For MLK Day of Service, Hundreds Gather For March to Raise Wages

For MLK Day of Service, Hundreds Gather For March to Raise Wages

Hundreds of people were late for appointments today, January 20, 20020. The reason they were late can be placed squarely on Speaker of the House Mike Turzai and Rep. Jim Cox who have done nothing to raise the state minimum wage past $7.25/hr. They have had...
Germantown community stands together for wage increase

Germantown community stands together for wage increase

The Germantown community came together on Martin Luther King Day to continue pressuring the owner of a McDonald’s franchise at 29 E. Chelten Ave. to address what participants called wage injustice. State Sen. Art Haywood along with the Rev. Kent Matthies, who is...

31 State Legislators from 15 States on What Roe v. Wade Means to Them

“The state legislature has no place interfering in a woman’s reproductive health. The decision to terminate a pregnancy is already an extremely difficult choice–but it is a right. I will continue to vote no on any legislation that interferes with a woman’s right to...
Germantown community stands together for wage increase

Sen. Haywood wants to tackle injustices in 2020

State Sen. Art Haywood aims to focus on economic, environmental and social justice in the new political year. “My office will respond to the decades of injustice,” he told The Tribune. “Specifically on economic justice, we shall work to implement recommendations in...
Senator Haywood and Power caroled to McRaise the Wages

Senator Haywood and Power caroled to McRaise the Wages

State Senator Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) joined POWER to Carol for A McRaise event outside of the Chelten Avenue McDonald’s. This was an effort to get owner Derek Giacomantonio to raise the wage of his employees to $15 an hour.

“We came back to this McDonald’s to share the message of the season,” said Senator Haywood. “Hopefully our songs will heal Derek G’s heart and allow him to pay his employees a living wage.”

Pa. Minimum Wage Increase Won’t Happen Until 2020

Pa. Minimum Wage Increase Won’t Happen Until 2020

Pennsylvanians waiting for an increase to the state’s minimum wage will have to wait until 2020. A Senate Bill to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour passed the Senate in November, but the House Committee where the Bill sits did not bring it up for a vote. That...
State Senate approves Polk measure

State Senate approves Polk measure

The Pennsylvania Senate approved a bill Monday that seeks to put a moratorium on the planned closure of Polk and White Haven state centers until a series of steps are taken. Senate Bill 906 passed by a 40-9 margin and will now head to the state House for...
In McKeesport, poverty talk goes over the “benefits cliff”

In McKeesport, poverty talk goes over the “benefits cliff”

Efforts to fight poverty in Pennsylvania have long focused narrowly on getting people into jobs, but that won’t work if it also pushes people off of a proverbial financial cliff, officials said Friday in McKeesport at the presentation of a report on deprivation...
In McKeesport, poverty talk goes over the “benefits cliff”

Pa. tour sheds light on poverty ‘box’ and yields proposals

Over the course of a tour to the four corners of Pennsylvania, state Sen. Art Haywood began to envision poverty as a box, with lots of people inside it. The four walls of the box are low pay, inadequate transportation, inaccessible child care and unaffordable...
Why 7 Pa. legislators ‘worked’ at a burrito shop Friday

Why 7 Pa. legislators ‘worked’ at a burrito shop Friday

A group of Pennsylvania Democratic legislators served chips and salsa at El Fuego, a burrito shop next to Washington Square Park Friday to call attention to two efforts — on the state and federal level — to raise the minimum wage for the first time in almost 10 years,...
Governor champions gun control measures

Governor champions gun control measures

HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Wolf joined a group of lawmakers and gun control advocates Wednesday to call for renewed action on gun laws ahead of Gun Violence Awareness Day Friday. “The time has come to end gun violence in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said. “We need to end mass...
Wolf joins rally for gun violence awareness

Wolf joins rally for gun violence awareness

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Gov. Tom Wolf joined lawmakers and activists at the state Capitol on Wednesday to commemorate Gun Violence Awareness Day. The governor last year signed Act 79, a law that forces domestic abusers to surrender their guns. It was the...
Gun Violence Awareness Day rally held at State Capitol

Gun Violence Awareness Day rally held at State Capitol

Pennsylvania’s top political leaders are calling for an end to gun violence, and at a rally Wednesday at the State Capitol for Gun Violence Awareness Day, Governor Tom Wolf said the state has more work to do. At the rally, Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell...
Black Voters Challenge House Members: Why Is Trump Still in Office?

Black Voters Challenge House Members: Why Is Trump Still in Office?

PHILADELPHIA — Moments after the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, wrapped up his appearance at the Justice Department on Wednesday, Representative Dwight Evans stepped out of his district office in a black working-class neighborhood here to visit with local...
Lawmakers push for more solar energy use by 2030

Lawmakers push for more solar energy use by 2030

Pennsylvania used to be a leader in bringing renewable energy to the state’s power grid, but lawmakers said Wednesday the commonwealth is “lagging behind” its neighbors now. A bipartisan effort to increase renewable energy use in Pennsylvania to 30 percent by 2030...
Harrisburg protest calls for new gun-control law

Harrisburg protest calls for new gun-control law

As a piece of domestic violence legislation that removes guns from those under a protection from abuse order becomes law today, that bill’s champion – state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown – is setting his sights on further restrictions against those who might use...