Friends of LittleSis,

I grew up around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where relics of billionaire power from the days of Carnegie, Frick, and Mellon remain all around us. But alongside this history of corporate power in the region is a rich history of resistance, with Pennsylvania workers and their families taking on billionaires and corporations to create unions, higher wages, and better lives for themselves.

Today, we’re seeing a new rise in billionaire and corporate power in Pennsylvania. The richest man in the state, Jeffrey Yass, founder of private equity firm SIG, has been spending tens of millions of dollars to influence Pennsylvania’s elections. He wants to use his billions to elect candidates that will defund public schools, bust unions, block any increase to the minimum wage, and lower taxes for the rich. All this comes on top of the millions spent by our largest corporations – EQT, PECO, PNC Bank, and more – to push their right wing corporate agenda in Pennsylvania.

This past year, in coalition with organized communities all over the state, we took on the most powerful corporations and billionaires like Jeffrey Yass.

Will you help us keep challenging billionaire power in 2024?

I traveled around the state educating organizers and community members on the deep connections that bind together the power elite in Pennsylvania as it pushes its pro-corporate agenda. LittleSis power research also helped shape a major demonstration outside of the Metropolitan Club in New York City, where the PA Manufacturers Association, an advocacy group with ties to both the fossil fuel industry and Jeff Yass, was hosting its annual breakfast for PA politicians from both sides of the aisle to schmooze with corporate leaders. See video of the action here! 

In 2024, big money interests like Yass are expected to play an outsized role in Pennsylvania elections and the state budget process. But we can’t let Yass and his corporate allies determine what Pennsylvania will look like for all of us. In order to win a minimum wage above $7.25, to win union rights, to win fully funded education and affordable housing, and to win solutions to climate change, we must take the state’s billionaire class head on.

LittleSis and our partners are up to this challenge, but we need your support!

Donate today to support our work in Pennsylvania!

Onward,

Aly Shaw, Research Analyst