senator vogel

HARRISBURG – The Senate approved a $45.2 billion General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-23 that meets the needs of Pennsylvanians today without creating multi-billion-dollar budget deficits in the future, according to Sen. Elder Vogel (R-47), who voted for the measure. Senate Bill 1100 now goes to the governor’s desk for enactment into law. The $45.2 billion budget, which also includes federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, represents a 2.9% increase over the previous year’s spending – and $500 million less than Gov. Tom Wolf’s original budget request. The budget agreement does not include any broad-based tax increases and…

HARRISBURG – The Commonwealth Financing Authority has awarded $2.5 million in grants to four projects located in Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties, according to Sen. Elder Vogel (R-47). Three of the grants were awarded through the Multimodal Transportation Fund Program: A $1 million grant for the City of New Castle, Lawrence County, to make roadway, sidewalk and trail improvements within the Enterprise Park section of New Castle, with all the planned work focused on making Enterprise Park safer and more accessible. Betters Real Estate Holdings L.P. has received a $1 million grant for the installation of rail lines at a…

Harrisburg – In an effort to crack down on deceptive and nuisance telephone calls, the Senate today approved a bill banning the practice of caller ID “spoofing,” according to Senator Elder Vogel (R-47) who supported the bill. Senate Bill 236 is designed to protect citizens from misleading telemarketing “robocalls,” particularly those that disguise their real phone number by making it look like a local number, increasing the likelihood that the call will be answered. The computerized telemarketing messages can be intrusive, and can also prey on trusting Pennsylvanians, including vulnerable senior citizens because the calls come across the Caller ID…