Press Releases
Fontana Announces $1.3 Million for Local Transportation Projects
Harrisburg, April 16, 2021 – A local rail freight project will receive nearly $1 million in funding from a state program aimed at improving transportation safety and efficiency, state Sen. Wayne Fontana announced today. A $929,771 grant from the Pennsylvania...
PA Senate and House Democrats Host Policy Hearing on Needed Changes to Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship
Harrisburg – March 26, 2021 - At the request of state Senators Wayne D. Fontana (D- Allegheny), Jim Brewster (D- Allegheny/Westmoreland), Lindsey Williams (D- Allegheny) and Representative Sara Innamorato (D-Allegheny), the Pennsylvania Senate and House Democratic...
Sen. Fontana Releases Statement on Senate GOP Refusal to Use Emergency Constitutional Amendment for Window of Justice for Sexual Abuse Survivors
Harrisburg – March 22, 2021 – Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D- Pittsburgh) released a statement today regarding the announcement by Senate Republicans that the Pennsylvania Senate will not consider an emergency constitutional amendment to provide a window for sexual abuse...
PA Senate and House Democrats to Host Policy Hearing on Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship
Allegheny County − March 19, 2021 − At the request of state Senators Wayne D. Fontana (D- Allegheny), Jim Brewster (D- Allegheny/Westmoreland), Lindsey Williams (D- Allegheny) and Representative Sara Innamorato (D-Allegheny), the Pennsylvania Senate and House...
PA Senate Dems Again Call for Legislative Window of Justice for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse & More Protections for the Future
Harrisburg, Pa. – March 12, 2021 − Pennsylvania Senate Democrats held a press conference today to again call for immediate action to create a two-year window for adult survivors of sexual abuse currently barred from seeking justice due to statutory time limitations....
Sens. Hughes, Fontana Renew Push to Regulate ‘Ghost Guns’ in Pa., Following Recent Joint Task Force Crackdown
HARRISBURG – March 12, 2020 – Following the high-profile arrest of four Philadelphia men selling “ghost guns,” State Senators Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) and Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) reintroduced two pieces of legislation pushing to...
Sen. Fontana Re-elected Vice Chair of PHEAA Board
Harrisburg – February 18, 2021 - State Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D-Allegheny) today was unanimously re-elected to serve as the vice chairman of the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). Created in 1963 by the state...
Sen. Fontana Releases Statement on the Governor’s 2021 Budget Address
Harrisburg – February 3, 2021 – Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D- Allegheny) released the following statement following Governor Tom Wolf’s budget address: For the last 11 months, millions of Pennsylvanians have sacrificed—by protecting their loved ones, looking out for their...
Members of Pa. Senate Dems urge U.S. House Majority Leader Pelosi to investigate, expel Rep. Scott Perry for seditious acts
HARRISBURG – January 29, 2021 – Members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus wrote U.S. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging an investigation into the “traitorous and seditious acts” against the U.S. Constitution by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry. “This is not a...
Democratic State Senators Reintroduce Bills to Protect Quality, Stable Health Care in PA
HARRISBURG – January 28, 2021 – State Senators Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery), Maria Collett (D-Montgomery/Bucks), Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny), and Tim Kearney (D-Delaware), reintroduced package of bills to ensure Pennsylvanians maintain quality, stable...
PA Senate Democrats Release Statement on Violent Protest in DC
Harrisburg, PA – January 6, 2021 – The PA Senate Democrats released the following statement on the violent protest today in the nation’s Capitol: The First Amendment is one of our most sacred. It is not political and it is not partisan. The rights to free speech,...
Senator Fontana Announces Over $38 Million in Local Grant Project Funding
Pittsburgh – December 23, 2020 – Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D- Allegheny) announced today that $38,971,428 in state grant funds has been awarded to local projects across his Senate district. “The investment of state funds into local projects is essential to the...
Fontana Re-elected to Serve as Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman
Harrisburg, November 19, 2020 – State Senate Democrats today unanimously re-elected state Senator Wayne D. Fontana (D-Brookline) to serve as Democratic Caucus chairman for the upcoming two-year legislative session. The caucus chairman sets the daily caucus agenda and...
Sen. Fontana Committed to Reforms at PHEAA After Auditor General Report
Harrisburg – October 2, 2020 – Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released a follow-up audit yesterday to a 2008 Auditor General report of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) where Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D- Pittsburgh) sits on the...
Sen. Fontana Announces Over $3 Million for Local Arts/Cultural Outlets
Brookline, PA – September 15, 2020– Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D-Allegheny) today announced that 13 Allegheny County arts and cultural entities will receive a total of $3.08 million in state grant funds. “Knowing how the ongoing pandemic has harmed these important...
Sen. Fontana Announces Over $2 Million in State Funds for Local Water and Sewer Projects
Pittsburgh – August 17, 2020 – Sen. Wayne Fontana (D- Allegheny) announced today that $2,193,358 in state grant funds have been awarded to local waterway and sewer improvement projects throughout his Senate district. “It is critical that our local governments have the...
PA Senate Democrats Announce $225 Million for Small Business Assistance Grants Statewide
HARRISBURG – June 8, 2020 – Members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus announced the direction of $225 million in federal CARES Act funding to aid small businesses across the commonwealth. This funding was authorized by the recently enacted COVID-19...
Democratic PHEAA Board Members Tout $30 Million In Cares Act Funding For PHEAA Grants
HARRISBURG — June 5, 2020 — State Senators Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny), Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery), John Blake (D-Lackawanna), and Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia touted the $30 million in funding the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus was...
Sen. Fontana’s Bill Would Make Pennsylvania a Mail-in Ballot state
Harrisburg, April 22, 2020 – Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) today introduced a bill that would change Pennsylvania’s voting system so that all elections are conducted entirely by mail. “The pandemic has compromised the health and safety of our citizens, shaken our...
Sen. Fontana: Returning Workers too Soon is too Dangerous
Harrisburg, April 15, 2020 – Insisting that sound mitigation practices and indelible worker protections must be in place before re-opening additional Pennsylvania workplaces, state Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) today voted against Senate Bill 613, legislation he...