--- title: 2.25.26 - House DCED Budget Hearing description: House DCED Budget Hearing focuses on key economic initiatives, policy debates, and future commitments impacting housing, energy, broadband, workforce, and more. image: https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/DCEC%20Logo.png --- ![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DCEC%20Logo.png?width=225&height=225&name=DCEC%20Logo.png) Budget Related DCED # 2.25.26 - House DCED Budget Hearing ![The DT Firm](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/website/image/dt-favicon.png?width=48&height=48&name=dt-favicon.png) The DT Firm March 2, 2026 **DCED Budget Hearing Recap: Key Programs, Policy Debates, and Follow-Up Commitments** The House committee convened for the **Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED)** budget hearing. Committee leaders reviewed hearing rules, swore in testifiers, and set the frame for the day’s discussion around the Governor’s 2026–27 proposal and what members described as significant year-over-year changes in DCED’s General Fund line items. Secretary **Rick Siger** (DCED) delivered opening testimony outlining the Administration’s economic development priorities and DCED’s major initiatives, then responded to questions across housing, energy, broadband, workforce, tourism, tax credits, and oversight. --- **Hearing setup and context** --- **Opening remarks and Secretary’s presentation: DCED overview** Secretary Siger tied his testimony to the Administration’s **10-year economic development strategy** and highlighted DCED accomplishments and tools used to compete for projects: **Budget proposals highlighted by the Secretary** Secretary Siger outlined the following headline proposals (as presented and reiterated throughout questioning): Secretary also emphasized fast-track permitting via the **Office of Transformation and Opportunity** and described expanded planning/technical assistance capacity for municipalities. --- **Legislation and policy items explicitly referenced during the hearing** The following statutes, programs, and policy proposals were discussed and/or referenced by members and the Secretary: --- **Significant testimony, exchanges, and outcomes (organized by topic)** **Blight and downtown revitalization (Rep. Salisbury)** **Energy policy, Act 45, and the Lightning Plan (Rep. Barton, Rep. Devanzo, others)** **Innovate in PA 2.0 vs. Ben Franklin Technology Partners (Rep. King Cade, Rep. Madsen, Rep. Mullins)** **Waterfront Tax Credit elimination (Rep. King Cade)** **Amazon data centers: incentive package and permitting (Rep. Brenner and others)** **Broadband BEAD funds and prevailing wage classification risk (Rep. Alzheimer)** **Energy grid, permitting, and workforce (Rep. Rigby, Rep. Kozierowski, Rep. Krupa)** **Tourism investments: NFL Draft and America 250 (Rep. Rigby, Rep. Flood)** **Housing Action Plan and the $1B Critical Infrastructure Fund (multiple members)** **Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) and Main Street Matters (Rep. Abney, Rep. Bellman)** **SSBCI tranches and Innovate 2.0 deployment (Rep. Fleming, Rep. Mullins)** **Oversight and governance concerns: Fayette County / CEDO (Rep. Krupa)** **Rural hospitals / Rural Health Transformation Fund (Rep. Kozierowski)** **Minimum wage (Rep. Khan, Rep. Guzman)** **Child care investments and DCED’s role (Rep. Miller)** **Data center siting, regional planning, and grid principles (Rep. Madsen, Rep. Kozierowski)** **Chester receivership / Chester Water Authority (Rep. Lawrence)** **Local government advertising / public notices (Rep. Lawrence, Rep. Daly)** --- **Administrative notes and operational themes** --- **Follow-ups committed by DCED / outstanding items** DCED committed to follow-up actions and/or additional detail on several topics, including: --- **Summary assessment** The hearing presented DCED’s budget priorities centered on:   ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.thedtfirm.com%2Fdts-budget-blog%2F2.25.26-house-dced-budget-hearing](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.thedtfirm.com%2Fdts-budget-blog%2F2.25.26-house-dced-budget-hearing) ## Keep reading [![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PSP.jpg?width=225&height=225&name=PSP.jpg) PSP Budget Related ### 3.11.26 - House Budget Hearing Pennsylvania State Police ](https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/3.11.26-house-budget-hearing-pennsylvania-state-police) [![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/OOB2-1.png?width=847&height=460&name=OOB2-1.png) Budget Related OOB ### 3.12.26 - House Budget Hearing - Governor's Budget Office ](https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/3.12.26-house-budget-hearing-governors-budget-office) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "The DT Firm", "url" : "https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/author/the-dt-firm" }, "dateModified" : "2026-03-02T14:04:54.031Z", "datePublished" : "2026-03-02T14:04:41.000Z", "headline" : "2.25.26 - House DCED Budget Hearing", "image" : [ "https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/DCEC%20Logo.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/2.25.26-house-dced-budget-hearing", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/website/image/logo-DT-firm.png" }, "name" : "The DT Firm" } } ```