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PNN Newsletter: Call to Action for Public Banking Bill, Support Registration for Students, more

As we enter the last month of the year, truly significant things are happening in our city. The public banking bill is finally scheduled for a hearing on December 13th and we need your help to get it passed. The Board of Education is considering a policy change that would mandate that every eligible student is offered the opportunity to register to vote at their school, and we need your help to motivate BoA members to make it so. You can join our Election Committee and help plan the 2022 campaign. We're looking for volunteers to help plan a Speaker's Series on Waste Reduction. And we report good news for rent-to-own home buyers.


Call to Action on Public Bank Bill

Monday, December 13th, 10AM


It’s put up time on public banking for the City Council Finance Committee. They’re the ones who will be considering the latest version of Councilmember Green’s public banking bill, introduced yesterday. The next step is a hearing on the Bill in the Finance Committee on Monday, December 13th, at 10 AM, followed immediately by a Committee vote. If approved by the Committee, the bill will be up for final approval by the full Council at its first session next year, late in January. We need your help to contact members of the Finance Committee to vote yes on this bill.


Strictly speaking, this bill is actually an enabling act to create a “Public Financing Authority.” But it is a major stepping stone on the way to an actual public bank that would enable the City to take its money out of the major Wall St. banks, and deposit them with a bank owned and controlled by the people. And the way the bill is structured, it would indeed be the people who run the bank, because Board members would have to be nominated by organizations concerned about environmental justice, education, low-cost housing, co-ops, small business development, and other public interests. For more information, See Summary of Public Bank Bill 210956.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Review the Advocacy Tool Kit. It has all the information you will need – contact information, sample scripts and emails, posts for FB, Instagram and Twitter

  • Contact Finance Committee Members Now and latest by December 13, 9AM. The sooner the better. Contact all members by telephone and email. Please also use FB, Instagram and Twitter, if you can.

  • Report Results of your Outreach to tim@phillynn.org. Note if you get a response from any of the Council members.

We all need to speak up in favor of this bill. Although the original bill, introduced last January, had 12 sponsors, this one has only three as we speak. The powers that be have been working hard to cast doubt on the need for a public bank because they think the status quo is just fine. We know better, but we need to get the bill out of the Finance Committee. There are 8 members - we need 5 of them to vote yes!


We’ll also let you know how you can sign up to be heard at the digital Finance Committee hearing on December 13, @ 10 AM. We’re on our way folks – with your help - to being the first City in the nation with its very own public bank!


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Tell the Board of Education to Pass Student Voter Registration


We are working with PA Youth Vote, the folks responsible for registering more than a thousand students attending Philadelphia’s high schools. They have developed a model voter education and registration policy for Philadelphia’s district schools as a part of the current civics curriculum.


Make no mistake, this is a big deal. When put into effect, it will make voter registration a routine practice for about 8,000 students each year!


This will be a massive win for democracy, as voter registration becomes a rite of passage for every eligible student in the City. And as more young voters are enfranchised, year after year, our voter base continue to grow, making Philadelphia a more powerful voice in state-wide and presidential elections. Imagine the impact that 24,000 new voters could make in the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania.


After more than two years of advocacy, the Board is finally considering the implementation of such a policy.


We want to give them a nudge - by using the letter-generating tool created by our friends at AFSCME DC 47 that makes this process very easy. Your letter will go to the Board of Education, City Council, and the Mayor’s Chief Education Officer. Click below to get started.

  • Click Here to Start

  • Enter your Name, Address, and Email

  • Click on START WRITING

  • You can Modify the Letter (or leave it as it is), and Sign Your Name

  • Click on SEND LETTER

PNN will keep you up-to-date on the success of our efforts to make voter registration policy in our schools, and we'll let you know when we need your help with decision-makers. Once this policy is implemented, we plan to follow up with students to help make their first voting experience a memorable one and make voting a life-long habit.

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Join the 2022 PNN Election Committee!


I don't think we need to tell you how important the 2022 General Election will be for the future of our nation. It's all hands on deck to keep control of the House and try to get a few more senators, so that corporate bootlickers can't block progressive goals. Turnout in the Keystone State will decide who gets that open senate seat and who gets the governorship.


You'll be part of the team that puts activists at the doors on weekends, you'll strengthen our already strong presence in NW Philly, and you'll help build our capacity in new areas of the City where neighbors have asked for our organizing help. If you would like to be part of this team, please send an email to tim@phillynn.org.

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Volunteers Needed to Plan Speaker Series on Philadelphia Waste Reduction

Thursday, December 16th, 6:30PM, virtual


The PNN Environment Action Committee is seeking volunteers to help with our newest project: The Philadelphia Waste Reduction Speaker Series. Launching in late January, this project is a collaboration with the Plastic Reduction Task Force of Weavers Way Food Co-op.


This monthly series is being designed to educate and inspire folks to become active in the zero waste movement, covering a broad range of topics, starting with a Movie Night featuring "The Story of Plastics". We're looking for volunteers to help plan and develop this speaker series, including research, writing, marketing, promotion and production.


We are meeting on zoom on Thursday, December 16th at 6:30PM. For more information and the zoom link, please send an email to pnnenviro@gmail.com

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Big Win for Rent-to-Own Home Buyers

Report, Philadelphia Inquirer


A Pennsylvania court just ordered that hundreds of homeowners who were misled by rent-to-own agreements be given the deeds to their properties. The judge agreed with the state's attorney general that these agreements were actually designed to get renters to pay for costly repairs, then use the first opportunity to evict them and rent to someone else for more money. 285 homes across the state were ordered to be handed over to the renters. Read more.

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This Week in History


Dec 5, 1933 – Prohibition Ends. Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment that banned the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes.”


Dec 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor. Calling it "a day that will live in infamy", FDR informed the nation that the Japanese attacked the US naval base in Hawaii.


Dec 8, 1980 – Lennon Shot. Former Beatle John Lennon was murdered in front of his apartment building in NYC. Lennon had released "Double Fantasy" a month earlier, which was awarded a posthumous Grammy.


Thanks for your activism!

Tim Brown, Organizing Director

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