Democratic Jewish group expresses disappointment
State defunds security grant for at-risk groups
Following the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s decision to defund the Act 83 grant — which provided security support for atrisk groups such as Jewish community centers and synagogues — board members of the Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania group expressed disappointment with the decision and shared concerns for future safety.
House officials, however, say the money will still be available in a separate violence prevention grant program.
The Pennsylvania Nonprofit Security Grant Program, also known as Act 83, was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in November 2019 after the Oct. 27, 2018, attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill that left 11 people dead. The program was set to run through 2024 and was funded at $5 million per year in the last year’s budget, online records show.
Mr. Wolf proposed eliminating the funding in February as part of a budget proposal, said Mike Straub, a spokesman for state House Speaker Bryan Cutler, of Lancaster County.
The budget was passed with widespread bipartisan support and signed into law on time by Mr. Wolf in recent months, officials said.
“The belief that making these institutions more secure is not a responsibility of our elected officials is but one more indication of moral myopia on the part of the once honorable Republican party,” DJOP board chair Jill Zipin said in a letter to the Republican-controlled House Legislature. Ms. Zipin also noted attacks on synagogues, churches and mosques have risen sharply in recent years.
“Unless our elected officials reconsider their action we can only hope and pray that we don’t witness another murderous rampage such as the slaughter of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in our own state only three years ago,” she wrote.
The letter was addressed to Mr. Cutler and Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Jake Corman, of Centre County. Both are Republicans.
The security grant fund, which fell under the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, was zeroed out by the governor, but funds were instead increased for a separate budget line item for violence prevention programs, Mr. Straub said. The state Legislature last month allocated $30 million for the programs in the approved 2021-22 fiscal year budget. The grant, which is under PCCD, will support preventive measures to halt gun violence across the state, officials said.
The understanding that security funding has been completely cut is “not accurate,” Mr. Straub added.
“The violence prevention programs got a big boost in money, so essentially, both of those programs worked to achieve the same goals,” he said. “The violence prevention program is under PCCD, so groups can apply for grants to PCCD and still achieve the same goals. If the goal is to reduce violence and improve security, instead of having two separate pots of money, basically, the money was taken from one grant program and increased in a separate grant program, so there’s just one program instead of multiple pots of money.
“… The money is available; it’s just in a separate grant program.”
The DJOP was founded in 2008 and provides support to progressive candidates and legislation and sponsors educational programs on contemporary issues. Its work is driven by the traditional Jewish values of the pursuit of justice and the principle of tikun olam, Hebrew for “repair of the world,” according to DJOP officials.
“Whereas at one time congregants considered such gathering places as sanctuaries from an increasingly violent society, recent history indicates that this is no longer the case,” Ms. Zipin said. “We want to express our deep dismay at the Republican-controlled Legislature’s decision that our state has no obligation to help make religious facilities more secure in spite of the murder of worshippers while at prayer.”