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Upcoming Events
Monthly
Office Hours at the Kingsley Center
Friday, April 7, 2023 from 10:00
AM - 3:00 PM
My office will be hosting monthly
office hours on the first Friday of every month at the Kingsley Center
beginning on April 7! Stop by and say hello to our staff between 10:00
AM - 3:00 PM and get access to all of the services that our District
Office provides.
Spring
Senior Fair
Thursday, April 20, 2023, 10:00 AM - 12:00
PM
Come meet Senator Lindsey Williams and her
staff at our Senior Resource Fair at the Mt.
Ararat Community Center in Highland Park on Thursday, April
20th from 10 am - 12 pm! This FREE event includes health screenings,
information for seniors and caregivers, light refreshments, and much
more! Staff from our office will also be available to process Port
Authority Senior ConnectCards and help with Pennsylvania Treasury
Unclaimed Property searches.
Good News
North Hills
Community Outreach
I had the pleasure of
meeting with North
Hills Community Outreach Executive Director Tom Baker,
Director of Programs & Services Jacqlyn Boggs, and Director of
Development & Communications Lizzy Zimmerman last week. We were
briefed on the numerous services that NHCO offers residents - like
their food pantry, transportation assistance, and free tax
preparation. Check out events they have coming up, like the annual Neighborhood
Block Party on May 13!
Lawrenceville Tour
We’re out and about exploring the new portions of District
38! In the past week, we’ve met with municipal leaders from
Sharpsburg and with members of the Lawrenceville United and
Lawrenceville Corporation. We also had the chance to take a (chilly)
walking tour of Lawrencville, including stops at Caffe
d’Amore Coffee Company, the tree park, and the Duncan Park
Community Garden.
Clean Slate
& Expungement Clinic Event
On Tuesday
evening, we partnered with the Allegheny County Bar Foundation Pro
Bono Center and the Duquesne Law School Tribone Center for Clinical
Legal Education to hold a Clean Slate & Expungement Clinic. This
event helped individuals with past criminal records examine how they
could potentially get these records expunged or removed from their
record so that they can move forward with their lives and have a fresh
start, whether that’s with employment, education, or any other
area in their lives.
This event was incredibly helpful for the
attendees who got to meet 1 on 1 with volunteers who looked at their
individual situations and gave tailored advice. If you weren’t
able to make the event or have questions about your situation,
we’re happy to put you in touch with the Pro Bono Center!
Legislative News
Sunshine Week
It’s Sunshine Week! Sunshine Week started back in 2005 by the
American Society of News Editors as a national celebration of access
to public information, open government, and eliminating unnecessary
secrecy.
Since I took office in 2019, government transparency
and accountability—the very ideals of Sunshine Week—have
been a top priority for me. That’s why I don’t take a per
diem or a government car. Instead, I submit receipts to justify
expenses that I’m reimbursed for.
Every month, my staff
goes through my expense reports and enters them into an easily
searchable spreadsheet that is posted on my website,
along with PDFs of the expenses that I have authorization over. The
link to these expenses is right at the top of my website and easy to
find.
I do all of this because data that you can’t find,
or data with no context isn’t useful data. If you can’t
compare spending between members or year-to-year because the data is
in unsearchable PDFs, that isn’t very useful. And if you
can’t find spending records even when they are online, that
really isn’t useful. Finding out how your legislators spend your
tax dollars shouldn’t be an internet scavenger hunt. It
shouldn’t be a Right to Know request. It should be simple and
straightforward.
And it should be codified into law, so it
isn’t up to the whim of one lawmaker. That’s why
I’ve introduced legislation again this Session that would
simplify and streamline the process of posting all House and Senate
expenses online by their respective Offices of the Chief Clerk. This
includes all per diems, state vehicle usage, and reimbursements, as
well as all office, travel and other expenses that come out of both
legislators’ and caucuses’ operating accounts.
The
dollars we spend as legislators come from taxpayers– and
taxpayers deserve transparency in knowing how their money is
spent.
It’s time to pull back the curtains and let the
sunshine in.
Budget
Season
Budget Hearings kick off next week! You
can watch hearings live or archived on my website at
SenatorLindseyWilliams.com/budget. Next week’s schedule is as
follows:
Monday, March 20,
2023
9:30 am – Department of Revenue
1:00
pm – Independent Fiscal Office
Tuesday, March
21, 2023
9:30 am – Department of Conservation
& Natural Resources
1:00 pm – State Treasurer
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
9:30 am –
Department of Environmental Protection
1:00 pm – Auditor
General
Thursday, March 23, 2023
9:30
am – Department of Transportation
1:00 pm – Office of
Attorney General
North Hills
Community Outreach Personal Care Collection
Did you know the average household spends approximately $60 on
personal care products every month? While deodorant and razors may
seem commonplace, they are a luxury for the many families NHCO serves.
Your donations help families restock these much-needed items!
Donations can be dropped off at any NHCO offices Monday-Friday
9am-4pm, or sent directly by ordering through their Amazon
Wishlist. For more information call NHCO at 412-487-6316 opt. 1 x
3143.
Spring
Community Wellness Initiative Classes at the Kingsley
Association
The
Community Wellness Initiative (CWI) of Pittsburgh is a new
organization that works to improve the overall health of communities
with classes on fitness, nutrition, and finances. All classes are held
at the Kingsley Association in Larimer and registration for their
Spring Courses is now available. Sign up today at Home
| Community Wellness I (yourcwi.org) or call
724-882-4489!
Tick and
Lyme Disease Awareness Art Contest!
The
Shapiro Administration is inviting first through sixth grade students
in Pennsylvania to enter the 2023 Lyme Art Contest by creating a video
or poster focusing on the theme: “How to Prevent a Tick
Bite.”
The contest is designed to help students learn
how to prevent Lyme disease by educating them about ticks, including
where they live, how to prevent bites, and how to remove ticks that do
bite. The deadline for entries to be received is 5:00 PM, March 17,
2023.
Contest information can be found on the Department of
Health’s website here.
Spring
Litter Clean Up Events in D38
Spring is in the
air and D38 communities are gearing up to clean up! We want to help
get the word out to volunteers and are compiling a list of all the
clean up events we can find in the area. If you have an event to add
to our list, email us at [email protected] or
call us at 412-364-0469 (Ross) or 724-224-2131 (Harrison). Every
“litter” bit helps!
Second
Chance Prom
Pittsburgh
North Regional Chamber is hosting a Second Chance Prom on
Friday, March 31! Whether you missed your prom, want a prom do-over,
or just want to repeat the fun of last time, this is a party you don't
want to miss.
For ticket prices, details and
registration click here.
Big 33 Game
Players Named!
Congratulations to the
players from District 38 named to this year's Big 33 Game!
Abdullah Daud, North
Allegheny School District
Max Heckert, Pine-Richland
School District
Isaiah Kerns, Pine
Richland Football
Campbell Melzer, North
Allegheny Football
Sincere Smith, Pittsburgh
Westinghouse Academy 6-12
Good luck against Maryland!
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).
Senator Lindsey Williams
