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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 21, 2024 02:59 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator David G. Argall and Sen. Scott E. Hutchinson, Sen. Chris Gebhard |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Demanding Immediate Action on the Former State Centers |
| Without legislative or community input, Governor Wolf’s administration shut down the Hamburg Center in 2018 and the White Haven and Polk Centers in 2023. Since their closings, these centers have sat vacant and unused - wasting a significant amount of taxpayer dollars. In the near future, we will introduce legislation to demand a detailed plan from the Department of General Services (DGS) on how these properties will be sold and put to better use. Since the centers were closed residents of the surrounding communities have asked the state repeatedly to sell the properties for new economic, recreational, or housing opportunities. However, the state has not provided a concrete plan and these centers continue to sit empty and decaying. The former Allentown State Hospital required millions each year for upkeep and security until it was finally razed in 2020 – ten years after the center was closed by DGS - a terrible waste of taxpayer dollars. We are also demanding that DGS give the legislature exact estimates for the yearly costs of each property since the institutions were closed, expected costs associated with each property if they are not sold, and costs relating to demolition or refurbishment of the buildings at each property. If this legislation does not address our concerns, further legislative and legal solutions may be necessary in order to uncover this information and the true costs of maintaining these properties year after year. Please join us in co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as SB1277