Building a budget; celebrating student talent; connecting veterans; reverse mortgage bill – and more!

Rep. Arvind Venkat July 18, 2025 | 12:22 PM

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State budget update – and other House news

Earlier this week, I joined my House colleagues as we passed a spending plan for the state budget. Negotiating any kind of spending plan requires compromise, and our bill does that by trimming nearly $1 billion from the Governor’s proposed plan. Our bill would continue critical investments in public education, Medicaid, and public transit – without adding any new taxes.

Coupled with this basic budget bill, we have previously passed enabling legislation that would reform how cyber charters operate, fund public transportation and road and bridge repairs, legalize cannabis in a responsible manner, raise the minimum wage, and allocate funding for other essential services and programs to reflect the needs of our Commonwealth.

As I have promised our community, any final vote I cast would be conditioned on a plan that spends prudently, holds the line on taxes, provides the resources our public school students need, and ensures that Medicaid and affordable health care options remain available to residents. I’ll keep you updated as we continue to move toward a final plan.

In other House votes this week, we passed legislation that would:

Help address the teacher shortage by updating PA’s teacher certification levels to make it easier to fill open positions.
Better educate consumers about reverse mortgage loans.
Raise awareness about the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline.
Add union members to the state university system board.

Visit this page to read more about these bills and other news from the House.

Celebrating student talent

Congratulations to the North Allegheny Tigers, who captured the Trib Cup championship in Class 6A, WPIAL’s largest classification, for the 22nd year in a row! Visit this page to read more.

Kudos also go to North Allegheny Junior Sidney Rice, who received honors at the National FCCLA Leadership Conference for her project, “Wedding Dress.” You can read more here.

Around the district

Our community is fortunate to have so many civic-minded groups that work hard to enhance quality of life for residents. I recently met with leaders from North Hills Community Outreach (above left) to discuss ways our office can help them in their charitable work and with members of the Pennsylvania Resources Council (above right) to discuss how we can prevent waste and be better stewards of the environment.

I was honored to join members of Pittsburgh’s Indian community to welcome Mr. Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, Consul General of India in New York, to our region. As the first Indian American State Representative in Pennsylvania history, I’m proud to help strengthen the vital ties our Commonwealth and nation share with India.

Congratulations to the new Bishop of Pittsburgh, Mark Eckman, on his installation as the 13th Bishop of Pittsburgh! While I was not able to attend due to being in Harrisburg, I was honored to have a member of my staff join the installation mass as a representative of my office and our community.

A resource to help veterans connect

Restore 22 – a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans connect with one other and with life-enhancing resources – hosts a pop-up coffee shop at Christ Church at Grove Farm, 249 Duff Road in Sewickley, on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Visit this page to learn more.

Legal aid groups need your input

Neighborhood Legal Services and Summit Legal Aid are conducting a Legal Needs Assessment to better understand the most urgent civil legal challenges in our region. If you have ever tried to get help from legal aid, please consider taking the quick, anonymous survey at this page.

PHMC Cultural & Historical Support Grants open
through Aug. 22

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission has opened applications for its 2025 Cultural and Historical Support Grants, aimed at strengthening museums and historical societies across the state. Eligible museums and county historical societies should apply by Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, at midnight.

You can learn more about the PHMC grants here and find a full list of the latest state grant program openings here.

Finally, please remember that my talented staff can help with a wide variety of state-related matters, including obtaining a disability placard or Senior Citizen ConnectCard, filing applications for state programs, and resolving questions and problems involving state agencies. Contact us or stop by to see how we can help!