The state budget invests $282 million into nursing homes and long-term care facilities
More money for education, health departments, nursing homes, child welfare services and to continue an emergency rental and utility assistance program are bright spots in Pennsylvania s new state budget, Erie-area officials say.
So are provisions that give municipalities more flexibility when applying for grants for transportation projects.
But lawmakers also kept flat investments in mental health which has been a growing problem throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and they squirreled away much of the state s allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan.
Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, D-3rd Dist., Millcreek Township, the chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee, said there were a lot of missed opportunities, like making an investment in broadband expansion, but that the budget could have been worse.
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Allen Lomax has experienced the anguish and precariousness that comes with being homeless.
That s one reason why Lomax understands the importance of local officials efforts to regularly tabulate the region’s homeless population, even if the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has altered that plan for 2021 in Erie County and nationwide.
“Counting during this time is important to find out what the homeless are doing and where they are staying at a critical time,” said Lomax, 54, who was homeless for two years after losing his home in 2008.
Lomax helped reset his life with help from the Upper Room daytime homeless shelter, located on the second floor of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, 1024 Peach St. He is now on staff as the shelter’s front-desk manager.