The Fight for Expanding the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) across Pennsylvania

Bipartisan Senate bill releasedSenator Fontana has dropped SB512, which has been referred to finance.  There are 14 cosponsors - 8 D, 6 R.  You can download the bill and cosponsor list by clicking here. Keep it up!​We're winning people over. The support in the House and Senate is strong.  However, it's important that we get more elected officials signed up and aware of the program.  Primary target is the House Finance Committee, which you can find by clicking here, but we encourage those of you who've made initial contact with your Legislators to reach out again.  The more cosponsors and support the better, given the Governor's position on tax credits. PCRG has a resource page, found here​.  Stock letters can be found under the PCRG Resources tab, titled Neighborhood Assistance Program. Join the coalitionAs a partner with the Pittsburgh Regional Chamber and others, a formal statewide coalition is being created.  Here you will find a sign-on form.  Please fill this out and email it to Jenn Beer, jbeer@pittsburghchamber.com, to join our coalition.  PCRG remains involved and coordinating with you, but this ensures that you're better tied in to what's going on in Harrisburg and any actions being taken by the statewide group. Visualizing the Distribution of NAP ProjectsMany politicians have been quick to assume that only southwest PA and southeast PA benefit from the NAP program. However, this is far from true. Take a look at this interactive map showing the success stories of the most recent NAP recipients across the state – with a range of projects in counties such as Lycoming County, Lackawanna County, Centre County, and Blair County – demonstrating that this program is utilized in rural, suburban, and urban areas. Diving deeper, PCRG developed maps tracking NAP awards (including NAP, NPP, and SPP) between 2012 and 2017. We found that there were a total of 89 NAP awards, 45 NPP awards, and 71 SPP awards, all unique awards distributed over this five year period of time. Looking at the breakdown of awards, using the Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) regions, we determined the distribution of awards by region:

  Visualizing this data over a five year period of time has helped PCRG staff understand that while this program has been utilized less in counties outside of southeastern and southwestern PA, educating organizations and businesses in these areas about the value of this program is vital. Without this educational information, there will be fewer applicants from these areas. As well, as legislators understand the importance of this program through success stories in their communities and in neighboring communities, this will expand the potential for the success and expansion of the NAP program.