CAPITOL ROUNDUP: $5M proposed investment to help people with disabilities find, retain employment
Apr. 20—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) this week joined more than 550 autism-support students and educators from 16 Pennsylvania schools Tuesday for the 2025 Autism Awareness and Acceptance Walk and Resource Fair held at the Department's Hiram G. Andrews Center (HGAC).
Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed 2025-26 budget calls for an additional $5 million investment in L&I's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) to assist people with disabilities in finding employment through personalized services such as goal setting and counseling, vocational guidance and job placement.
"At L&I, we're not just raising awareness — we're transforming lives by breaking down barriers for Pennsylvanians with autism and other disabilities," said Jill Moriconi, director of the Commonwealth Technical Institute at HGAC. "Through our work at HGAC, we're creating pathways to independence and meaningful careers where every person is supported and celebrated."
Established in 1959 and operated through OVR, the HGAC campus includes the Commonwealth Technical Institute (CTI), an accredited post-secondary trade and technical school specializing in education for individuals with disabilities. CTI offers three associate degree programs that prepare students for work in medical offices, the culinary arts, and networking technology. CTI also offers five diploma programs for careers in automotive technology, culinary assistant, early childhood education, nurse aide, and welding technology.
The Governor's proposed 2025-26 budget looks to build upon these investments in Pennsylvania's workforce, across multiple sectors.
Annually, more than 50,000 individuals with disabilities receive services through the vocational rehabilitation program and an additional 17,000 students with disabilities utilize OVR's pre-employment transition services that become available to Pennsylvania students with disabilities starting at age 14.
Rep. Meuser co-sponsors legislation to unleash American energy
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, this week co-sponsored the Unlocking Our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025 (H.R. 1949) — legislation aimed at cutting bureaucratic red tape and lifting burdensome energy export restrictions imposed by the Biden administration.
Rep. Meuser said under President Biden, the administration halted LNG export approvals, which jeopardized thousands of jobs, threatened U.S. national security, and reversed years of American energy progress. Rep. Meuser said on his first day in office, President Trump lifted these restrictions, reopening global markets for American natural gas and restoring U.S. energy dominance.
Rep. Meuser said H.R. 1949 would depoliticize LNG export decisions by removing the Department of Energy's (DOE) authority over export approvals and placing that responsibility solely with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He said this reform would ensure that American energy projects are evaluated on their merits rather than stalled by political or partisan agendas.
For Pennsylvania, Rep. Meuser said the stakes are incredibly high. He said the Marcellus Shale region — essential to the state's economy — supports more than 123,000 jobs and contributes over $25 billion to the state's GDP annually. Nationally, Rep. Meuser said the natural gas industry fuels more than 10 million jobs and generates nearly $1.8 trillion in economic activity.
"The Biden Administration's decision to restrict U.S. natural gas exports was a strategic misstep that undermined our economic strength and global leadership," Rep. Meuser said. "President Trump reversed course, putting America back on track as the world's energy powerhouse. LNG exports are essential to maintaining our role as the economic 'arsenal of democracy' — especially in times of global instability. This bill cuts through unnecessary red tape by removing the DOE's export approval authority and ensures projects are evaluated on merit, not politics. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense step toward American energy independence and security."
H.R. 1949 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee for further consideration.
U.S. senators request full retroactive payments under Social Security Fairness Act
U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and John Cornyn (R-TX) recently sent a letter to Social Security Acting Administrator Leland Dudek requesting that the Social Security Administration (SSA) review agency policy and grant maximum retroactive payments to all protected spouses under the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA).
The SSFA, co-authored by Sen. Collins and co-sponsored by Senators Fetterman, Cassidy, and Cornyn, restores earned Social Security benefits for millions of public employees and their spouses by repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.
The SSFA also provided for retroactive payments to January 2024.
"Over the past few weeks, several constituents have contacted our offices regarding the retroactivity of their spousal benefits under the Social Security Fairness Act," the Senators wrote. "The law provides for retroactivity to the year the bill was introduced, first being applied to the January 2024 payment. These spouses, including widows and widowers, have shared with me that when they contacted the Social Security Administration years ago inquiring into spousal benefits, they were told by SSA employees that their spousal benefits would be reduced to $0 due to the Government Pension Offset; and therefore, there was no need to file an application for spousal benefits. Now, these same spouses are being told to file a claim for spousal benefits yet are only being granted a maximum of six months retroactivity from their most recent date of contact with the SSA."
Nationally, since implementing automated benefit adjustments under the SSFA, SSA has paid more than 2.2 million beneficiaries a total of $14.6 billion in retroactive benefits.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
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