PA State Rep. Jason Ortitay

It’s game day for South Fayette Township School District!

South Fayette Girls HS LAX will play Wyomissing at Wyomissing High School at 4 p.m. in the first round of the PIAA Class AA Girls Lacross Championship.

South Fayette Boys High School Lacrosse team will take on Cathedral Prep at Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie at 4 p.m. in the first round of the PIAA Class AA Boys Lacrosse Championship.

Its volleyball team will play Central at Central High School in Martinsburg at 6 p.m.in the first round of the PIAA Class AA Volleyball Championship.

GO LIONS!

This morning, Sarris Candies opened its new factory store at 135 Meadow Lane, Canonsburg. The location is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Visitors can shop for their favorite chocolates, seasonal treats, gifts and more. In addition, factory tour bookings are officially live and can be booked for dates starting on Monday, July 6. Head to SarrisCandies.com to secure your spot to get an up-close look at the production of Sarris’ sweet treats.

The candy store and ice cream parlor are still located at 511 Adam Ave., Canonsburg. The hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

It’s great to see this Canonsburg fixture growing!

Today, Chartiers-Houston Varsity Softball, Fort Cherry Baseball and South Fayette Baseball play in the first round of the PIAA playoffs in their respective divisions.

Chartiers-Houston plays Bellwood-Antis at 4 p.m. at Mount Aloysius College.

Fort Cherry takes on Everett at 2 p.m. at Everett High School.

South Fayette Township plays Hollidaysburg at 4 p.m. at Hollidaysburg Area High School.

Good luck to all three teams!

It was an honor this evening to join Rep. Tim O’Neal in presenting a House citation to Canon-McMillan School District wrestler Marlee Solomon for her PIAA Girls Wrestling state title she won in March.

Marlee captured gold in the 118-pound weight class via tech fall. Last year, she won the state title in the 112-pound weight class.

Congratulations!

I am proud to highlight a true champion for kids in our community!

Chartiers-Houston School District School Board President Laurie Popeck was recently featured in a PA School Boards Association “Perspectives” column, and everything she said is exactly what you’d expect from someone who leads with her heart.

She talks about building real relationships with legislators, bringing them into schools for authentic experiences, not just formal meetings, and keeping students at the center of every conversation.

She also mentions something close to home. The Trevor Popeck Foundation, created by her son, a CH alumnus, to help families with eye-related medical expenses. That’s the kind of community spirit that makes our area special.

If you want to know what great school board leadership looks like, read this interview. Laurie gets it. Advocacy isn’t about memorizing policy. It’s about showing up, building trust and speaking authentically for your kids and your community.

𝐎𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐲, 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐬𝐲𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐰

𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙 2541 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑜 $150 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑜 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡

HARRISBURG – Rep. Jason Ortitay (R-Washington/Allegheny) and Rep. Justin Fleming (D-Dauphin) today introduced House Bill 2541, the Keystone Literacy Investment Tax Credit, a bipartisan plan to fund the implementation of Pennsylvania’s landmark structured literacy law without raising taxes or adding new spending to the state budget.

“The hard part is done,” Ortitay said. “Last November we passed one of the most significant education reforms in Pennsylvania in years. Now we have to give schools the tools to actually make it happen.”

House Bill 2541 uses a financing model Pennsylvania already uses for economic development. The state would authorize the sale of up to $150 million in insurance premium tax credits to qualified insurance companies through a competitive bidding process. The upfront capital raised would go directly into a dedicated fund, which is continuously appropriated to the Pennsylvania Department of Education to award grants to school districts for evidence-based reading instruction.

The credits are not usable until 2029, are capped at $50 million per year and expire after 2034, meaning there is zero impact on this year’s state budget.

“This is how you finish the job,” Ortitay added. “We already made the decision to fix how Pennsylvania kids learn to read. This gives schools the resources to actually do it. Long-term return on kids who can read is one of the best investments government can make.”

Fleming said the bill reflects what both parties should be able to agree on.

“Making sure our kids know how to read well is a bipartisan issue, as reading is the foundation of every other subject in school from word problems in math to history and science,” Fleming said. “This is a smart, fiscally responsible way to make sure the reform we passed last year actually works. I’m proud to join Rep. Ortitay in getting this done.”

“Gov. Shapiro ran on a platform of getting things done,” Ortitay said. “This bill is exactly that. The law is passed. The framework is in place. The only thing missing is the money. House Bill 2541 provides it in a way that is fiscally responsible, bipartisan and ready to move.”

Ortitay said he hopes the bill will be included in this year’s budget negotiations.

The 46th Legislative District includes South Fayette Township and McDonald and Oakdale boroughs in Allegheny County. It also encompasses Cecil, Chartiers, Mt. Pleasant and North Strabane (Districts 6,7,8 and 9) townships and Canonsburg, Houston and McDonald boroughs in Washington County.

The 105th Legislative District includes Susquehanna and most of Lower Paxton townships and Penbrook Borough.
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Watch live!

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will host the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s (PGC) banding of the 2025 Rachel Carson State Office Building peregrine falcon nestlings on Thursday, May 28, at 10 a.m.

The event will be livestreamed on the DEP page at https://www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDEP and on PAcast at https://pacast.com/live/dep.

Patti Barber, Endangered Bird Specialist with PGC, will lead the team in bringing the nestlings in from the 15th floor ledge. Barber will weigh them, inspect their health and put light metal bands around their legs for identification. This year there are three nestlings that will be banded. Not all of the falcons will be banded on the livestream.

Falcon banding helps wildlife biologists to track the birds and allows birdwatchers from all over the world an opportunity to learn more about the peregrine’s flight patterns and where they establish new nesting sites. Falcons born on the ledge at the Rachel Carson State Office Building have been identified up and down the Atlantic coast, from Florida to Canada. Birdwatchers can report bands they see to ReportBand.gov.

Today, May 25th is Memorial Day – a day set aside to honor the more than 1.1 million Americans who have died in wars which the United States entered.

Please take a moment to remember these men and women who sacrificed their lives for us and for our country and consider participating in Memorial Day events in our community.

Today, I participated in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies’ Memorial Day ceremony.

It was an honor to reflect on this solemn holiday and pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Workplace violence is a growing concern in healthcare facilities nationwide.

WPXI aired a story on the issue yesterday and allowed me to offer my thoughts.

I am prime sponsoring House Bill 2341 that would provide resources for healthcare facilities to proactively assess and manage potential situations which may lead to violence. I'm hopeful the bill will be considered in the coming weeks.

Watch the story ⤵️

Legislation to harden hospitals stalling in Harrisburg as attacks on health care workers persist Violence in Pennsylvania hospitals and health care facilities is leaving staff members injured and contributing to staffing shortages.