There’s good news from Harrisburg: In a lopsided 146-50 vote, Pennsylvania’s State Assembly passed HB 257, the long-stalled raise in the minimum wage. A large number of Republicans joined the solid Democrats on Wednesday to increase annual pay for the state’s lowest-wage workers by $4,000. Hourly pay would bump up to $6.15 starting July1 this [...]
Just back from the legislature’s February-March break, Pennsylvania’s Assembly Appropriations Committee unanamously approved sending the minimum wage bill (H.B. 2021) to the full House for a final vote. Then, after the Committee adjourned, Chairman Brett Feese pulled it back, using a maneuver to reconsider the bill. It’s now four consecutive legislative weeks that Committee Republicans [...]
Here comes Pennacchio: At its annual endorsement meeting Saturday in preparation for this spring’s primary election, the Bucks County Democratic Committee reflected a growing recognition of progressive U.S. Senate candidate Chuck Pennacchio. Pennacchio, a Bucks resident whose name has been unknown to most Pennsylvanians, garnered a surprising 47% of the vote, nearly edging out major [...]
Congratulations to Gov. Ed Rendell for standing up to the Republican-dominated state legislature in their attempt to limit voters’ rights! In a speech at the National Constitution Center, the Governor announced yesterday he would veto the bill passed by the state legislature that would make voting more cumbersome by requiring every voter to show an [...]
Remember the first time you voted and had to show your ID? There’s new legislation requiring voters to remember to bring proper ID at every election. The state Senate and Assembly passed House Bill 1318 on party-line votes– with Republicans in favor of cracking down on teens who haven’t gotten drivers’ licenses, little old ladies [...]
In a Valentine present to Pennsylvania’s low-wage employers, the Republican majority in the State Assembly yesterday voted for the third time in as many weeks to block a Democratic-backed bill to raise the minimum wage. The vote came just as the Assembly started its break for the rest of the month. The new rate, a [...]
Interested in local politics and community service? Are you ready to go beyond merely complaining about the system? A good place to start in Philadelphia is the position of Ward Committee Member– no experience is required, and there are almost 7,000 openings! Here’s how it works: The City has 66 Wards which are divided into [...]
Sometimes, just when you think the levels of incompetency, corruption, and near-criminality in the BushCo administration can’t get any worse, they up the ante and pull another one out of their bag of crap. Krugman, via Atrios (who reposted the entire thing “for educational purposes”): The new prescription drug benefit is off to a catastrophic [...]
In a cynical act of political theater, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has picked Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum to craft new ethics and lobbying legislation, according to a mass email from the Bob Casey Senate campaign. “Not only has Rick Santorum accepted more money from lobbyists than any other senator this election cycle, he is also [...]
The rich get richer and the poor will be freezing to death. I wish this was surprising. I wish this still made me angry. I wish things were different, but this is George Bush’s America we live in and there’s only one thing the Republican leadership cares about: fealty to their corporate overlords. The AP [...]
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