The 2026-27 state budget invests $125 million for school infrastructure improvements — including $100 million for the Public School Facility Grant Program.
The Department of Community and Economic Development will accept applications from July 27 through Aug. 7.
Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger this week announced the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) has expanded the application window for the Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program to help Pennsylvania public school districts and area career and technical schools implement improvements to school facilities and infrastructure.
The Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program was created as part of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s enacted 2023-24 budget — investing a total of $174,999,997 million in schools across Pennsylvania over the past four years.
“Improvements to our education infrastructure and facilities create safer and healthier learning environments for our students and educators,” Siger said. “The Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program gives school districts the flexibility and resources to make important updates and repairs that they may not be able to complete otherwise. This funding ensures Pennsylvania’s students continue to receive a world-class education.”
Shapiro secured $125 million for school infrastructure improvements in the bipartisan 2026-27 budget to create safe and healthy learning environments. This funding includes $100 million for the Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program. Pennsylvania has secured $525 million since 2023 for school infrastructure improvements to create safe, healthy learning environments.
“Pennsylvania students cannot learn, grow, and thrive without access to safe and healthy school facilities,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe. “These investments in Pennsylvania schools reflect the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to improving the environments where children learn, and teachers teach, and we look forward to working with schools across the Commonwealth to make the best use of these dollars.”
The Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program, approved and administered by the CFA, provides grants of up to $5 million to public school districts and career and technical schools for critical safety and environmental repair projects — ensuring facilities are modern, safe, healthy, and conducive to learning.
DMVA urges veterans to seek support
The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) offers financial assistance to veterans who are facing an unexpected financial hardship.
The Veterans Temporary Assistance (VTA) program provides eligible Pennsylvania veterans and their surviving dependents with financial relief for necessities of life such as food, shelter, fuel, and clothing.
“No veteran should have to navigate financial hardship without support,” said Maj. Gen. John Pippy, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the DMVA. “The Veterans Temporary Assistance Program is designed to help eligible veterans and their families through challenging times. If you need assistance, we encourage you to contact us and learn about the resources available. Providing this support is one way we can recognize and thank veterans for their service to our country.”
Since the inception of the VTA, DMVA has awarded more than $8.6 million to assist over 9,650 service members, veterans, and their families with emergent financial needs.
Eligible veterans or their survivors can qualify for an amount not to exceed $1,600 in a 12-month period. To be eligible, a veteran must have served a period of active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and received a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable.
A veteran who suffered a service-connected disability, regardless of the length or status of their service, is also eligible, as well as the surviving dependents of an eligible veteran and the surviving dependents of a service member who died in line of duty or was killed in action.
To apply, eligible veterans should contact the County Veterans Affairs Directors in the county in which they reside.
Learn about the DMVA by visiting www.dmva.pa.gov.
Deluzio launches ‘Build America Plan
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pittsburgh, this week announced his new “Build America Plan” to re-industrialize America and grow solid manufacturing jobs. Congressman Deluzio’s plan rejects the era of half-measures and piecemeal tax credits.
Instead, it lays out a real industrial strategy to rebuild American manufacturing, invest in skilled workers, and make foreign polluters pay instead of letting them undercut cleaner, American-made products.
Deluzio said this industrial policy plan follows the Trump Administration’s announcement of additional tariffs on trade partners, including Canada, and analysis showing that the last six years of President Trump’s signature United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) saw a net loss in United States manufacturing jobs and failed to rebalance our North American trade deficit.
Deluzio believes it is time for America to build big things again — and that means investing in a strong 21st-century industrial policy that can herald in a new era of booming American manufacturing.
“For too long, we’ve seen factories close, jobs shipped overseas, and entire American communities hollowed out alongside rising costs,” Deluzio said. “The United States used to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world — and I think it can be again if we stop letting our economic foes undercut us, fighting fire with fire, and make real investments in our workers. I want the next generation to know and inherit an America that builds and creates amazing things.”
The Build America Plan three bills.
•Build America Fund creates a Manufacturing Sovereign Wealth Fund to make direct investments and take equity stakes in American manufacturing companies to bolster domestic manufacturing. This would allow the nation to keep up with our global economic competitors that subsidize their domestic industry.
• Pathway to Trades Act brings the trades back into the classroom by tying federal dollars to career and technical education. Expands opportunities for America’s young people beyond four-year college programs
• The Fighting Foreign Polluters Act puts a fee on foreign polluters flooding our markets with their high-emission products and dirtying our air and waters. Specifies which goods are subject to this fee. Includes an incentive structure for domestic manufacturing.
Bill to improve broadband mapping process
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD), and U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) this week introduced the Broadband Mapping Accurate Providers (MAP) Act of 2026 — bipartisan legislation that directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to evaluate and improve its broadband mapping process.
The senators said the FCC has made significant strides in enhancing the accuracy of its National Broadband Map, but providers have reported difficulties with the FCC’s challenge process, which allows providers to dispute the serviceability of certain locations. They said the Broadband MAP Act of 2026 would instruct the FCC to review and assess its mapping and challenge procedures.
“Broadband internet is a necessity, especially for our rural communities. The first step we can take to ensure families have internet access across Pennsylvania and the country is figuring out who still doesn’t,” Fetterman said.
“Broadband providers who are on the ground in South Dakota and across rural America have vital, firsthand knowledge of the communities they serve,” Thune said.
“We need a better understanding of where internet connectivity falls short, especially in rural America,” Fischer said.
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Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on X @TLBillOBoyle.
