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WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania departments of Labor & Industry, Human Services, and Education this week kicked off “Experience the Employment Connection 2017” — an initiative focused on helping individuals with disabilities find meaningful, competitive, integrated employment.

“When people with disabilities hold jobs and earn competitive wages, they can achieve greater independence and inclusion in the community,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a press release. “However, far too many Pennsylvanians with disabilities are not working. The agencies who assist people with disabilities in preparing for, obtaining, or maintaining employment play a vital role not only in increasing their quality of life, but also in improving our communities.”

“Experience the Employment Connection” is a series of 15 inter-agency training sessions across the state, designed for public employees to collaborate, share resources, and partner on responsibilities to increase the effectiveness of our state agencies and transform the lives of people with disabilities. Numerous agencies and offices work together to create employment outcomes for individuals in Pennsylvania, and EEC allows for these professionals to pursue a collective approach for the individuals they serve.

EEC 2017 will host similar sessions in other locations — one is set for Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 28. For more: www.pa-eec.org.

Pa. Agriculture Secretary still

disappointed with budget plan

State Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding this week expressed his disappointment that House Republicans continue to advocate for an unsustainable approach to balancing Pennsylvania’s budget that comes at the expense of agriculture.

“Despite outcries from the agriculture community, local governments, and people who are generally concerned about the state’s future, the House continues to pursue a devastating path for Pennsylvania agriculture,” Redding said in a press release. “While this plan spares the farmland preservation program, it still calls for drastic cuts to county conservation districts and the state’s racing industry. It is premised on the false notion that there are surplus funds sitting in an account somewhere unused. That is simply not the case.”

Redding explained that an amendment approved by the House Rules Committee would divert more than $2.5 million from the Conservation District Fund and nearly $26 million from the state’s equine racing industry.

Redding said if the plan becomes law, every conservation district in the state will lose the amount of funding they receive now to support their manager position and one technician position.

Redding said funding in the State Racing Fund is likewise fully committed and the proposal to take $15 million will come at the expense of horse breeders and owners, which are important to the state’s overall agriculture economy.

Cartwright named co-chair

of task force to create jobs

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, announced this week that he will serve in a leadership role in the Jobs for America task forces — a unified effort from the House Democratic Caucus to craft a legislative agenda to benefit hardworking Americans and middle-class families.

Cartwright will serve as co-chair for the Rebuilding America Task Force.

“Investing in infrastructure will put Americans back to work, spur economic development, improve quality of life, and connect our communities,” Cartwright said in a press release. “I’m committed to finding policy solutions that will improve our country’s infrastructure and expand economic opportunities for working families.”

The Rebuilding America Task Force will focus on modernizing the nation’s infrastructure, expanding job opportunities in key industries, launching a school construction boom, updating the U.S. power grid and water infrastructure, and taking a visionary approach to projects needed to put the country at the forefront of innovation.

The Rebuilding America Task Force is one of five Jobs for America task forces aimed at identifying opportunities and solutions for American workers in five key areas — Rebuilding America, Jobs with Dignity, Access to Jobs, New Economy, and Reinvesting in Our Returning Heroes.

In the coming months, the task forces will meet with business and labor leaders, issue experts, and American workers to develop policy goals and solutions that will benefit all Americans. The effort was launched by the House Democratic Caucus.

House OKs Barletta bill to help

local law enforcement fight terror

The U.S. House of Representatives this week unanimously passed legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, to strengthen information sharing between local, state, and federal law enforcement.

Barletta’s Department of Homeland Security Classified Facility Inventory Act — H.R. 2443 — requires the Department of Homeland Security to maintain an inventory of facilities certified to store information classified above the secret level. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Law enforcement officials at all levels of government commonly share counter-terrorism information. However, a recent report by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, DHS, and the Department of Justice found that, while counter-terrorism information is typically classified at the Top Secret level, DHS personnel lack sufficient access to facilities where this information can be shared in the field.

Barletta’s bill addresses this issue by requiring greater transparency and information sharing on the locations of all facilities certified by DHS.

“Our local law enforcement officers are the first line of defense against terrorism,” Barletta said in a news release. “We know it will be the police officer on the streets of Hazleton, Shamokin, or Shippensburg, not some analyst in Washington, who will recognize when a member of our community has radicalized or been recruited by a gang or terrorist sect.”

Barletta said he has heard complaints that federal officials do not take local information seriously, simply because someone has not been able to obtain a certain security clearance. He said his bill eliminates unnecessary roadblocks that could prevent or delay efforts to protect our communities.

Wolf
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By Bill O’Boyle

[email protected]

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