John,

There is an established firewall that prevents members of Congress from spending the taxpayer money their offices are allocated on campaign expenses. Until elections are publicly funded, candidates and elected officials are expected to raise everything that their campaign spends.

But there is a workaround.

Members of Congress are expected to keep their constituents informed on legislation and as such, Congressional offices are given a place in their budgets for mailers and other services to provide this information. To prevent the abuse of this service, there is a blackout timeframe on sending these mailers during established election periods. 

Members of Congress trying to save a quick buck and get a mailer out to voters on the taxpayer’s dime wait until immediately before the blackout period and then send out mailers. 

That’s exactly what our opponent Congressman Dwight Evans did this past week. The blackout period for PA elections is March 18th and he got the following mailer out just in the nick of time for his constituents to foot the bill. 

Notwithstanding the clear intent to violate the spirit of Congressional accountability laws, there was another pretty egregious issue with the letter.

The mailer has a critical omission: a “Dollars Taken from You” section.

In the late 1990s, when our opponent was the chair of the PA House Appropriations Committee, the Philadelphia school district - along with ten black and Latino parents, the mayor, the superintendent of schools, and the NAACP — sued the state of Pennsylvania in an attempt to force the then GOP Governor, Tom Ridge, to fund Philly’s struggling school district.

Rather than side with the plaintiffs, Rep. Evans turned his back on PA families and sided with the PA GOP to pass Act 46 which laid the foundation for Pennsylvania’s corrosive charter school system, the brainchild of arch-conservatives obsessed with defunding public education. Take it from the late head of the Philadelphia Teachers Union, Ted Kirsch, “We were friends ... he’s just decided to pursue this right-wing agenda to get elected.”

Let’s take a look at what Congressman Evans has cost the district for pursuing this right-wing agenda:  

• In 2020 alone, Act 46 cost Pennsylvania schools $4.6 Billion dollars.
• The budget shortfall per student in the Philadelphia City School District in 2020 was $5,583 per student.

Rep. Evans' collaboration with the PA GOP to push charter schools and defund public education is directly responsible for these crushing statistics. We deserve better.

If we want to take back America’s bluest district from the right-wing agenda obsessed with defunding our public schools, we need your help more than ever. Will you take a stand for Philadelphia students, teachers, and families, by chipping in $5 to help the campaign close out the month of March stronger than ever?

If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your contribution instantly:

I hope you will consider joining our fight to stand up to the PA GOP and the right-wing Democrats who they have co-opted to defund PA’s struggling schools.

In solidarity, 

Team Hunt 

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