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15 hours ago
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Penn State trustees agree to legal training, improved transparency in settlement with Spotlight PA
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at Penn State University's Board of Trustees will complete a training on the state's open meetings law and disclose more information about its closed-door gatherings as part of a settlement with Spotlight PA. The agreement, signed last week, ends a case the newsroom, in partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, brought against the board in December 2023 for alleged violations of the Sunshine Act, the state law mandating transparency from governing bodies. 'The settlement ensures that one of Pennsylvania's most influential institutions will conduct its business with the transparency that taxpayers, students, faculty, and staff deserve,' said Christopher Baxter, CEO and president of Spotlight PA. 'The university's most recent decision to close seven campuses — and the effect it will have on communities across the state — underscores the need for these important reforms.' Neither Penn State nor board leadership responded to a request for comment for this story. Spotlight PA has documented the board's decadelong use of private meetings and practices that may have run afoul of the state's transparency law, including that university leadership met privately with trustees to discuss Penn State's multimillion-dollar budget deficit and to consider naming the football field after former coach Joe Paterno. Internal board communications, previously obtained by the newsroom, revealed that board leadership directed trustees to ask questions during a private session rather than at a public meeting, a request a media law attorney described as a 'gigantic red flag.' Penn State has already altered some of its practices to increase transparency. In October, a committee of top university officials held its first public meeting since 2011. Under the new settlement agreement, every meeting of the executive committee must be publicized on the board's website, and the board must continue to publish the group's meeting agendas. Additionally, according to the settlement, the board will hold a Sunshine Act training for trustees and publicly report which members completed the session. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records is scheduled to provide the training on Sept. 11, according to the agency's calendar. Incoming trustees will be offered the training starting in 2026. Liz Wagenseller, executive director of the Office of Open Records, said in a statement that the state's open meetings law 'plays a vital role in ensuring the public can see how tax dollars are spent and how government entities operate. The Office of Open Records values every invitation to assist agencies and others subject to the law in better understanding their obligations regarding public meetings. We look forward to working with the Penn State Board of Trustees to help uphold the transparency and accountability the Act is designed to promote.' For years, the Penn State board has met behind closed doors with university officials in 'conference,' a practice allowed under the law for 'any training program or seminar, or any session arranged by State or Federal agencies for local agencies, organized and conducted for the sole purpose of providing information to agency members on matters directly related to their official responsibilities.' The public had limited insight into these gatherings. Under the agreement, the board will disclose the person providing the training and the topic. Similarly, when the trustees hold an executive session, the board will publicly say the reason why and cite the legal exemption that allows for the private meeting. The terms of the settlement will last for five years. Read the full agreement here. 'This is such an important win for transparency in the Commonwealth,' said Paula Knudsen Burke, the Pennsylvania attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press who represented Spotlight PA in the case. 'The university and its board of trustees are ultimately accountable to the people of Pennsylvania, and their business is the public's business. This agreement, which explicitly includes Sunshine Act compliance training, sets a clear expectation that they can no longer hide behind closed doors and executive sessions.' The settlement ends more than 18 months of legal arguments in local court. In October 2023, Spotlight PA and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent the board a letter requesting the trustees 'immediately cease holding improper executive sessions and conferences, advertise and record meeting minutes for all public meetings, and halt the practice of deliberating in secret.' The university's vice president and general counsel, Tabitha Oman, responded that she was 'confident that the Board has taken its official actions and conducted its deliberations in compliance' with the law. During the board's November 2023 meetings in University Park, Spotlight PA witnessed what it believed were potential violations of the open meetings law, prompting the lawsuit in Centre County Court of Common Pleas. After the board's February and May 2024 meetings, the lawsuit was amended to include additional allegations. Throughout the legal process, Penn State argued its trustees followed the law. 'Penn State is a more transparent institution than it was a year and a half ago thanks to Spotlight PA and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,' said Sarah Rafacz, managing editor of Spotlight PA's State College bureau. 'With this agreement in place, we will see more public disclosures about the business of the trustees than ever before. Our push for transparency will also continue through our tenacious accountability reporting on the university.' In September, Commonwealth Court will tentatively hear arguments in an ongoing case between Penn State and the state Department of Education against Spotlight PA to decide whether university documents the Office of Open Records previously deemed public should be turned over to the newsroom. and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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5 days ago
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Pennsylvania parents accused of putting their infants in unsafe sleep positions charged with felonies
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Two sets of Pennsylvania parents face felony charges after police say their infants died in unsafe sleep positions. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now While experts and family advocates say young babies should sleep on their backs without anything in the crib, simply failing to follow the recommendations shouldn't amount to a crime. In both cases, brought in the past six months, law enforcement say the parents knowingly put their children at risk. Parents from Lebanon County are accused of putting their son to sleep on his stomach with a pillow in the crib (the mother told PennLive she put her son on his back, but that he had learned how to roll over). A mother from Luzerne County, meanwhile, was charged after police say she let her daughter sleep face down in a U-shaped pillow. Law enforcement argued in charging documents that the parents should have known better. They cited signed acknowledgements created as part of a 2010 law the state legislature passed to educate parents about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The law requires hospitals, birthing centers, and health care practitioners to provide educational materials, then ask the parents to certify they received them. The statement is voluntary, and there is a box noting if parents refused to sign. The lawmaker who championed the measure, former state Rep. Lawrence Curry (D., Montgomery), died in 2018. News reports from the time say the bill was written with input from two safe-sleep experts with Cribs for Kids, a Pittsburgh-based organization that seeks to prevent sleep-related deaths. Neither expert was available to comment, but other people dedicated to educating parents and preventing SIDS deaths oppose bringing criminal charges against grieving parents and note that there is no law against stomach sleeping. 'To charge them criminally is a crime, because they have already suffered the worst loss,' said Nancy Maruyama, the executive director of Sudden Infant Death Services of Illinois, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about safe-sleep practices and provides support to families who have experienced the loss of an infant. 'There's nothing else you could have done to me that would have caused any more pain than the payment I had,' said Maruyama, who lost her son in 1985. 'My heart's broken.' Safe-sleep experts stressed that these situations are not as cut and dried as a parent should have known better. They talked about potential contributing factors like the differences in time spent educating parents in the hospital, if someone a parent trusts tells them stomach sleeping is OK, and even images parents see online that show an infant sleeping on their stomach. The law 'says that families have to receive that education, but it doesn't say how that education is delivered, and it doesn't state how families' understanding or learning is evaluated,' said Devon George, chief programs officer at Cribs for Kids. (George was not involved in the drafting of the law.) Lebanon County parents charged for 3-month-old's death In Lebanon County, Gina and David Strause were charged in May with involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, and endangering the welfare of children after the death of their son Gavin. Gina Strause told PennLive she put her son on his back, but that he was able to roll over. She told the outlet she did not recall taking home safe-sleep instructions. In Luzerne County, Natalee Rasmus was charged in December with third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and endangering the welfare of children after her 1-month-old daughter, Avaya, died. Officers say they found the baby face down in a bassinet propped up on a U-shaped pillow linked to other infant deaths. 'Yeah, she wouldn't sleep, she'll just scream, so she has to be like propped up,' Rasmus, who was 17 at the time her daughter was born, told the investigating officer, according to the documents. Rasmus' public defender did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did the district attorneys in Lebanon and Luzerne Counties. Maruyama said it's her job to use evidence-based, peer-reviewed information to educate people with a baby about safe-sleep recommendations. 'But, you know, sometimes they're just so tired and they just want their child to sleep, and they know if they put them on their tummy, they'll sleep,' she said. In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics first recommended that infants sleep on their backs or sides. Four years later, the organization changed the recommendation to only back sleeping. Since then, SIDS rates have plummeted, although sleep-related deaths remain a leading cause of infant mortality. That's what prompted the 2010 law, which directed the Pennsylvania Department of Health to create and recommend safe-sleep materials. The 'information provided to parents must include risk factors associated with sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and advise them about safe sleep practices,' a department spokesperson told Spotlight PA. The agency provides a brochure that complies with Act 73 in hard copy and electronic format. That brochure is two pages long and repeats recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that babies should not sleep with others and should sleep on their backs in an uncluttered crib. The state also funds PA Safe Sleep, which provides birthing hospitals with services including patient education information and expert training, and safe-sleep education at the county level through children and youth agencies. George said it's important to question how hospitals are delivering information and evaluating what parents are learning. But the most important question about these situations, she said, should be: 'How are we helping families? How are we supporting families?' Of the 343 infant deaths reported in Pennsylvania in 2022 (the most recent year data is available), unsafe sleep factors were present in 68 cases, according to a state report. While education is crucial to drop the rates of these deaths, it is not enough on its own, said Michael Goodstein, a neonatologist at WellSpan hospital in York County. He is also the director of the county Cribs for Kids program and a member of an American Academy of Pediatrics subcommittee on sudden unexpected infant deaths. A parent who watches a video with their doctor and gets all their questions on safe sleep answered versus the parent who gets a handout will have a different level of understanding on the topic, Goodstein said. Like all experts who spoke to Spotlight PA, Goodstein said this is a complex issue that needs more attention, more awareness, and more research. 'It's really important to follow the safe-sleep recommendations,' Goodstein said. 'I'm not going to say it's easy to do. Babies get fussy and parents are sleep deprived, and at some point, they sometimes do things that might help the baby get back to sleep faster, so that they get some sleep, but in the end, is not a safe thing to do.' It's extremely rare for parents to be charged with a crime after their infants die sleeping on their stomachs, said Daniel Nevins, who has over 20 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney. Nevins said he couldn't name another case off the top of his head with similar facts. Spotlight PA identified a handful of criminal cases nationwide related to the deaths of infants sleeping in Boppy pillows, like the one police say Rasmus used. Charges have also been brought against parents who slept in the same bed as their child. In the recent Pennsylvania cases, Nevins said the burden of proof for prosecutors is high. To secure a conviction for involuntary manslaughter — which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison — prosecutors will have to prove that the parents acted dangerously or recklessly and that they should have known better. For third-degree murder — which can be punished with up to 40 years in prison — prosecutors do not have to prove that the death was intentional but do have to demonstrate malice. 'The commonwealth had better think long and hard about whether or not they have enough evidence to pursue these types of charges,' Nevins said. If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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5 days ago
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Township allegedly fleeced by its own employee sues Spotlight PA to block access to bond claim details
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at STATE COLLEGE — A small rural township has sued Spotlight PA to prevent disclosure of financial records as it seeks to recover through its insurer almost $533,000 in public money allegedly stolen by a former employee. This week, Gregg Township and the newsroom agreed to stay the case in Centre County court until the township's insurance company can make a determination. In November, Pennsylvania State Police accused Pamela Hackenburg of stealing more than half a million dollars from Gregg Township over five years and charged her with four felonies. The township then officially terminated Hackenburg, who had been on unpaid leave since last May. In December, Spotlight PA published an investigation into how the alleged theft had escaped detection by elected officials for years. That report was based in part on documents obtained through the state's open records law, including township credit card statements that showed numerous transactions with the sports betting company DraftKings. Hackenburg is awaiting criminal proceedings in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, but she has not entered a plea, according to the county prothonotary office. While the criminal case proceeds, Gregg Township hopes to recover the township funds she allegedly stole. Gregg Township holds a bond policy issued by Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, which covers liability on behalf of the former secretary with a limit of $700,000, according to a copy of the renewal certificate Spotlight PA previously obtained. According to minutes from an Oct. 10 meeting, Township Solicitor David Gaines 'said that he made it clear [to the insurance company] that the township needs the money.' During a public meeting in November, Gaines reported that the insurance company was finalizing its response, and it was unclear how much money the insurer might decide to pay out. Spotlight PA filed an open records request in December seeking communications between Gregg Township and Travelers Insurance Company, as well as any documents the township had submitted to support the claim. Gregg Township denied Spotlight PA's request related to the bond claim in late January, saying the requested materials were exempt from disclosure under the state Right-to-Know Law. The newsroom appealed the following month. In April, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, a quasi-judicial agency that adjudicates public records matters, gave a partial ruling. The office ordered the township to provide some financial records related to the bond investigation, but denied Spotlight PA's request to obtain the township's communications with its insurance company. In a filing to the Centre County Court of Common Pleas a week later, Gregg Township said the decision by the OOR 'was erroneous and violated relevant law.' Because the bond claim investigation is ongoing, 'among other concerns, the Township does not want to risk upsetting that process at the peril of the Township's bond claim,' the filing said. 'The Township is more than happy to divulge records once Travelers has finalized its review of the matter.' After being sued, Spotlight PA emailed Gaines and township supervisors to ask about the lawsuit and seek additional clarity on the insurance claim. Gaines asked the news outlet to ask questions during monthly public meetings and not over email. 'Last year, Gregg Township uncovered evidence indicating that one of its employees may have used Township funds as her own. The Township continues to investigate that matter, and the Township has provided routine reports to the community about the status of the investigation, most often through discussion at the supervisors' meetings,' Gaines wrote in an email to Spotlight PA. Josh Bonn, transparency attorney at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC, is representing Spotlight PA pro bono in this case. He said public access to government financial records, especially when there are allegations of misuse of public funds, is critical. 'The 1976 film All the President's Men popularized the catch phrase, 'follow the money,' as an effective means to root out public corruption,' he said in an email. Gregg Township and Spotlight PA entered into an agreement Wednesday to stay the proceedings in court, letting the dispute remain in place while the bond company makes its decision on the claim. The township said in its filing that Travelers is expected to render a decision in the next 30 to 60 days. and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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5 days ago
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Cyber charter reform that could save public schools $616M advances with unclear future in Pennsylvania Senate
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Public school districts in Pennsylvania could save more than $600 million annually under a bill that the state House passed Wednesday to cap the tuition they pay to cyber charters. The bill is part of a several-year effort to boost oversight and cut spending on cyber charter schools. At least some of its concepts have support in both chambers, but the issue has always been complicated by the commonwealth's tricky education politics. Democrats, who control the state House, have championed increased spending for poor public schools, while Republicans, who control the state Senate, favor funding alternatives including charter schools, though the issue doesn't break neatly down party lines. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R, Indiana) reflected that dynamic in a statement Wednesday, saying 'certain aspects' of the bill advanced by the state House 'could be beneficial.' That includes the measure's requirements that cyber schools do wellness checks on students and that public districts get proof of residency for students for whom they pay tuition. But, Pittman added, there needs to be recognition that the proposal would save school districts money, which he believes should count as the legislature giving public schools increased support as required by a 2022 court ruling. Democrats, meanwhile, are casting this issue as an administrative necessity. 'This bill is the result of repeated and urgent calls to update our commonwealth's outdated charter school law,' state Rep. Mary Isaacson (D., Philadelphia), the bill sponsor, said on the House floor Wednesday. 'This proposal is about fiscal responsibilities and aligning tuition to the actual cost.' The measure made it through the lower chamber 104-98, with two moderate Republicans voting in favor. It now goes to the state Senate Education Committee. Its chair, Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver (R., Columbia), said in a statement, 'We will thoroughly review the legislation as we do for all bills given to the committee.' Pennsylvania school districts must pay tuition for any students who live within their borders and opt to attend a charter school. These tuition rates are calculated based on the district's per-student spending using a formula that has changed little over the past several decades. Currently, the state uses nearly the same formula to fund online-only cyber charter schools as it does for brick-and-mortar charters, despite the former's relatively lower overhead costs. That would change under this bill. It would instead set a base tuition rate of $8,000 per student. That rate would be increased for students who have extra needs, such as disabilities. This mirrors a proposal that Gov. Josh Shapiro has made in his last two budgets, and of which Democrats have long been supportive. The measure would also make several other changes. A number focus on transparency, such as the wellness checks and residency requirements Pittman cited. Other provisions include requirements that cyber charters post annual performance assessments online and inform students if they are found to be low-performing, as well as an enrollment cap on cyber charters found to be low-performing. Cyber charters would also be required to disclose any 'entities' helping to finance their capital projects. Along with the flat tuition rate, there are also other financial components. By the end of this year, cyber charters would have to pay back a significant portion of their unspent surplus dollars from the 2024-25 fiscal year to the state. That money would go into a state fund for public schools' facility improvement projects, and would newly make charter schools eligible for those funds. The bill would additionally bar cyber charters from accumulating large surpluses in the future. Starting at the end of the next fiscal year — June 2026 — any surplus dollars in excess of 12% of the school's total expenditures that aren't earmarked would have to be sent back to public districts. Plus, it would require that any revenue cyber charters generate via property be paid back to the school districts they receive money from. According to the bill's fiscal note, lower cyber charter tuition payments would save districts an aggregate of $616 million, half of what they currently spend. Each district's specific savings would vary based on how many students they have enrolled in cyber charters. The shaky bipartisan agreement that Pennsylvania's cyber charter law needs to be updated didn't come out of nowhere. Cyber charter enrollment has risen significantly in recent years — by nearly 57% across the state since 2020, when the pandemic began pushing more families to explore the option. Nearly 60,000 Pennsylvania students now attend cyber charters, which means a growing number of school districts and lawmakers are affected. A review earlier this year from Republican Auditor General Tim DeFoor solidified members' opinion that something had to change. DeFoor audited five of the commonwealth's 14 cyber charters and found that the revenue they were taking in nearly doubled from 2020 to 2023, from $473 million to $898 million, and also that the schools' financial reserves had increased by nearly 150% in that period. In addition, he found cyber charters had been spending funds on 'unusual' things like gift cards and vehicle payments. Still, division remains. During the floor debate Wednesday, several Republicans slammed the bill as unfair to cyber charter schools. 'We still have some more work to do for our school districts complaining about equal funding. All they ask is to be treated the same, and I'm here to advocate for them,' said state Rep. Craig Williams (R., Chester). 'House Bill 1500 doesn't do that. House Bill 1500 puts us on a path to end cyber charters.' Cyber charter administrators and advocates are also uniformly against the measure. Marcus Hite, who heads the Pennsylvania Association of Public Cyber Charter Schools, called the $8,000 tuition cap 'arbitrary and unrealistic,' saying in a news release it 'doesn't reflect the real cost of educating students, especially those with disabilities or unique learning needs.' 'Cyber charters are already subject to some of the highest levels of oversight in the education system — audits, performance reviews, and public transparency,' he added. 'HB 1500 piles on duplicative and punitive rules.' In a joint statement, a group of administrators from five cyber charter schools said the bill would lead to closures. Jon Marsh of Philadelphia's Esperanza Cyber Charter School called it 'an attack on some of the most chronically disenfranchised and disadvantaged students in our Commonwealth.' Public education advocates support the measure. Susan Spicka of Education Voters of PA said it 'will save hundreds of millions of tax dollars annually and bring long-overdue accountability and transparency to Pennsylvania's billion dollar cyber charter industry.' The issue is heavily lobbied. Last year alone, Commonwealth Charter Academy, the state's biggest cyber charter, spent $202,500 on education-related lobbying. Other cyber charters typically spend at least tens of thousands of dollars annually. That doesn't touch the significant dollars that traditional brick-and-mortar charters and their advocates spend on lobbying. Public schools have their own lobbying presence, too. The Pennsylvania State Education Association, the union that represents teachers, spent nearly $178,000 on lobbying last year. If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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6 days ago
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Millions for public Wi-Fi, digital skills classes in Pa. cut as Trump targets ‘racist' broadband program
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. Pennsylvania will lose out on more than $35 million in federal funding to expand high-speed internet access after the Trump administration abruptly canceled two grant programs that were part of former President Joe Biden's push to bring broadband to everyone in the U.S. The move came shortly after President Donald Trump declared the underlying law 'racist' and 'wholly unconstitutional' in a social media post in early May. The funding was created by the Digital Equity Act, part of the sweeping infrastructure package that passed Congress with bipartisan support in 2021. The decision affects more than $2.5 billion in grants to states, as well as local governments, nonprofits, and universities. In many cases, grant awards had been recommended — but not finalized — when Biden left office. In Pennsylvania, the canceled funding includes more than $25 million for the state Broadband Development Authority and almost $12 million for the city of Philadelphia to teach digital skills and provide free, or low-cost, internet subscriptions. A grant to the Department of Human Services to help residents of 10 rural counties in northern Pennsylvania use telehealth services was also terminated. The department was informed of the cancellation on May 20, a spokesperson said. For groups that expected to receive grants, the news brought three years of planning to a halt overnight, said Drew Garner, director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. The news came as a 'punch in the stomach,' he said. Information about the grant programs, including news releases with lists of recommended awards, has been removed from the website of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees the broadband initiatives. NTIA did not respond to a request for comment. A variety of factors combine to keep internet access out of reach for some residents. In rural areas, a lack of infrastructure prevents the internet from being available at speeds that meet the federal government's definition of broadband. Under the largest broadband program created by the infrastructure law, Pennsylvania will receive $1.1 billion to connect every household and business in the state with high-speed internet. State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R., York), who sits on the state broadband authority's board, said that program — which is separate from the funding that was canceled — is her top priority. 'You can't even begin to have a conversation about equity when a good part of your state doesn't have any access to broadband at all,' she said. Another Republican board member, state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar of Somerset County, said the digital equity program 'had a lot of faults' and was 'moot' compared to the funding to build out broadband infrastructure. 'What's the point in teaching people how to use the internet if they don't have it to use?' But even where broadband is available, many people cannot afford to pay for it or they lack the necessary skills, knowledge, or devices to use it, concluded a state plan completed last year. The Digital Equity Act aimed to address these barriers. In a series of public meetings held by the broadband authority in 2023, attendees across Pennsylvania said they needed the kinds of services the digital equity funding aimed to provide. In Tioga County: 'a need for digital literacy programs.' In Dauphin County: 'a need for teaching how to use devices.' In Washington County: 'residents spoke about the issue of seniors falling for online scams and, in turn, being scared of hesitant to use the internet.' 'What experience has shown is that this is not a 'if you build it they will come' situation,' said Kate Rivera, executive director of the Technology Learning Collaborative, a Philadelphia nonprofit. 'Putting the infrastructure in place to make sure households have the option to connect to the internet is only the first step.' In its plan, Pennsylvania outlined its goals for spending the $25.5 million the state anticipated receiving: expanding public Wi-Fi, investing in classes to teach residents digital skills, and distributing free or low-cost laptops. Those aims are not controversial, said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, one of the groups whose anticipated funding was canceled by the Trump administration. But since the infrastructure bill became law in 2021, the word 'equity' has become highly politicized, she said. The day Trump took office, he signed an executive order to end diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the federal government, including 'equity-related' grants. In early May, Trump called the Digital Equity Act 'unconstitutional' in a post on his Truth Social media network, adding: 'No more woke handouts based on race!' The law aimed to help groups who face challenges accessing the internet, broadly defined. That includes racial and ethnic minorities, as well as older adults, low-income households, residents of rural areas, and veterans, among others. Almost 80% of Pennsylvanians fall into at least one of these categories, state documents show. Trump's decision to withhold the funding is legally precarious and likely to be challenged in court. The president does not have the legal authority to withhold funding that Congress has approved, said David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University. Lawsuits have been filed in similar cases where grants have been frozen, or revoked, but none has yet reached the point of a final ruling, he said. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has criticized the Trump administration for cutting off other federal funding for Pennsylvania and has joined lawsuits to challenge some of those decisions. A spokesperson for the Department of Community and Economic Development said that the state is 'currently evaluating the implications and any next steps' on the termination of the digital equity funding. The Digital Equity Act represented a historic federal investment in an area that had previously been funded in a piecemeal way, advocates said. With that money in jeopardy, there is no clear way for state or local government, or private philanthropy, to make up the shortfall. Even if the grants are ultimately restored, advocates said, the delays will cause major disruption and erode trust in the program among communities the funding was intended to help. The $1.1 billion in broadband funding that Pennsylvania expects under the larger program, meanwhile, is on hold pending a federal review. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has said NTIA is 'ripping out' the Biden administration's 'pointless requirements' and 'revamping' the program to take a 'tech-neutral approach.' The current rules prioritize broadband networks built using fiber optic cables. Fiber is generally more expensive than other technologies but offers the fastest internet speeds. Satellite connections, such as those offered by Elon Musk's Starlink, are cheaper to install, but slower and less reliable. In March, a top federal official overseeing the broadband program wrote in a resignation letter that the proposed changes could 'benefit technology that delivers slower speeds at higher costs to the household paying the bill.' Pennsylvania completed one round of grant applications in February and changes could cause the state to have to start over. In a budget hearing in February, DCED Secretary Rick Siger assured lawmakers the money allocated would cover every eligible location. If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
