Costa Misses Town Hall Meeting; Attendees Still Share Thoughts

State Rep. Dom Costa missed his own town hall meeting Thursday, remaining in Harrisburg to vote on an unemployment compensation reform bill. 

Had the bill, Senate Bill 1030, not passed, 45,000 people would have lost benefits, along with an additional 95,000 constituents losing assistance in September, said Polly Grimpe, chief of staff to the Allegheny County Democrat. The House passed the bill unanimously, and it now moves to the Senate for approval. 

Grimpe tried to fill Costa's role Thursday at the . The meeting was one in a series of five events throughout the district intended to give residents an opportunity to discuss current issues with Costa.

She led a discussion on numerous hot topics, including Marcellus Shale and education budget cuts. Because of the new budget cut, the . No one was laid off, but 30 people took a retirement package.

“He just wants people to be more informed,” said Grimpe, on the nature of the meetings. “A lot of time, people will argue and complain about issues but they don’t really understand what’s going on with the budget. He just wanted to open a forum up and discuss different things with folks.”

Another big topic was privatizing liquor sales in the state of Pennsylvania. Costa is against this effort, as it could force some already-established stores to lose their business. In addition, it could also cause the state to lose money, as the sale of independent licenses would not equal the $500 million in profit the state receives each year from sales.

Though most people would have preferred Costa to be there, people were still able to express their ideas and argue their standpoints. About half a dozen people attended the meeting.

“I understand that he’s at an important meeting, so I will attend another one and get my questions answered,” said first-time meeting attendee Andrew Sadowski. She is a teacher at Springdale Senior High School, and wanted to know more about the school voucher program.

“They’ve given me an outlet, I have brochures here,” she said. “I think that they do a nice job sending out emails, and letting the community know where they are meeting and planning events. I was disappointed he wasn’t here, but at least I got some literature I can read up on and find some things out on my own.”

Grimpe encouraged attendees to write down any questions or comments they had, with the promise that Costa will personally call them back with an answer.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly noted that the unemployment compensation reform bill was House Bill 1030. It was corrected to reflect that it is Senate Bill 1030.