Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Salisbury bill to help smaller community groups get security grants advances from committee

Salisbury bill to help smaller community groups get security grants advances from committee

Measure to remove match for lower-income groups now heads to the full House

Rep. Abigail Salisbury    September 30, 2026 | 12:07 PM

HARRISBURG, Sept. 30 – The Pennsylvania House Finance Committee today unanimously approved state Rep. Abigail Salisbury’s bill that would make it easier for lower-income houses of worship and other smaller nonprofit groups to obtain security funding.

Salisbury’s H.B. 2639 would remove the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund’s 33% match requirement for grants ranging from $25,000 to $75,000 if a nonprofit’s annual revenue is less than $250,000.

“For houses of worship and other community groups, nothing is more important than ensuring members are safe on the premises,” Salisbury said. “Unfortunately, many smaller groups struggle to meet the dollar match required to obtain funding under our state security grant program. We saw this happen after the attempted shooting at Jesus’ Dwelling Place in North Braddock. Like many smaller groups whose outreach is limited to the immediate community, the church struggled to raise the required 33% match. It took them a year and a half to raise the match and secure a line of credit for the cost-reimbursable $75,000 grant.

“The size of a group’s operating budget should never determine its ability to protect members. My bill would lift the 33% match requirement for grants ranging from $25,000 to $75,000 if a nonprofit’s annual revenue is less than $250,000, to ensure everyone has the protection they deserve.”

The bill now heads to the full House for consideration.

At a committee hearing on the bill earlier this year, Salisbury and two community religious leaders, including Jesus’ Dwelling Place Pastor Glenn Germany, testified about their difficulties raising match funding under the state’s security grant program.