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Unveiling Plans for Whiskey Rebellion Festival
Late last week, I joined other community leaders at Liberty Pole Spirits in Washington to watch as seven Pennsylvania craft distillers created the first-ever limited release Reserve Rye Whiskey Blend. Sales of the blend will support the Whiskey Rebellion Festival scheduled for July 11-14. This will be the 10th anniversary of the festival. For more information about the festival, please visit here.
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Bradford House Museum Open for Tours
Earlier this week the Bradford House Museum, 175 S. Main St., Washington, reopened for the 2019 season. The museum welcomes drop-in visitors Wednesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Nov. 30.
The museum includes an 18th century stone house, an herb and flower garden, and a log cabin kitchen. My family and I visited earlier this year and enjoyed our tour.
More information is available on the Bradford House website at bradfordhouse.org.
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Help for Lyme Disease Treatment
Pennsylvania has consistently ranked among the highest in the country in confirmed cases of Lyme disease.
To help those affected by this disease and other related tick-borne illnesses, the House Health Committee approved legislation that would require health insurers to cover treatment plans for Lyme disease or related tick-borne illnesses as prescribed by a patient’s health care practitioner, regardless if the treatment plan includes short-term or long-term antibiotic treatment.
Lyme disease can be easily treated with antibiotics when caught and treated early. If untreated, the disease can cause joint swelling, cardiac or neurologic complications. The most severe cases can be debilitating.
House Bill 629 now moves to the full House for consideration.
For more information on the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease, and how to protect yourself from tick bites, click here.
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Good Money Habits Training Resource for Kids
To help high school and college students make smart money decisions, Pennsylvania is launching a new program called the “FinLit Forum.”
The conference-style program involves multiple state and nonprofit agencies that provide high school and college students with critical financial knowledge to be successful in the next stages of their lives.
The program addresses many “real life” financial issues of young people, including banking basics, introduction to budgeting, understanding credit reports and scores, scams and identity theft, insurance 101, and financial aid.
Learn more here.
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Supporting First Responders in PA
With fire and emergency medical service organizations across the state struggling due to a lack of volunteers and financial resources, the House and Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committees held an informational meeting to discuss recommendations put forth late last year to address these challenges.
According to testimony offered at the meeting, the decline of volunteers in fire and EMS services across the state is having a significant impact on municipalities’ ability to reliably and safely provide public safety services to their citizens.
Much of the decline in volunteers can be attributed to societal and economic changes, such as longer working hours and longer commutes. However, lawmakers were encouraged to consider incentives such as tax credits or college loan forgiveness programs to help recruit new volunteers. Affordable and accessible training was also encouraged as a way to remove barriers to volunteering.
These were among more than two dozen broad recommendations offered by the Senate Resolution 6 Commission, which was charged with studying issues such as recruitment and retention, government support, innovation, training and operations, and more.
One of the report’s recommendations, which requires insurers to reimburse ambulance companies for services provided even if no transport takes place, was signed into law last year. Lawmakers plan to build on that success this year as they prepare to introduce legislation implementing some additional recommendations.
View the full report here.
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Tax Day Approaching
The Monday, April 15, deadline to file your federal, state and local taxes is fast approaching.
If you received more than $33 in total gross taxable income in calendar year 2018, you must file a Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax return by midnight on April 15.
You can file online for free through PAdirectfile, a secure, state-only electronic income tax filing system by clicking here.
If you want to use an online tax preparing service, Pennsylvania has deals with certain providers for free e-filing. You can learn more about these services by clicking here.
Income tax assistance is available through the department’s Online Customer Service Center, or by calling 717-787-8201 between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Pennsylvanians can also visit a Department of Revenue district office for basic state personal income tax filing assistance. Assistance at these offices is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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| Office Locations |
| District office: Details coming soon |
| Capitol office: 52-B East Wing, P.O. Box 202048, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2048 | Tel: 717-787-3315 |
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| Email: toneal@pahousegop.com |
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