LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP: Bipartisan roundtable discussion held on smartphones in classrooms

As students and teachers start a new school year, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pittsburgh, this week moderated a bipartisan roundtable conversation with state Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Pittsburgh, and Western Pennsylvania educators, a student and a parent to discuss the impact of smartphones in classrooms and how we can best protect our kids from addictive and distracting technology in school.

“I’m a dad of four, I see the clear evidence that smartphones in the classroom are hurting learning, and I think we’ve got to do more to help our kids learn in the face of Big Tech pushing their addictive and distracting devices and apps on our kids,” Deluzio said. “Our kids are getting pummeled and our teachers’ jobs are getting even harder. I’ll keep digging in and working with anyone to tackle this huge problem, and I thank today’s roundtable participants for their contributions to an informative and productive conversation.”

Other participants in the roundtable included: Sen. Robinson, who recently proposed bipartisan legislation in Harrisburg to make every school phone-free all day; Melissa Costantino-Poruben, a Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) member who has taught math for 26 years at all levels in Avonworth School District and teaches 6th grade; Erin Ruggiero, also a PSEA member and teacher at Moon Area School District; Kelly Marsh, PhD, the Pennsylvania legislation lead for PA Unplugged and a local parent worried about how smartphones are hurting their kids; and Kim Francisco-Martinez, a senior at Duquesne University and 2022 high school graduate who grew up in the smartphone era.

Deluzio is a leading voice on the issue of kids and smartphone and social media addiction. Earlier this summer, he sent letters to all 59 school districts in Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District asking if they will have a classroom smartphone ban in place for the coming school year.

He also recently launched a public survey asking Western Pennsylvanians if they think schools should ban smartphones in K-12 classrooms.

Since the survey was released on Aug. 12, 700 people have responded, with 76% saying they support classroom smartphone bans.

This week’s roundtable is the latest in Rep. Deluzio’s ongoing effort to collect information to inform his legislative efforts.

Deluzio’s office plans to release a report with this information.

Farmer: Federal SNAP cuts will hurt families

Parts of the Republican budget will soon take effect — and with it, eligibility changes and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that could hit nearly 144,000 Pennsylvanians who rely on the program to put food on the table.

Every month, SNAP provides more than $365 million in federally funded benefits that can only be spent on food — supporting families, 10,000 grocery stores and retailers, and more than 53,000 farms in Pennsylvania.

Now, with these cuts in place, families who receive SNAP are already making different choices at the checkout line while Pennsylvania farms and food businesses brace for the ripple effects.

Lindsay Shapiro, co-owner of Root Mass Farm in Berks County, shared how the cuts are already harming her customers and her business:

“Our customers, especially those who depend on programs like SNAP, like Farmers Market Nutrition programs — they’re really concerned about where they’re going to be able to get their next meal from, how they’re going to be able to stock their fridge for themselves, for their children,” she said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said that Pennsylvania cannot replace the billions in federal funds lost through the Republican budget — and that these cuts will have devastating consequences for families and the state’s economy.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, every $1 billion in federal SNAP benefits generates $1.54 billion in economic activity, supporting farm income, grocery jobs, and local businesses.

SNAP helps nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians — including children, seniors, and people with disabilities — afford groceries each month. These cuts threaten not just their health and well-being, but also the stability of Pennsylvania farms, grocery stores, and food supply chains.

“The dramatic cuts to SNAP that we saw in the Budget Reconciliation Bill have a significant impact on our farm’s bottom line,” Lindsay Shapiro said. “We are already seeing people scale back in the amount of dollars that they’re willing to spend. They’re worried about their household finances, and they don’t know if fresh produce is in the budget anymore.

“I see customers thinking about whether they want to use their SNAP dollars on fresh produce, or if they want to get something that’s going to keep in the fridge or the freezer, or something that’s a canned good that’s non-perishable, because they don’t necessarily know what their food budget is going to look like.

“We’re already thinking about whether there’s going to be enough government dollars circulating in that neighborhood to be able to do the farmers market next year.”

Investing in safety

Thanks to funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grant program, nonprofit Opportunities Industrialization Center of Philadelphia (OIC) is expanding its free workforce development training program, which has helped provide workforce training to 157 justice-involved individuals since 2023.

Shapiro-Davis Administration officials this week visited OIC Philadelphia to spotlight how combining job training with wraparound supports has helped individuals overcome barriers, reduce violence, and build safer communities. The visit emphasized the importance of continued investments in community-based programs that change lives and strengthen neighborhoods.

Last year, homicides dropped statewide by 23% — from 880 in 2023 to 671 in 2024— a larger reduction than the national decrease of 15%. Sustained investments like the VIP grant program are likely contributing to many communities across Pennsylvania seeing real progress in reducing gun violence.

“Community-based organizations like OIC Philadelphia are showing us every day that when we invest in people, we invest in safer neighborhoods,” said PCCD Executive Director Kirsten Kenyon. “By pairing workforce training with basic needs and behavioral health supports, OIC is helping to reduce violence and create lasting change in Philadelphia communities.”

More than $1M available for environmental education

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) this week announced that more than $1 million is now available for projects that provide meaningful environmental education through the Environmental Education Grants Program.

Grant applications will be accepted through Nov. 14, 2025.

“Learning about the environment is a lifelong opportunity for Pennsylvanians, and this grant program funds projects for all ages.” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. “These projects help educate Pennsylvanians about water quality, air pollution, climate change, and land use, and help people of all ages know more about the environment in their community.”

In April 2025, DEP announced the awardees for the 2025 Environmental Education Grants, which included projects that reduce food waste, teach about PFAS chemicals, and the 2026 Pennsylvania Envirothon.

The 2026 DEP EE Grants Program welcomes applications for the development of innovative education projects that address air and water quality, land use, and/or climate change. Project proposals must demonstrate objectives to heighten public understanding of PA’s environmental issues and to increase individual and/or community environmental stewardship and advocacy.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.