2023 By The Numbers: Over $1 Billion Federal Dollars Delivered to Western PA, Celebrating Unprecedented Milestone
Summer Lee has helped deliver historic levels of federal investment in Western PA!
Summer prevented the new homeless shelter being built in Mckeesport from losing the $1.3 in federal funding necessary to open the shelter and provide housing to those most vulnerable at a moment where there’s rising housing insecurity and unsheltered homelessness.
After the Fair Housing Partnership let us know that they were at risk of being forced to close their doors unless HUD moved up their funding timeline, Summer and her district team successfully advocated for HUD to move the timeline up, ensuring that they can continue to protect Western Pennsylvanians against Housing distribution.
Lee worked with Senators Casey and Fetterman and Rep. Deluzio to secure a $10 million to Catalyst Connection for renewable energy, low-carbon and decarbonized power, smart grid improvements, green buildings, and more.
Serving on the House Space, Science and Technology Committee, Lee helped deliver a $398.6 million from the DOE clean energy financing program loan to fund EOS, a battery storage manufacturer employing thousands of workers in PA-12. Their $500 million Project AMAZE, will create over 1000 clean energy and union construction jobs.
$17.5 million in a Center for Innovation Grant for public health and emergencies which will help CMU’s Delphi Center become a powerhouse for public health innovation and to help close the representation gap of Black, brown, and marginalized folks in fields like outbreak analytics and disease modeling.
$50 million HUD Choice Housing grant to revitalize Bedford Dwellings and the Hill district neighborhood, righting past wrongs of racist development decisions by funding much needed rehabilitation and building new affordable housing units.
Nearly 2 million for clean air monitoring under the Inflation Reduction Act as part of the effort to monitor near industrial facilities, multipollutant monitoring, and air quality sensors in disadvantaged communities.
$52.4 million EPA clean water/lead removal grant to replace lead service lines to right past wrongs and ensure our communities have access to clean water
$1.8 to CMU for Science to Achieve Results – assist community with adaption of strategies to keep metals, pesticides out of water
$1.2 million diaper distribution grant to expand diaper distribution networks for over 2,000 children in Allegheny and Westmoreland County
Helped deliver $20 million grant to CMU to close representation gap in STEM fields
$500,000 for the Carnegie Library of Homestead
$20 million for CMU to research traffic safety
$40.8 million to Astrobotic and Proto Innovation for Research and Development for upcoming Artimus Lunar Landing missions, which will put the first women and first people of color on the moon and create jobs in Western Pennsylvania.
Criss-crossing the district:
Delivered casework and constituent services to 1,300 constituents (as of 10/11/23) with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.
Had dozens of visits to Westmoreland – everything from our first Senior Service Center to human services providers, municipal councils and managers, to small business openings
Lee and staff have met with over 50 different municipalities (municipal managers, council leaders and mayors) on their needs and opportunities to bring back Federal resources to their communities
Showed up to advocate during crises – meeting with leaders at Elizabeth Forward High School to advocate for resources after much of the school was burned down in a fire
Held series of mobile senior service centers, so far in Westmoreland County and Bethel Park
Events, small business tours, rallying with workers, community roundtables, visits, mobile hours:
Convened roundtable on trade and business resources with the President of the Export-Import Bank, small business leaders, minority, women and veteran business owners
Lee has regularly joined striking workers, labor unions, and workers organizing to unionize at pickets, rallies, and roundtables, and meetings including over a dozen events with UPMC health workers and hospital workers rising, rallied with Wabtec United Electrical Workers, AFLCIO’s annual lawyers conference, attended multiple rallies with striking Pittsburgh Post Gazette workers in Pittsburgh and Dc, visited Starbucks United Workers, advocated for United Steelworkers to improve relationships with faculty organizing at University of Pittsburgh, hosted UAW in DC, hosted USW in DC, spoke at the AFLCIO Professional Aviation Safety Specialist conference, met with UAW organizers in DC, met with striking SAG and WGA workers in Pittsburgh, joined the Black nurses association’s national conference among others.
Co-hosted local business leaders in DC for conversations on federal investment in the district with the Pittsburgh chamber of commerce and EOS clean battery manufacturer and Carnegie Mellon University.
Headlined Conference for the Keystone Space Collaborative to Encourage and Support Investments in burgeoning space economy in Pittsburgh, STEM education, and closing the representation gap
Toured and met regularly with leadership of EOS battery manufacturers to help shepherd the DOE award for the creation of up to a thousand new clean energy jobs in the Mon Valley
Toured and met regularly with Astrobotic to support and facilitate federal investment in Western PA grown space technology for the Artimus landing, positioning Pittsburgh to lead the country in worker-owned space technology and innovation committed to closing the representation gap
Hosted roundtable to combat food insecurity with local food banks (Greater Pittsburgh and Westmoreland county) and stakeholders to preserve and expand funding for food assistance in the farm bill and budget
In February, Lee toured the site of the horrific Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting, the deadliest antisemetic attack in US history. There, she met with Foundation leadership and family members of those killed in the attack. Lee was profoundly moved by what she saw and the beautiful conversations she had with family members of those that were murdered about what can be done to help heal from the trauma that remains and their vision for the renovated building as a center to educate against antisemitism and hate.
Visited several federally qualified health centers to advocate for federal investment in funding to provide care for uninsured, low income and immigrant communities.
Regularly visited elementary, middle schools, and high schools across the district – including a middle school visit to promote robotics and STEM education with Deputy Administrator of NASA Pamela Melroy.
Partnered with Shapiro on school breakfast, teacher pay, and continues to lead the fight for universal school lunch, pushing Shapiro to follow the lead of the Governors of Michigan and Minnesota.
Partnered with Governor Shapiro to Creates First-in-the-Nation Workforce Training Program to Invest $400 Million in On-the-Job Training and Create 10,000 New Jobs and ensure companies, contractors, unions, and others who are working to build Pennsylvania’s infrastructure have the skilled workforce they need while creating real opportunity for thousands of new workers across the Commonwealth.
In just 8 months in office Lee has already hosted the following Federal Cabinet Secretaries and Agency Heads for Tours of Western PA, Roundtables, and Community forums:
Lee hosted HHS Secretary Xavier Becera for a Community Round Table on Lowering Health Care Costs for Pittsburgh Seniors with community leaders, health advocates, seniors, and homecare workers.
Lee hosted NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy in a 2 Day Pittsburgh Space Week Tour including Keystone Space Collaborative, middle school robotics visit and Astrobotic
Lee Hosted the Regional Administer for HUD to announce a $50 million neighborhood revitalization grant, with the goal of rehabilitating the housing at Bedford Dwellings, along with making “investments to create a neighborhood that is vibrant, well-connected to services and public transportation, and is safe and welcoming for Pittsburgh residents,”
FTC Chair Lina Khan, HUD Secretary Martha Fudge Fudge, and CFPB Chair Rohit Chopra have also accepted Lee’s request to visit Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional district.
Additional Federal Funding Lee Expects to Deliver in the Coming Months:
The House Appropriations Subcommittees have advanced $10.7 million in community project funding introduced by Lee to revitalize infrastructure, combat hunger, address housing insecurity, reconnect communities, and so much more, including:
$1 million for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank that will distribute more than 33 million pounds of food annually to 400,000 individuals in need across our communities. As someone who depended on food assistance when times were tough growing up, I know how crucial this funding will be to combat food insecurity and ensure no person in Western PA goes to bed hungry. Disclosure Letter: HERE
$1,000,000 Granted for YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh to enhance accessibility, improve infrastructure, and allow them to continue to serve as a vital center for health, wellness, and community services in the Northside–from childcare and teen outreach to senior activities.” Disclosure Letter: HERE
$1,000,000 Granted for Tree of Life Educational Space Rebuild to create a vital community gathering space to educate against antisemitism and white supremacy in all its forms–breathing life back into a community hub that has remained dormant following the tragic antisemitic attack.” HERE
$1,050,000 Granted For Homewood Fields and Community Complex in Pittsburgh (City of Pittsburgh) to construct a state-of-the-art sports and community performance space, which will include a field house, amphitheater, and community gathering space. This project will function as a key anti-violence strategy in Homewood, a neighborhood which consistently experiences high levels of youth violence. More importantly, the new park will provide the foundation for intensive collaboration between the city’s anti-violence initiatives and key Homewood community institutions committed to helping young people invest in their own lives and value the lives of others, through violence interruption, job training, coaching, and interventions with spectators and parents. Disclosure letter: HERE
$500,000 Granted Urban Redevelopment Authority – Ground Floor Commercial Activation in Affordable Housing: to build affordable ground floor or street-level housing and commercial in mixed-use Low Income Housing Tax Credits-financed projects across the City of Pittsburgh. This project will address housing affordability, support entrepreneurship and small business, as well as attract and retain businesses. This project would also provide critical funding towards mixed-use developments with affordable housing and neighborhood-serving commercial components that will otherwise experience significant funding gaps. Disclosure letter: HERE
$461,197 Granted for Jubilee Kitchen Facility Expansion and Renovation Project. Jubilee Association, Inc. will renovate a homeless prevention program in a low-income community by expanding and renovating their current facility to address significant safety, accessibility, and space issues. This project will give the facility greater space to meet food, clothing, and counseling needs and improve facility safety to continue providing necessary services preventing homelessness and offering high-quality, affordable childcare for low-income families providing their children pathways to a brighter future. Disclosure letter: HERE
$450,000 Granted for Trade Institute of Pittsburgh’s Social Enterprise Program: This funding would be used for providing graduates of the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh’s 11-week masonry program for individuals facing barriers to employment with time-limited, paid work experience if they are not yet ready to enter the workforce at the end of the program. This will allow graduates to continue improving their skills to obtain gainful employment. Disclosure Letter: HERE
$500,000 Granted to Tri-COG Land Bank Modular Houses on Blighted Land in McKeesport: This project will recover plots of abandoned, blighted and demolition land in the McKeesport Area School District and transform them into sustainable and permanently affordable homeownership opportunities. This funding will improve the McKeesport Area School District community, a distressed community, by remediating seven blighted properties, creating permanently affordable homeownership opportunities, help stabilize property values, and help spur neighborhood revitalization. Disclosure letter: HERE
$963,000 Granted For City of Pittsburgh Criminal Justice Diversion Program: The City of Pittsburgh seeks funding to support its Criminal Justice Diversion Program, also known as Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), which is a program situated within the Office of Community Health and Safety. The LEAD initiative for the City of Pittsburgh will provide people with substance use disorder and mental and behavioral health challenges with person-centered social services and intense case management. This initiative will help relieve police of a role they feel unsuited for and permit them to focus on violent crime, by preventing unnecessary, and harmful criminal-legal system engagement and instead will promote and support individual agency, particularly in communities of color. Disclosure letter: HERE
$959,757 Granted for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority Storm Sewer Project: This project will renovate the grounds to a landscaped, green space that can be used by the children. Second, the teacher parking lot will be re-configured and built with permeable pavers to capture rainfall. Third, under the parking lot, a stormwater storage unit will be constructed to capture stormwater and slowly release the water to the combined sewer system thereby reducing combined sewer overflows to the Monongahela River. This project will help Homestead Borough achieve its regulatory compliance related to combined sewer overflow abatement.
$850,000 Granted for the McKeesport Duquesne Bridge Preservation: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wishes will perform bridge preservation and maintenance activities on the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge that will extend service life and maintain a safe and reliable crossing over the Monongahela River and multiple railroads. The McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge connects several low-income and minority environmental justice communities on either side of the Monongahela River. On the Southern side of the bridge, more than 50% of the households are low-income. On both sides of the river are communities that are made up of 75% minority populations. PennDOT will cover the required match, which will be App. 581 State highway funds. Disclosure letter: HERE
$547,000 Granted Extended Support for 10.27 Healing Partnership to respond to and address the ongoing trauma from the 2018 Synagogue Mass Shooting in the lead-up to and in the aftermath of the trial. The goal of this project is to deepen the effectiveness of community-based work initiated by the initial investment from the federal government after the attack, focused on victim support, healing, and increasing the capacity of community partners to navigate trauma and resiliency following this horrific mass casualty event and the ongoing threat of antisemitism, white supremacy, and gun violence Disclosure letter: HERE
$500,000 Granted for Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh – Larimer Food Incubator & Community Kitchen. The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh will repurpose the vacant and former Larimer School building to build a full-service community kitchen, event space and small business food incubator. This funding will support commercial development of the neighborhood by transforming 9800 square feet of the former school auditorium. This project will bring the Larimer community up to par with neighboring communities that have seen rapid development in recent years. This will be an economic catalyst for the community through job creation, support for small local businesses, food preparation and safety classes, training programs, and health and wellness programs. Disclosure letter: HERE
$500,000 Granted to Westmoreland County – 4th Street Bridge Improvement in Irwin: Westmoreland County will replace a roadway bridge that runs over the Norfolk Southern Railway in Irwin. This project will reconnect the town with the main road that has been divided by the railroad for over 100 years and closed to traffic since 2014. Funding through this request will expedited project execution by adding to funds previously secured through the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). Disclosure letter: HERE
$500,000 Granted for SR 2046, Streets Run Road Resurfacing in Whitehall: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will rehabilitate the entire length of S.R. 2046 to combat deteriorating, poor pavement quality that is at an increasing risk of landslide. This road connects commercial, industrial, and residential properties in the municipality of Whitehall. The ongoing Curry Hollow Road expansion will put further demand on this crucial corridor that links the Baldwin Borough to the City of Pittsburgh, as well as Jefferson Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Disclosure letter: HERE
Legislation Lee introduced and co-led introduction of the following bills:
Introduced the Bipartisan Abandoned Well Remediation Act – which passed through the Science Space and Technology Committee with a bipartisan vote and awaits a vote by the full House
Lee led a bipartisan group of colleagues in calling on the State Department to work on accountability and institutional reform for historic and ongoing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka against Tamils and Muslims, recognizing the decades of torture for which Sri Lankan perpetrators have yet to be held legally accountable and urging the United States to hold Sri Lanka accountable under the Convention Against Torture
Introduced the The Hazard Pay for Health Care Workers Act to empower the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue grants related to a hazard pay of up to $13 per hour / $25,000 per year and implement additional safety measures, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and alternative transit, for essential workers in health care and supporting services who are providing patients with immediate or undisrupted medical assistance during emergencies and extreme weather disasters
Introduced the The Equality in Our Laws Act to make the nation’s legal code more inclusive to women, nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming Americans by replacing masculine generics with gender-neutral language
Introduced VA renaming bill to rename Monroeville VA Facility after WWII veteran Henry Parham, designating the new Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, as the Henry Parham VA Clinic.
Co-led the Disarm Hate Act to close the dangerous gap in current federal law that contributes to hate-fueled mass shootings by providing that individuals who have been convicted of a misdemeanor-level hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor crime after a judicial finding that they acted with hate or bias motivation, are prohibited from buying or possessing guns. All original co-leads represent states and districts that have been impacted by hate-motivated mass shootings, including Lee, who represents the community devastated by the 2018 Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting–the deadliest antisemetic attack in American history.
Co-led the introduction of the Oppose Limitless Inequality Growth and Reverse Community Harm (OLIGARCH) Act to tax extreme wealth, reduce inequality, and combat the threat to democracy posted by aristocracy.
Co-led the Green New Deal for Health Act legislation aimed at empowering the healthcare sector to protect the health and wellbeing of workers, communities, and our planet in the face of the climate crisis and environmental racism.
Co-led the introduction of the Bipartisan DIRECT Care for the Homeless Act to Expand Mental Health, Substance Abuse Care for unhoused individuals by requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a pilot program that would help provide health care services directly to homeless individuals across the U.S.
Co-led the Justice for All Act to restore the original intent of our civil rights laws by reaffirming the availability of discrimination claims based on disparate impact
Co-led the introduction of the Relieving Economic Strain to Enhance American Resilience and Competitiveness in Higher Education and Research (RESEARCHER) Act to curb financial insecurity in higher education and improve Western PA competitiveness by addressing financial instability for graduate and postdoctoral researchers.
Lee was proud to be an original co-sponsor of the following bills:
Pro Act to restore the right of workers to freely and fairly form a union and bargain together for changes in the workplace.
Womens Health Protection Act to enshrine the right for health care professionals to administer and patients to receive abortion care across the country, free from bans and unnecessary restrictions
Raise the Wage Act to raise the minimum wage to $17 by 2028 for nearly 28 million Americans.
Medicare for All Act to expands Medicare to provide comprehensive benefits to every person in the United States, free of copays, premiums, and deductibles.
Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act to end the Black maternal health epidemic critical investments in the social determinants of health, extend WIC eligibility, provide funding for community-based organizations, improve maternal health care for veterans, invest to grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, improve data collection, support maternal mental health, improve maternal health care and support for incarcerated moms, and so much more to address the maternal health crisis that disproportionately affects Black women across the country.
Social Security 2100 Act to Increase and expand Social Security benefits by 2% across the board, improves COLA adjustments, increases benefits for low-income seniors, and ensures its solvency.
College for All Act to expand the dream of a college degree to millions of Americans by making public colleges and universities, as well as the vast majority of Historically-Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) tuition- and debt-free.
Green New Deal for Public Schools Act to revitalize the K-12 system by upgrading every public school building in the country, invest in schools serving low-income students, fully funding education for students with disabilities, and giving schools resources to hire hundreds of thousands of educators, paraprofessionals, staff, and counselors to support student mental health.
Ending Qualified Immunity Act to ends the doctrine of qualified immunity that shields police from accountability when they break the law.
Universal School Meals Program Act to permanently provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack to all school children.
Click here to view a full list of 165 bills Lee has co sponsored