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Constituent Stories Constituent Wins - FREE Notary Service Did you know that my Senate District Offices offer FREE notary service for our constituents? We’ve heard how expensive notary services can be, especially for documents that require multiple signatures. Three members of my staff hold Pennsylvania notary public licenses and have helped over 75 constituents notarize documents so far this year. Don’t pay for a service that your legislator’s office provides free of charge! Our licensed notaries can notarize various documents, including:
Call 412-364-0469 (Ross) or 724-224-2131 (Natrona Heights) to book your appointment. Let us know what documents you have and if they require additional witnesses. *Please note: our office is unable to notarize PennDOT vehicle title transfers.
Upcoming Events 2025 Hampton Community Day Summer is in full swing, and we’re excited about attending Hampton’s Community Day on Thursday, July 3rd! We’re looking forward to enjoying some fireworks, bands, yummy food, kid’s activities, and more! Stop by and say hi to our staff and Senator Williams! Monthly
Office Hours at the Kingsley Association Due to the 4th of July holiday, my office will hold our regular monthly office hours at the Kingsley Association on Friday, July 11, from 9am - 1pm. We will return to our first Friday of each month schedule on Friday, August 1, 2025. Please stop by to access all of the services that our Ross and Natrona Heights District Offices provide! Free notary service is also available. Please contact our office if you need to schedule a notary appointment at Kingsley or in one of our District Offices:
FREE Paper Shredding Event Need to safely dispose of documents this summer? Join Rep. Lindsey Powell and me at our FREE paper shredding event on July 12th! You can get rid of clutter and protect your personal information at the same time! Each car will be limited to two file-size boxes. Drivers are asked to remain in their cars and open their trunk. Our office staff will unload documents from cars and the materials will be immediately shredded on-site. Bags and boxes will be returned to the car after they are emptied. All you have to do is drive through and we will handle the rest! To avoid traffic issues, participants are requested to arrive NO EARLIER than 30 minutes prior to the start of the event.
FREE Paper Shredding Event Can’t make the July 12th Shredding Event? Don’t worry. We’ll be at the Ross Township DPW for another free shredding event on Saturday, July 26th with Rep. Emily Kinkead from 9-11am. Look for more information coming soon. Good News Support Public Transit Funding Transit funding is a lifeline for people across the state, not just for large fixed-route systems like PRT and SEPTA. We need Transit for All PA!, which will provide reliable, increased funding for programs across the state like ACCESS, FreedomTransit, and ATA, which provide services for seniors and individuals with disabilities, allowing them to live independently. With the 35% service cuts in the 2025-26 PRT budget, the entire North Hills is poised to lose ACCESS service and every route within Senate District 38 will be significantly impacted or cut. Public transit is a lifeline for seniors, people with disabilities, and students. It is an investment in our economy. We cannot pass a budget without it. Evolve Coaching Inclusion Center in Garfield Breaks Ground! I toured the future site of the Evolve Coaching Inclusion Center last July with Heather Conroy, Evolve’s Co-Founder and Executive Director. We needed lanterns to explore the space last year, so it was wonderful to return this year to break ground on this incredible community space! I’ve thought a lot about “third spaces” recently, and how important it is to have somewhere to meet, share a meal, and spent time in and with your community. The Inclusion Center is going to be an incredible third space. It will give members of the neurodiverse community a place to learn, grow, and dream together. I am incredibly proud to have supported Evolve in receiving Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RCAP) funding from the state, which is an extremely competitive grant program for projects that have a regional impact and generate economic activity. The new Inclusion Center is the very best example of meeting those guidelines. I can’t wait to be back for their grand opening! Ambassador of School Safety Award It was my honor to receive the Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers - PASRO Ambassador of School Safety Award this week. Pennsylvania's students are constitutionally entitled to well-resourced, thorough, and efficient public schools. But more than that, students and educators deserve to go to a school every day where they feel safe and supported. That's why I support predictable, sustainable state funding that ensures that our students have a building full of caring adults along the entire spectrum of school safety-- mental and physical health, food security, education, transportation, and more. And that includes grant funding that is transparent, non-competitive, and flexible enough for schools for their specific needs. Thank you again to PASRO and all of its members-- I look forward to continuing to work for public schools that are safe and supportive for everyone in them! Medicaid Funding is in Jeopardy I was proud to speak out against federal cuts to Medicaid with fellow legislators at East Liberty Family Health Care Center in June. This week the Federal budget passed the Senate and is headed back to the House for their approval. The drastic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other programs like Pell Grants made by this Ugly Billionaire Bill will have an enormous impact on everyone, not just people who directly benefit from these services. Medicaid allows people to stay in their homes after a fall, helps children with Autism receive services, and provides extra healthcare to seniors so they can afford their medications. These are our friends, our family, and our neighbors. We are all one trip and fall, one illness, one bad day away from needing that safety net. Even if you are extremely fortunate and never need Medicaid yourself, when people lose their healthcare coverage and can no longer afford routine medical care, they end up relying on emergency rooms. These costs of uncovered care won’t be absorbed by medical providers—they will be passed on to every single one of us through our insurance premiums. These cuts to Medicaid and other programs are an enormous disinvestment in the people of Pennsylvania—in our health, wellbeing, and our future. Contact your Congressperson and ask them to protect Medicaid funding. You can find your federal representative at: https://www.govtrack.us/.
Legislative Update School Meals for All Last week in Harrisburg, I joined the School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania, Senator Judy Schwank, and Rep. Emily Kinkead to advocate for including School Meals for All in this upcoming budget. Universal School Breakfasts have been an incredible success for our kids. We want to build on that success and expand the program to include lunch, so that every student across the state has access to two nutritional meals a day. 1 in 8 Pennsylvania students faces food insecurity. And because the federal budget is attempting to codify childhood hunger by putting school meals and food security programs at risk, state programs like Universal School Meals are even more important. I believe that our role in government is to make life just a little bit better, a little bit easier for working families, for parents, and for our students and teachers. And that means making sure that they are safe, fed, and ready to learn every single day with school meals for all. News You Can Use Property Tax/Rent Rebate Payments Start July 1st! Exciting news! Property Tax/Rent Rebates will start hitting mailboxes and accounts this week! If you haven't received your rebate by July 15th, give us a call at 412-364-0469 (Ross) or 724-224-2131 (Natrona Heights) and we'll look into it for you. SNAP Recipients Can Double Their Dollars at Farmers Markets! Heading to a farmers market this summer? You or someone you know could benefit from Just Harvest’s Fresh Access and Food Bucks/SNAP Match programs! The Fresh Access Program - 15 locations: Just Harvest’s Fresh Access program enables shoppers to use their SNAP/SUN Bucks/EBT cards (food stamps) – as well as credit and debit cards – to buy fresh, nutritious, and locally-produced food at 15 participating farmers markets. Food Bucks tokens give food stamp shoppers an extra $2.00 to spend on fruits and veggies for every $5.00 they spend. Look for the red Fresh Access tent to get your Food Bucks tokens, which never expire. Tokens must be used at a participating farmers market on items that are SNAP/EBT eligible like fresh produce, meats, dairy products, jams, etc. SNAP Match Program - 8 locations: SNAP Match is available at 8 of the Fresh Access farmers markets. The SNAP Match program is back this year thanks to a grant from the City of Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund. For every $5 spent, SNAP EBT card holders receive $2 Food Bucks coupons for just fruits and vegetables and $3 in SNAP tokens to be used on any food item. SNAP shoppers must go to the red Fresh Access tent to receive their coupons and tokens.
For more information go to: Fresh Access: Farm-fresh, healthy food for all - Just Harvest. Applications for SFMNP Available A reminder that if you missed last week’s Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) voucher distribution and are eligible, you may complete and mail an application. Applications will be accepted until September 15th or until voucher supply runs out. Vouchers will be mailed directly to you and the applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Program guidelines and information can be found here: Allegheny County Senior Farmer's Market Nutrition Program. Download the form here: SFMNP Application. Signed and completed applications should be mailed to: Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging If you need assistance with getting an application or you have questions about the program, please contact my office at 412-364-0469 or 724-224-2131. SUN Bucks are Back for 2025! Summer is a time when many children may not have access to the free and reduced-price meals they get during the school year. Fortunately, the SUN Bucks program, Pennsylvania’s Summer EBT program, provides households with a one-time payment of $120 in mid-July for each eligible child to buy food while school is out. Benefits can be used at local participating retailers or farmers markets to purchase groceries! Many children will receive this benefit automatically but there are a few families that will need to apply. Generally, if your child receives free or reduced-price meals, SNAP, TANF, or is on Medicaid (with qualifying income) you will receive SUN Bucks automatically on your child’s EBT card. To check your child’s eligibility and whether you need to apply go to: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dhs/resources/summer-ebt.html. Take the Quick PA Women’s Healthcare Survey - Due July 7th! The Pennsylvania Insurance Department wants to hear from you! Share your experiences with women’s healthcare in Pennsylvania by taking their quick, anonymous survey at https://www.pa.gov/womenshealth. It should take 10 minutes or less. FREE Allegheny County Summer Concerts in the Park Looking for how to spend your summer evenings without spending a dime? Check out the FREE concerts at this summer’s 2025 Allegheny County Summer Concert Series. The series kicked off June 1 and runs every weekend throughout the summer. These open-air concerts are performed at Allegheny County’s two biggest parks: South Park and Hartwood Acres in Senate District 38. The lineup is bursting with national and local award-winning talent. All you need is a picnic basket or food truck money and a blanket or chair, and you are set! Performances start at 6:00 pm and take place rain or shine. Remaining summer shows at Hartwood Acres include:
West View Hub’s Free Pittsburgh Staycation for Kids The West View Hub is taking a Pittsburgh Staycation this summer, and all kids entering grades K-6 are invited for FREE! This program lets kids travel virtually all over this amazing city to learn about its history and all it has to offer. Kids can drop in Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays from 10:15-11:30 AM. This program started June 10 and runs through August 7. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have by phone at 412-364-0469 (Ross Office), 724-224-2131 (Harrison Office) or by email at [email protected]. My staff will return your call/email within 24 hours (Monday-Friday). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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