When we fight, win.
Without your help, we are unable to do the necessary work to build and strengthen democracy in the Keystone State, Pennsylvania. Thank you for your continued support. Please read this letter for an update on our progress and organizing, and please donate to support our work.
A personal note: A few weeks ago in the Capitol Rotunda, I bumped into a mega-lobbyist (who mainly represents the fossil fuel industry). He asked how it was going, we said that we are making corruption illegal, and he said in a hopeful tone, ‘The only way to beat us is with authentic grassroots pressure, we, the money, have no answer for that.’ We are, right now, on the verge of passing a monumental bill to ban multinational corporate dark money spending. This only happens because of the pressure that MarchOnHarrisburg (ie, all of you) are able to create. All of our wins and success are secondary to your hard work and the forward movement of the entire Pennsylvania democracy movement.
TOGETHER, WE HAVE:
Marched 298 miles
Lobbied almost all of our 253 State Legislators many times
Engaged in over 40 nonviolent direct actions
Conducted two statewide organizing tours
Led three coalitions
Forced five committee hearings on gerrymandering
Passed two Gift Ban bills out of committee
Passed two Open Primaries bills out of committee and one through the full Senate
Passed two campaign finance and dark money transparency bills through the full House
Fully passed one Vote By Mail bill, the first major update to our election laws since 1937.
Updates On Our Work
Making Corruption Illegal:
Join us on Monday at 10am in Irvis Room 515 for a House State Government Committee hearing where our bill to ban multinational corporations from spending on our politics will be voted out of committee.
This monumental bill would ban 98% of the Fortune 500 from participating in PA politics.
From 11am-2pm, we will drop-in on every House office to let them know about the vote. And at 2pm, we will hold a press conference in the Rotunda to announce the news, explain the bill, and keep momentum building toward a full House vote later in the week.
We are eager to pivot to the Senate after next week, and we are already organizing our comprehensive pressure campaign in the Western PA districts of key Senate leaders. The climax of our Senate pressure campaign will be our fifth long distance March On Harrisburg, when we will march 35 miles from Lancaster to Harrisburg from September 13-15, followed by nonviolent direct action in the State Capitol on September 16 and 17. Please join us on Tuesday at 7pm for our March Information Session. And please join our coalition call on Friday at 12pm where we will discuss the bill and the Senate pressure campaign.
Making democracy legal:
In this hyper-polarized and low-enthusiasm election cycle, we continue promoting Ranked Choice Voting as a solution to voter-apathy and a way for voters to speak clearly and confidently through the ballot box. Voters deserve more choice and voice, and Ranked Choice Voting will de-incentivize toxic hyper-partisan campaigning, eliminate the spoiler effect and create space for Independent and third party candidates, and promote diversity among elected officials. We continue our lobbying and public education, and are hopeful for a hearing in the fall in the House to move RCV forward. To educate the public and legislators, we recently held mock ranked choice voting elections on Pixar movies and beer.
We also continue to advocate for pre-canvassing, same day registration, and other voting rights bills to make it easier and safer for Pennsylvanians to vote.
Coalition Building:
Poor People’s Campaign: We are building our team of 200 Pennsylvanians to contact low-frequency poor voters, and we are working toward our June 29th Mass Moral Assembly in Washington DC (Sign up for a bus by clicking here!). Our members continue to serve in leadership roles, including as a statewide chair, logistics co-chair, faith leaders co-chair, and communications co-chair.
Pennsylvania Action on Climate: PAC continues to wage nonviolence and hammer away at the intersection of corruption and climate change, disrupting fundraisers and occupying the legislative offices of public officials who take bribes while the planet dies. PAC has also been busy conducting nonviolence trainings and organizing the various local anti-ecological devastation fights across PA into a coherent statewide movement.
PA Democracy Collaborative: We work alongside other groups in PA that primarily focus on democracy. We are moving forward together to pass pro-democracy legislation in the Legislature, and ensuring that the upcoming election is as safe and smooth as possible.
Leadership Development:
This year, we held our first two five-week courses in lobbying and nonviolent direct action. We also produce regular educational events (Dark Money policy, MoH 101, Poor People’s Campaign 101, letter to the editor writing, and more). The struggle is a school, and we are always learning and developing leaders who are clear, committed, competent, and confident.
Interns: Our first ever rabbinic intern just finished, next year’s rabbinic intern will be joining us soon, and we have eight college interns this summer (three are returning from last summer!)
Communications: We are building our new website to help us better organize and mobilize people, our social media continues to grow across tik tok, facebook, instagram, reddit, and twitter, and we continue to gain media coverage for everything we do, and we are also regularly featured in articles tangential to our work.
Gandhi wrote, “Civil disobedience, therefore, becomes a sacred duty when the State has become lawless, or that which is the same thing, corrupt.” We wage nonviolence with intensity and relentlessness so that we can win democracy: A government of, by, and for the people that governs on behalf of the people’s need and not on behalf of special interest greed. It is our duty to fight, and it is our obligation to win democracy. We appreciate you all so much - we cannot keep moving forward without you.
For Love and Democracy,
Rabbi Michael Pollack
Donate to Sustain Our Movement:
Our 501c3 is March On Harrisburg Education Fund
EIN: 85-0791124
Donation instructions can be found at: www.march-on-harrisburg-education-fund.org
Please mail donations to:
March On Harrisburg Education Fund PO Box 243 Cheltenham, PA 19012-9998
Our 501c4 is March On Harrisburg Inc. EIN: 82-2598652
Donation instructions can be found at www.mohpa.org/donate
Please mail donations to: March On Harrisburg Inc. PO Box 243 Cheltenham, PA 19012-9998