Progress Pittsburgh

Governor Ed Rendell has set a Special Election for the May 18th Primary Election Day to fill the unexpired term of the late Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Johnstown…Republicans and Democratic Party officials each will nominate a candidate for the May ballot to fill out the term…in addition to the election for the rest of Murtha’s term, voters will be asked to select Democratic and Republican candidates for the November election to a full term for the Congressional seat…if the Party leaders are good at their jobs, they will figure out a way to pick a candidate to fill the seat ’til January – a man or woman who stands a good chance of winning the Party Primaries on the same day…this is going to be very interesting…

Mary Beth Buchanan – former U. S. Attorney for Pennsylvania’s Western District – has filed papers to run as a Republican against incumbent Democratic CongressmanJason Altmire…she has yet to make a formal announcement…three others – Bob Klein, Keith Rothfus and John Vinsick – already have announced intentions to seek the Republican nomination…

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty holds a news conference this morning to announcehe is dropping out of the Democratic Primary for Governor and instead seek the Party nomination to succeed the retiring State Senate Floor Leader Bob Mellow…the Democratic contest for the gubernatorial nomination continues forward without formal Party endorsement…State Auditor General Jack Wagner won a majority of the endorsement votes but fell short of the required two-thirds of the votes for endorsement…more and more the race is looking like a struggle between Wagner and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato…

Harrisburg Online is a publication of Greenlee Partners, LLC. (It tends to be conservative-leaning but provides good information.)

With the Race for PGH 2009 moving very slowly this summer (Is there even a race or does Ravenstahl have it all locked up?).  Looks like some things are happeing in the next years Race for PA.

Don Cunningham, who is currently the Lehigh County Executive, has dropped out of the race for governor.

From the Post-Gaezette – Dan Onorato ($4 millinion +) has a lot more money than Jack Wagner ($325,000) in his PAC.

Here is the latest email from Dan Onorato’s campaign manager Kevin Kinross…

Dear Friends,

As Dan Onorato continues to prepare Southwest Pennsylvania to host this fall’s G-20 economic summit and lay the groundwork to run for Governor, I wanted to give you a quick update from the campaign trail:

Building Strength in Southeast Pennsylvania

Today, we picked up a major boost in the Philadelphia suburbs when Senators Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) and Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) said that Dan Onorato should be Pennsylvania’s next Governor.

Sen. Dinniman said that: “In this recession, it is absolutely critical that our next Governor understands how to create the 21st Century jobs that will make us leaders in the new economy.  That’s why I’m backing Dan Onorato.”

And Sen. Leach said that: “Even if it means challenging members of his own political party, when Dan sees corruption or government inefficiency, he will get in peoples’ faces and demand change.  That’s exactly what we need in Harrisburg.”

Both Senators also said that Dan would be the strongest Democrat to take on the Republican nominee.  Read more about these key endorsements

Taking a Strong Stand Against Discrimination

Last week in Allegheny County, Dan signed the region’s strongest anti-discrimination ban into law – sending a clear message that discrimination against anybody is wrong, always.

The new law bans discrimination on the basis of gender, race, mental or physical disability, religion, ethnicity, national origin, age, educational status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

All of our citizens need to know that they are fully protected when it comes to employment, housing and public accommodations. This law doesn’t infringe on anyone’s religious rights, but it does make sure that everyone feels welcome to work here, raise a family here and be part of our community.

Expanding Our Fundraising Lead

Thanks to your help, when it comes to raising the resources needed to win statewide, Dan continues to outpace his potential opponents. In fact, Dan has raised more than all of his potential Democratic and Republican opponents – combined.

Check out this recent article: “Onorato far outpacing Wagner in the money game.”

But we know this race will soon be targeted by the national Republicans, so your help now is critical. Please help us expand our grassroots base and make a contribution today – every little bit helps.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kevin Kinross
Campaign Manager
Friends of Dan Onorato

This important bill for equality is receiving some resistance from local residents. Please call your representative to demonstrate support for the bill:

PROPOSAL/ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This legislation would amend the act of O ctober 27, 1955(P.L.744, No.222), known as the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, further providing for findings and declaration of policy, for right to freedom from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation; define “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression”; and further provide for unlawful discriminatory practices, for powers and duties of commission, for education program and for construction and exclusiveness of remedy.

Requiring voters to show ID every time they vote is a barrier to voting. Contact your state representative and senator, and members of the relevant committees, and ask them to vote against such a requirement.

You can find your representatives’ contact information here.

The Senate Bill in question can be found here.

Here are some helpful talking points on the issue:

It makes sense that voters identify themselves at the polls.  In Pennsylvania, we already require first-time voters to do that.

• Voter registration is up in Pennsylvania.  We should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder.

• Photo ID laws discriminate against the elderly, disabled, poor, and minority voters, many of whom do not have the kinds of identification required by the proposed law and may not have the resources to get it. Thousands of otherwise eligible Pennsylvanians could be disenfranchised by this law.
• Pennsylvaniaalready has a commonsense voter identification law that ensures that eligible voters are who they say they are on Election Day.
• There have been no documented instances of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania and adopting an overly-restrictive, burdensome law here in Pennsylvania doesn’t make sense. The legislature would be dealing with a problem that doesn’t exist in Pennsylvania.
• The photo ID law amounts to a poll tax. Costs can be a significant barrier to obtaining a photo ID. Even when the ID itself is free, there are hidden costs such as transportation to various agencies and fees related to acquiring supporting documents like birth certificates.
• Elections cannot be fair if eligible voters are not allowed to vote.

State Budget Basics 101: What Every Progressive Leader Needs to Know

With the current economic situation, understanding Pennsylvania’s revenue system, tax policy and budget is a critical priority for people involved in progressive advocacy, politics and policy. Join Susan Gobreski, Executive Director of Education Voters PA and Sharon Ward, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center for a primer on Pennsylvania’s budget and tax system and the implications for policy priorities, including education funding and up to the minute information about the impact of the stimulus package.

Founded in 2005, the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (PBPC) is a nonpartisan, statewide policy research project that provides independent, credible analysis on state tax, budget, and related policy matters, with attention to the impact of current or proposed policies on working families. The Budget and Policy Center analyzes and disseminates information on short-term budget, policy and revenue proposals as well as long-term trends and challenges.

Pittsburgh Brown Bag Lunch
Thursday February 18th, 11:30 am- 1pm

United Steel Workers Building
5 Gateway Center
Stanwix St & Boulevard of the Allies
Pittsburgh PA

Join Education Voters PA on Facebook and rsvp : http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=709937891#/event.php?eid=63384611487

or rsvp through email: anne@educationvoterspa.org

or phone: 215 -564- 2299

Sponsored by:

Education Voters PA is a non partisan organization working to promote a pro-public education agenda to ensure that every child gets an excellent education, including working to elect people who support public education. Education Voters Institute is working to engage the public in public education policy issues.

The Center for Progressive Leadership (CPL) is a national political training institute that develops diverse leaders who can effectively advance progressive political and policy change.

Pennsylvania VOICE, a statewide collaborative involving more than 60 organizations dedicated to nonpartisan voter registration and protection efforts, has just released a preliminary report detailing its work on the 2008 Elections in Pennsylvania — and is already gearing up for the next series of elections. 

According to Pat Clark of Jackson/Clark Partners, statewide consultant for Pennsylvania VOICE, the collaborative is looking for additional nonpartisan partner organizations to help in its ongoing efforts, and will be convening statewide meetings of its partner organizations in the coming months. Volunteers interested in helping with Pennsylvania VOICE’s voter registration and protection efforts are also being encouraged to contact the organization as it looks ahead to the 2010 and 2012 elections. 

Highlights of the 2008 election report include: 

• Registering 294,225 voters across the state during the 2008 calendar year (for the primary and general elections), or more than 41 percent of the approximately 711,000 voters registered statewide,
• Awarding 12 Pennsylvania nonprofit organizations a total of more than $40,000 in re-grants to support their work in helping to engage under-participating constituencies in the voting process, and
• Monitoring nearly 4500 calls on election protection hotlines during Election Day (November 4, 2008), including nearly 1400 reports of voter problems and issues, which were then investigated by collaborative personnel deployed statewide. 

The report, downloadable here, details the work that the collaborative did in reaching out to “non-voting or underperforming constituencies who rarely if ever are reached by partisan campaigns,” according to Clark. 

Clark notes that the organizations who have come together as part of Pennsylvania VOICE are “primarily community service organizations that will succeed in the peer-to-peer contact this effort requires. Those people who often get left out of the process trust these organizations.”  More »

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• Meet the Real Joes – Keystone Progress is interviewing real Joes. We've travelled around Pennsylvania and we've met some very interesting people who we believe represent the reality of Joe-ness. Check out these video interviews
• Our Vote Live | Allegheny County, PA – This site lists real time lists of voting problems that have been reported in Allegheny County. Check it out if you want to see what issues are being reported here. This site also offers reports for all of the US.
• Trick or Vote! – October 31st – Nationwide GOTV canvass

Image via CrunchBaseJust 1 day left to register to vote in the great state of Pennsylvania to vote for the Presidential election in November, 2008.

If you are on Facebook there is an easy easy to make sure your friends are registered to vote. The Everybody Vote Facebook application! http://apps.facebook.com/everybodyvote/

Everybody VOTE is a non-partisan voter registration and mobilization campaign created to increase voter participation in Pennsylvania and dedicated to expanding the role of the state’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in voting and elections.

This application allows you to register to vote, as well as verify if you and your friends are already registered.

Help spread the word:

• Add the Everybody Vote Facebook Application
• Be a fan on the Everybody Vote Application Fan Page
• Join the Everybody Vote Group on Facebook

More »

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) seeks to add an outreach coordinator to its staff in its Pittsburgh office. The outreach coordinator will be responsible for recruiting new members; providing education about environmental issues with an emphasis on air-, water-, mining-, and energy-related policies to PennFuture members, the environmental advocacy community, and decision-makers; and assisting in issue campaign strategy and implementation throughout western Pennsylvania.

Qualifications – Applicants should have a bachelor’s degree and two years of outreach and/or issue campaign management experience.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and two writing samples by email (preferred) or by mail to Heather Sage, Vice President, PennFuture, 425 6th Ave., Ste. 2770, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Salary – Upper 20s to mid 30s depending on experience. This will be a full-time position. PennFuture is a public interest organization and equal opportunity employer.

This series is written by Jennifer Rapach, a delegate representing PA-4. 

So yesterday started with our PA delegation breakfast.  Several big wigs spoke, including Governor Rendell, Senator Casey, and Brian Schweitzer, the Governor of Montana.  I’ve heard him speak before, and I adore him.  I was actually hoping he would be on the VP short list.  However, I’m very happy with Joe Biden.  Anyway, message of the day was party unity, and I have to say I’m feeling it.  I don’t know what the media are saying about the Clinton-Obama thing, but all the delegates I have come across are on the bus.  I’m not hearing anything about division.  All of the Hillary supporters I’ve talked to, while understandably disappointed that their candidate didn’t win, are behind Obama now.  They are wearing Obama pins and cheering on the floor.  So whatever nonsense is being stirred up by the media or the McCain Campaign is not accurate.  And you all know me well enough to know that I am honest in my politics, and I don’t try to spin things.

More »