PNN’s mission is to engage, educate and empower our neighbors to make our City a better place to live. Here’s what’s coming up in each of these areas:
Engage: Join Our Online All-Hands Meeting on March 23rd
Educate: Our Primary Endorsements, Tell Your Reps to Help Students in Need
Empower: Save the Train Lobbying in Harrisburg, Petition to Repeal Act 40
Annual "All-Hands" Membership Meeting
Saturday, March 23rd, 3PM-4:30PM, Virtual
Our most important meeting of the year will take place on Saturday, March 23rd starting at 3PM. It's our annual All-Hands Meeting that will be conducted virtually (via Zoom). This year we need your hand more than ever to defeat the looming threats we have to democracy itself from MAGA Republicans.
We are going to unveil our plan for preventing a catastrophic change in the White House at this event, as well as have a discussion of specific things we can do on the ground in Philly to advance the cause of justice in 2024.
Speaking of threats to democracy, you'll hear from D.A. Larry Krasner about Act 40, the blatant attempt to nullify the voice of Philly voters, and how this is part of a larger attempt by a minority party to subjugate the will of the American people.
You'll hear from Councilmember Kendra Brooks on the State of the City and State Rep. Chris Rabb on the State of the State, and how each plays a role in protecting our democracy.
Our action-packed agenda will include:
Highlights of the Year. We've had a busy year. Get a review of all the actions, rallies, issue and electoral campaigns in which PNN participated.
Issue Work. PNN Steering Committee Member Seth Anderson-Oberman will introduce our Working Groups on criminal justice & prison reform, the environment, economic justice & public banking, housing, and education. Learn how you can plug into this work.
Primary Election Plan. We will roll out PNN’s plan to Get Out the Vote. This local election is an opportunity to expand our progressive leadership in Harrisburg, and get our team out there knocking doors and practicing their skills for the all-important Fall campaign.
Summer Immersive Community Work. If we want to keep our democracy safe from Trump/Putin fascists, then we need to win Pennsylvania. And that only happens if we successfully engage voters in our lowest-turnout neighborhoods. Learn how we will work to build trust and increase turnout in this disenfranchised community.
Now is the time to sign up for our Annual All Hands Meeting to learn how you can make a difference. Once you sign up, the zoom information will be sent to you.
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Here Are PNN's Primary Endorsements
The Votes are In! Our members overwhelmingly voted to endorse an outstanding slate of progressive candidates for local, state and national office. Accordingly, after reviewing the candidates’ questionnaires, interviews, campaigns, priorities and accomplishments and the overwhelming vote of the members in a poll, Philly Neighborhood Networks is endorsing the candidates listed below in the 2024 Primary Election.
PHILLY NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKS ENDORSEMENTS IN 2024 PRIMARY
PRESIDENT - JOE BIDEN
US SENATE - BOB CASEY
PA ATTORNEY GENERAL - EUGENE DePASQUALE
PA AUDITOR GENERAL - MALCOLM KENYATTA
PA TREASURER - RYAN BIZZARO
PA SENATE REP DISTRICT 1 - NIKIL SAVAL
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 10 - CASS GREEN
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 181 - MALCOLM KENYATTA
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 182 - BEN WAXMAN
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 184 - ELIZABETH FIEDLER
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 188 - RICK KRAJEWSKI
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 200 - CHRIS RABB
PA HOUSE DISTRICT 201 - ANDRE CARROLL
For more information, you can review the Reasons for Endorsement Recommendations.
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Ready to Buddy Canvass? Sign Up Now
We will be lending our canvass support to our slate of diverse candidates for state and federal offices. This canvassing will set the stage for our our work this summer and fall. If we want to win in the fall, we need to start that work now.
If you can help canvass on a Saturday or Sunday next month, please let us know your availability by filling out the form below. As usual, we will pair you up with a Canvass Buddy to make the important work we must do more fun together!
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"Save the Train" Lobbying in Harrisburg
Monday, March 18th, 7:25AM, 30th Street Station, Train to H'burg
Join activists for a press event in Harrisburg with state Sen. Art Haywood, followed by day of visits to state legislators. We'll board the 7:25AM Amtrak train from 30th Street Station to Harrisburg and walk over to the State Capitol for the press event. We will depart on the 3:08PM Amtrak train which arrives in Philly at 4:58PM. Click the link below for more information.
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Sign the Petition to Repeal Act 40
We are calling on the Pennsylvania Attorney General to DECLARE Act 40 Unconstitutional and to REFUSE to appoint an unelected prosecutor to replace the lawfully elected District Attorney of Philadelphia. We also call upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to REPEAL Act 40.
In effect, the law authorizes an unelected Attorney General to appoint an unelected special prosecutor who would then have the authority to strip Philadelphia’s Lawfully Elected District Attorney of jurisdiction in almost any case they choose.
Act 40 also takes away the power of the locally elected Mayor and City Council in that it allows an unelected official to take an unlimited amount of money from the city’s general fund, a function that is currently the sole responsibility of the Mayor and City Council who we elect.
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Tell Your Reps to Vote "Yes" on HB 2063 to Help Students in Need
Every child in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is entitled to a quality education. We must ensure that taxpayer-funded scholarships are properly allocated and well accounted for. HB 2063 guarantees that at least 90% of taxpayer contributions will fund actual scholarships for PA students who live at less than 200% of the Federal Poverty level. Click the link below to send a letter to your State Representative and State Senator.
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Take the Safe Streets Survey
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas is asking city residents to weigh in on which of our streets need speed enforcement cameras. Take a moment to click the link below to let him know what you think. This feedback will help City Council formulate the policies that will lead to safer thoroughfares in Philly.
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Joe Biden: Job Creator!
Almost 14 million jobs have been created since Joe Biden became president. That's more job growth than under any president, ever. How did he do this? Well one way is through the Good Jobs Initiative. His Department of labor embedded job quality and equity incentives into nearly $100 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. And those investments help create good quality jobs that expand pathways to the middle class, particularly in communities that need them the most.
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This Week in History
Mar 15, 1965 – LBJ Calls for Equal Voting Rights. President Johnson addressed Congress to urge the passage of voting rights legislation, saying "all of us...must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice."
March 18, 1942 – Japanese Relocation. The War Relocation Authority was established at the start of WWII. More than 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese decent were rounded up on the West Coast and put into camps.
March 19, 2003 – Bush Attacks Iraq. After months of ginned up rhetoric about WMDs, the Bush Administration began their war on Iraq, leading to the deaths on more than half a million Iraqis and the waste of hundreds of billions of US taxpayer dollars.
Thanks for your activism!
Tim Brown, Organizing Director