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Welcome to April, John!
We're just 46 days away from Election Day in the Commonwealth, have you checked your voter registration status [[link removed]] lately? It only takes a few minutes! Remember, May 2nd is the last day to register to vote in the May 17th primary election.
Here are the important dates to mark on your calendar:
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NPP IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Hundreds gather at City & State’s inaugural Above & Beyond Awards
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Congratulations to our own Kadida Natasha Kenner, House Democratic Leader and NPP board member Rep. Joanna McClinton, and all the incredible honorees who made City and State PA [[link removed][0]=AZUb0DqhPFfjVwVRjq7Jkt7_GSx3IOL3Pbczx7Rc2qBCxBpfGPmCM3qh1NqIhsJ4RivkKrP1DyYXwBr8-2Y6HW8CeN8aJu0OBFvM7ebjmE1Ra7V7np5LLYxjpdLtmKZcKxStJCBiZUgWxvsOvwlDRZD3ClupAfL3jSaGsnweJb3KMQ&__tn__=kK-R] 's Above and Beyond. See all 40 PA women honorees [[link removed]] .
Your Voice. Your Power. Your Vote: Resistance—How Women Saved Democracy
NPP executive director Kadida Kenner joined the Philadelphia Commission for Women alongside Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown and Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin for a conversation about the role of women in achieving voting rights.
This series is also part of a citywide commemoration of the 200th birthday of Harriet Tubman--legendary abolitionist, underground railroad conductor and lifelong advocate for voting rights.
Catch the full recap here [[link removed]] .
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Reminder: It's time to request your mail ballot
You can vote by mail for this upcoming primary election on May 17th. Vote by mail works for Pennsylvania. 2,616,012 Pennsylvanians were able to vote safely and securely in 2020 thanks to Pennsylvania’s landmark vote-by-mail law, Act 77.
Learn more about voting by mail [[link removed]] .
Vote By Mail [[link removed]]
Voter Registration Lookup [[link removed]]
Register to Vote [[link removed]]
#FRIDAYMOOD
When we say representation matters, this is what we’re talking about!
#ConfirmJudgeJackson
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STATE AND LOCAL NEWS
Spotlight PA leads historic coalition to host debates for Pennsylvania U.S. Senate primary races
Spotlight PA announces dates for two “Pennsylvania in the Spotlight” U.S. Senate debates leading up to the spring primary.
Read more in Spotlight PA [[link removed]]
Pa. redistricting maps: Search now to see your old and new political districts
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in February selected a new congressional map that closely resembles the current one, with the partisan makeup of the state’s delegation unlikely to change dramatically. The U.S. Supreme Court in March declined a request to block the map’s usage for this year’s primary election.
Read more in Spotlight PA [[link removed]]
Outside groups flood Pa.’s U.S. Senate race with cash
A new analysis by the political prognosticators at Decision Desk HQ sheds more light on the former, revealing that outside groups have pumped an eye-watering $68 million into this season’s U.S. Senate primaries, far outpacing the $48 million spent on Senate primaries at the same point in the 2020.
Read more in Penn Capital Star [[link removed]]
Cities and towns across the state are electing female mayors at record rates.
From Scranton to Harrisburg, Upper Darby to Gettysburg, and in burgs across Pennsylvania, women aren’t just getting a seat at the table – more often, they can now be found at its head.
Read more in City & State PA [[link removed]]
Upcoming Events
Threats to the Pennsylvania Constitution Symposium
April 12, 2022 06:30 PM
The Constitution of Pennsylvania, like that of the United States, was designed to ensure our future as a republic, or in Madison’s words, a government in which all power comes directly or indirectly from the people. The separation of powers and checks and balances were designed to block an accumulation of power in the hands of any one body and the use of that power to undermine the rule of law and our representative democracy.
Members of the General Assembly have been putting forward a series of constitutional amendments that in dramatic ways would change how we choose legislators and Justice and judges as well as change the balance of power between the different branches of government.
This symposium will consider these proposed constitutional amendments and ask whether they enhance or threaten the Republican character of the government of Pennsylvania.
Register here via Zoom. [[link removed]]
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April Volunteer Opportunities
Check out our volunteer sign up for April 2022- there are the different volunteer opportunities that we have scheduled for the month ahead. Please mark those that you would like to be part of. You can sign up for more than one [[link removed]] !
The Policy Corner: Fair Education Funding
student learning [[link removed]]
Photo credit: Pexels
Every child in Pennsylvania has a right to a quality education, yet too many children across the commonwealth suffer from inadequate and inequitable K-12 funding. We have some of the most unequally funded schools in the entire country. The state’s share of K-12 education funding is around 35%, far below the national average of 50%. Schools with a high proportion of households below the poverty line have a funding gap of over $3,000 per student, meaning schools need an additional $3,000 per student to provide an adequate education. When we look at the funding gap by race and Latinx ethnicity, we see a funding gap of more than $2,500 in school districts with the highest share of Black students and more than $3,000 in school districts with the highest share of Latinx students.
Pennsylvania also spends less than the national average on higher education ranking 47th out of 50 states for higher education spending per capita. This results in high tuition which makes college unaffordable for many working families and years of crippling debt for many students. The future of Pennsylvania’s kids and economy are threatened by cuts to funding in higher education. Pennsylvania has cut funding for higher education per student by 33.4% since 2008, the 6th greatest cut of any state in the country. Pennsylvania has the worst college expense burden, relative to income, in the country for white, Black and Latinx students costing 34% of the median income of all families in the state. College costs are even worse for Black students at 56% of the median income and Latinx students at 48%.
When we talk about voting your values, we want you to think about the issues that matter to you and your family. Every child in Pennsylvania deserves an adequate and equitable education and should be able to look forward to college as an option to continue their education without extreme expense burdens and crippling debt. Our state legislators have the power to determine how our state budget gets spent, including how much funding we are allocating towards K-12 and higher education.
Related Article: Read the Washington Post's higher education piece Colleges scramble to recruit students as nationwide enrollment plunges. [[link removed]]
Help us reach our goal to register 50,000 voters in the Commonwealth
We can't do this important year-round work without you.
Will you help us defend democracy by expanding the electorate in Pennsylvania?
Invest in our democracy [[link removed]]
Volunteer with Us [[link removed]]
Make a Plan to Vote [[link removed]]
The New Pennsylvania Project is a 501(c)(4), contributions are not for charitable purposes and are not tax-deductible.
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