I’ve been strongly backing for years. The charter school funding reforms will yield in excess of $280 million and there is funding included for school safety that can be used to pay for more counselors in schools.
“I look forward to working with the governor and all members of the General Assembly, on both sides of the aisle, to ensure that we enact a solid spending plan that meets the needs of our citizens, without the need to raise taxes.”
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