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: Mayoral Candidates Forum; Medicaid Alert & Healthcare Call
Educate: Isaiah Thomas Driving Equality Movie; How Harrisburg Works Video
Empower: Sign Up to Buddy Canvass; Become a PNN Blogger
It's Time to Canvass Your Neighborhood!
Starting Saturday, April 15th thru Election Day
Sign up now to knock doors to support our progressive slate of candidates.
We have a new mayor to elect and Helen Gym is in the thick of the race against some deep-pocketed contenders. Her path to victory? Progressives are going to knock more doors for her than any other candidate!
We're also going to enthusiastically work to elect Seth Anderson-Oberman in the Eighth District in NW Philly, as well as a slate of progressives with records of success both in and out of government. You'll soon receive a PNN Spotlight on each of these candidates that makes it apparent why our members chose them to represent our interests in the next Council.
Here's the Thing: If we can get voters to support our slate as a block of candidates, then we are more likely to cut through the ballot confusion of too-many-candidates-to-compare and get our slate elected. That would be super!
It Starts with a Click: Take a moment to commit your time to one or two shifts somewhere between now and election day. So, click on the link below and break out your calendar to see where you might have a free Saturday (10AM-1PM) or Sunday (1PM-4PM) to knock doors.
Just click the link. If your schedule changes, we understand - things come up. But please don't put it off, because then we can't properly plan. We'd rather have you cancel than wait to sign up. Thanks for your understanding.
Want a Buddy? If you'd like, we'll pair you with one of our other volunteers so you can go out as canvass buddies. You can share the conversations at the doors and the time goes by faster. Plus, for some reason folks are a little more likely to open their doors if they see a team rather than an individual. Check the box that lets us know you'd prefer a canvass buddy.
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Driving Equality: Isaiah Thomas Documentary
Wednesday, April 12th, 6PM, Summit Church, 6757 Greene St
Join us for an eye-opening documentary on Councilmember Isaiah Thomas' historic Driving Equality bill. Thomas speaks personally about his lived experience with traumatic and ineffective pretextual stops, paired with the data that shows this is a citywide and national problem. Councilmember Thomas' bill, just passing one year of enforcement, is being replicated by cities across the nation.
This documentary shares Councilmember Isaiah Thomas' experience, Team Thomas' process for creating and passing this bill, and the reception from the city. The short film will be followed by a Q&A with Councilmember Thomas.
Did You Hear the News? Last year, the FOP sued the City to Block CM Thomas' Driving Equality law, claiming that the ordnance illegally preempted state law. On Wednesday, Common Pleas Court Judge Craig Levin ruled that how and when police carry out minor traffic stops are “matters of purely local concern” and and tossed the FOP lawsuit. You can read more about it here.
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Medicaid Alert: Verify Your Eligibility Now
(or Risk Losing Coverage)
Some 18 million Americans on Medicaid could lose their insurance beginning in April as the COVID pandemic relief funds end. During the pandemic, Medicaid froze the annual requirement of certifying your income and assets to see if you are truly poor enough to “deserve” Medicaid.
Now that the pandemic funds were not extended, everyone on Medicaid will need to go to their county welfare office and get recertified or risk losing coverage.
No advertisement or effort has been made beyond getting a letter in the mail. Too bad for those who moved. This means millions of people will only find out that they lost their insurance when they or their loved ones get sick and show up for health care.
Is this any way to run a health system?
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Video: How Harrisburg Works (Redux)
If you missed our recent workshop on how Harrisburg works, you can watch it online on the PNN YouTube Channel. March on Harrisburg Executive Director Michael Pollack led a discussion of how lobbyists have overwhelmed our state capital with legal largesse in the form of "gifts" that directly influence the decisions of our elected officials, as well as what is being done right now to fight back, and win some crucial battles.
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Get on Our Healthcare Action Committee Call
Tuesday, April 4th, 7PM, Virtual
Of course, the above-mentioned Medicaid problem would be not be a problem at all if we had a single payer, national health insurance system that provided what every other developed country does - health insurance from cradle to grave.
So, let's do something about it. Right now, Brenden Boyle is the only Philly member of Congress to cosponsor the Medicare for All bill. But Dwight Evans, Madeline Dean, Mary Gay Scanlan and Chrissy Houlihan do not.
Ready to Make Some Good Trouble?
Come to our next Healthcare Action Committee Call on Tuesday, April 4th at 6PM to meet with our team and discuss ways we can begin to put pressure on our Congress critters to start representing we the people instead of toeing the Party establishment line.
Click on the link below to get the Zoom. We'll also remind you the day of the call.
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POWER Mayoral Candidates Forum
Sunday, April 16, 3PM-6PM, 3801 Market Street
Join 60 congregations of all faiths across the city at First District Plaza to ask questions of the mayoral candidates in a unique forum - the candidates will meet in a "speed dating" format, rotating among groups who work on gun violence, schools, clean air, good jobs and housing.
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Got Something to Say? Say it as a PNN Blogger!
It's easy to get started as a PNN Blogger. Of course, you need to have something to say and the courage to share your thoughts with others in a public space. We'll work with you to help you find your voice, clean up typos, and share your work with allies in our social media network. Click on the link below to get started.
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This Week in History
April 1, 1946 – United Mineworkers Strike. 400,000 mineworkers went on strike to win union-sponsored healthcare against black lung and other respiratory diseases from mining.
April 2, 1917 – Woman in the House. Jeannette Pickering Rankin from Montana became the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
April 4, 1968 – MLK Murdered. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered as he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis. He was in town to support a sanitation worker's strike.
Thanks for your activism!
Tim Brown, Organizing Director
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