Category: We The People–PA

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3 amendments

  By Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties, PA Constitutional Law, We The People–PA

Republican members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly are determined to move three highly controversial and deeply problematic constitutional amendments through the General Assembly this month and put them before the people in the May primary election. We strongly oppose this effort for three reasons. First, We The People–PA agrees with House Speaker Rozzi and Governor Wolf that the only amendment that deserves immediate consideration is the one to give victims of sexual abuse an opportunity to seek justice in the courts. Many who were abused as children were blocked from pursuing legal action after the age of 30 by a statute of limitations provision in state law. Recognizing how emotionally difficult it is for people abused as children to pursue justice—especially at a time when public recognition and support for them was lacking—the Pennsylvania House and Senate, with substantial bipartisan support, voted twice to put a constitutional amendment on the… Continue reading

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Build a Brighter PA

  By American Rescue Plan, COVID-19, We The People–PA

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan providing grants to all Pennsylvanians, additional funds to Pennsylvania families with children through the child tax credit and higher subsidies for health insurance, we have seen a faster economic recovery than we might have imagined a year ago. And the Infrastructure Bill will help keep the recovery growing by creating 80,000 jobs each year by funding massive new investments in roads, bridges, and public transit, as well as the in the clean energy we need to limit climate change.  But while the federal government has done its part, the state government has not. The economic recovery of thestate lags behind that of other states. Our unemployment rate is well above the national average. And there are many needs that the state could and should be meeting with ARP funds. And many people are still suffering from both the hangover of the pandemic recession and the recent… Continue reading

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We The People – PA Statement on Senate Bill 878

  By Elections and Voting, We The People–PA

We The People – PA is encouraged by the bipartisan Senate effort to find improvements in our electoral process. We welcome senators’ attention to real problems instead of reinforcing myths about the 2020 election. The bill has some good elements but some that concern us as well. So, we also welcome the opportunity that Senators Argall and Street have provided to suggest improvements in the bill. In considering each part of the bill, we suggest that senators keep in mind the following principles. First, the primary goal of any election reforms should be to make voting easier and more accessible for the people of Pennsylvania. Second, while the security of elections is critical to all of us, we must not adopt security features that are unnecessary or that make voting less accessible. Third, county officials can only make voting accessible and secure if they are well funded. Many of the… Continue reading

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We The People – PA Statement on Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee Actions

  By Democracy, Elections and Voting, We The People–PA

Harrisburg, PA — the following is a statement from Marc Stier, director of the PA Budget and Policy Center and chair of the We The People PA campaign. Pennsylvania Senate Republicans are unwilling to address the problems of working people while small businesses and families all over the Commonwealth are still suffering from the effects of a COVID-19 pandemic that has recently become more serious due to the Delta variant of the virus. They have no plans to spend the $7.5 billion of our tax dollars in state bank accounts to help citizens, yet they do have time to continue to spread Donald Trump’s lies and misstatements about the 2020 election under the guise of conducting an utterly unnecessary and duplicative “forensic audit” of it. The latest example of this effort was a decision today, on a 7-4 party-line vote, to issue subpoenas to secure more information about which Pennsylvanians voted and how they voted in recent… Continue reading

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We The People PA Backs Governor Wolf’s Censure of Premature Business Openings

  By We The People–PA

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. Pennsylvanians know that it is up to all of us to work together to protect ourselves from COVID-19. Thus, the We The People campaign supports Governor Wolf’s insistence that all of Pennsylvania follow the best medical and scientific data in determining how fast businesses re-open and the stay-at-home order ends. There is no conflict between health and the economy: we need to protect our health in order to restore our economy in the long term. We deplore the efforts of politicians who have been encouraging businesses to reopen prematurely in violation of the governor’s orders and at great risk to the public at large without proper safety precautions for their employees and consumers, and without sufficient testing and contact tracing in place to protect everyone. Working people and their children—especially the Black and brown people who are overrepresented among frontline workers—should not be put at greater risk… Continue reading

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A Roadmap to a New PA

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Public Policy, We The People–PA

A Roadmap to a New Pennsylvania: State Policy Towards a Safer, Healthier, More Prosperous and Equitable Commonwealth Written by the We The People Policy and Communications Team with guidance and input from our allies. Stephen Herzenberg, John Neurohr, Diana Polson, and Marc Stier. Edited by Marc Stier Below is the We The People’s comprehensive public policy manual for lawmakers and advocates, “A Roadmap to a New Pennsylvania: State Policy Towards a Safer, Healthier, More Prosperous and Equitable Commonwealth,” which was derived from the best policy research from experts across the country, and informed by everyday Pennsylvanians who came together in 13 community meetings all over the state. At those meetings, citizens found broad agreement on what is wanted from state government: public policies that make poor, working and middle-class Pennsylvanians safer, healthier, and more prosperous. This became the We The People – PA policy agenda. The Roadmap is an expanded breakdown that agenda—a… Continue reading