People Power: The Vote, Policy Updates, and More

Our intern, Lucy, attended the One Roof Housing Resource Fair, and learned so much!  Here are summaries of what she found.

Civic Engagement:

VoteRiders can help first-time voters get a state-issued ID so they can cast their votes at the ballot box on November 3rd. If calling or texting is easier for you, use 866-432-8683 to contact VoteRiders.  Find your polling place here. 

The Election Protection Coalition runs a year-round website and hotline that you can contact with any questions or concerns regarding the voting process, from registering to casting your ballot (including state-by-state agency listings for assistance, concerns about safety in and physical access to polling places, etc.).  The organization can be reached by calling or texting 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) as well as through WhatsApp, Facebook, and email at hotline@866ourvote.org. Non-native English speakers can contact the following phone numbers for interpretation of the listed regional languages.  The deaf and hard of hearing communities can use the ASL video call line listed.

Spanish to English: 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682)

Asian Languages to English: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683)

Arabic to English: 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287)

ASL: 301-818-VOTE (301-818-8683)

Advocates for the city’s Housing Opportunity Fund (HOF) were at the Resource Fair encouraging city residents to make their voices heard to City Council to save the HOF.  This fund helps Pittsburghers stay in stable housing through many programs including rental and home buying assistance, help with renovation costs associated with aging in place, legal aid, and repair assistance for small landlords.  Mayor O’Connor’s 2027 budget would eliminate the city’s contributions to the fund (approximately $10 million in trust, equivalent to a year of operational and programmatic funding), cut funding to violence prevention programs, and many other items per TribLive.  Residents can email cityclerksoffice@pittsburghpa.gov or call 412-255-2138 to raise concerns to the City Council.

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Important Information from the One Roof Housing Resource Fair

Disability Access:

In January of 2026, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) expanded its partnership with Aira, a company that provides on-demand, real-time certified visual and ASL interpretation services for the blind, low-vision, deaf, and hard-of-hearing communities.  While the PRT already had blind and low-vision interpretation with Aira’s Explorer app, 2026 brought the launch of Aira’s ASL app for riders.  To learn more and find out how to download either of these apps, click here or go to aira.io/pittsburgh-regional-transit

Inglis Assistive Tech Solutions (IATS) is a set of programs that are part of Inglis, an organization that “offers comprehensive programs that support the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of individuals with disabilities living independently in the community.”  IATS works with individuals and families, as well as larger organizations and professionals that serve the disability and older adult communities to assess, educate, and support implementation of assistive technologies.  The goal is to increase independence, social engagement, and/or life management through customized services to this population.  For more information, you can click the link above or email IATS.PGH@inglis.org.  You can also call 412-790-9993. 

Environmental Justice:

Make sure to report your water line material to Pennsylvania American Water as they replace the lead service lines they as the utility own throughout the next several years.  While the utility does rigorous routine testing that complies with EPA regulations for lead content in water they send out, the highest risk of lead exposure comes from plumbing and fixtures owned and maintained by individual property owners.  Homes and buildings built before 1930 are more likely to have full or partial systems made of lead piping while houses built before 1991 may still have lead-soldered joints.  Even some faucets manufactured before 2014 may have lead components. 

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  Options for lead identification include self-identification and reporting by home owners via pennsylvaniaamwater.com/leadfacts or through PA American Water’s third party consultant Greeley & Hansen.  This consultant can be reached at 215-553-9700 to answer questions and schedule in-home service line inspections if needed.  Greeley & Hansen employees will also be canvasing neighborhoods in logoed, high visibility vests while carrying official photo ID badges. 

The Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP) encourages PA residents to speak and advocate at public hearings about utility rate changes overseen by the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC). PULP also offers education, training, legal counsel, and legislative and administrative consultation on issues that affect utility access for low income individuals and communities.  Overall the Project’s mission is “ to secure just and equitable access to safe and affordable utility services for Pennsylvanians experiencing poverty. [It works] to achieve this mission by empowering individuals and communities through representation, advocacy, education, and support.” 

Economic Justice:     

The Allegheny County Financial Empowerment Center is open to all Allegheny County residents.  It provides free one-on-one professional counseling with money management, budgeting, debt reduction, improving credit, and more! 

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Allegheny County passes Paid Parental Leave Policy!

Thank you to everyone who has worked to get this policy passed, from early key proponents like Councilwoman Lissa Geiger Shulman and County Executive Sara Innamorato to residents that submitted comments and went to hearings and the Board of Health and Council members that passed the policy.  This policy is a major step forward in a country and state that have no wider reaching paid family leave policies for non-governmental employees.

The basics of the policy are as follows according to Barley Snyder Law Firm’s 10/27/2026 news alert:

• 12 weeks of paid leave at base pay with a cap of $4,200 per week
• Employees may use paid parental leave following a child’s birth, adoption, or placement, or a stillbirth or fetal death. 
• Employees may delay taking leave and use it within 12 months of the qualifying event
• An employee is eligible if they work full or part time as long as they have worked for at least 6 months
• Part-time employees must have worked at least 625 hours in the prior 180 days (about 24 hours per week).
• Some employees may be exempt, including temporary or seasonal workers and employees covered by certain collective bargaining agreements.
• The policy will take effect October 22, 2027, one year from the day it was passed
• The policy applies to businesses with 15 or more employees as long as at least one employee is located in Allegheny County (e.g. remote employees)

Upper Burrell Township Passed Data Center Ordinance Before the End of Its Moratorium 

A huge thank you goes out to TRCF grantee Protect PT for helping the residents of Upper Burrell draft a data center ordinance and amendments that passed the township’s Board of Supervisors in a unanimous 3-0 vote on October 22nd!  Getting this ordinance passed was an incremental victory in regulating data center development by TECfusions.  To build on this success and the momentum of Governor Shapiro’s executive order, residents and advocacy organizations like Protect PT will be working to get a power plant ordinance passed as well as zoning amendments that determine setbacks.