Pennsylvanians Tell House State Government Committee: Anti-Immigrant Legislation Is Bad For Our Commonwealth

Media Advisory

Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

Advocating for immigrants, migrants and refugees

2100 Arch Street, 7th Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Phone: (215) 832-0636      Fax: (215) 832-0527     Email: admin@paimmigrant.org

On August 30 and 31, the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee will hold hearings on Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s “National Security Begins at Home” package of anti-immigrant bills. These Arizona-style measures would be costly to our state and local governments, creating new bureaucracies which duplicate responsibilities constitutionally assigned to the federal government. Unfortunately, the list of witnesses for the hearing has been limited, preventing many sound practical, legal, and moral arguments against this legislation from being heard. For that reason, a diverse group of leaders from the faith, business, legal, and immigrant communities will join the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition for a press conference prior to the hearings to encourage the State Government Committee to defeat all 14 bills.

The anti-immigrant bills that will be discussed at the hearing include:

·         Arizona-style measures that would jeopardize public safety by forcing local police to act as immigration agents;

·         Proposals that would deny vulnerable Pennsylvanians public benefits by requiring them to show government-issued ID;

·         Bills that would restrict job creation by mandating the use of the inaccurate E-Verify database;

·         Legislation that attempts to strip Pennsylvanian children born to undocumented immigrants of their constitutionally guaranteed citizenship;

·         Measures that would deny critical services to many Pennsylvanians by allowing the state to withhold funding from cities or municipalities that offer any type of service to undocumented immigrants.

This legislation is a distraction. On August 30, we will ask our legislators to turn their attention away from divisive proposals that threaten to harm vulnerable Pennsylvanians, waste taxpayer dollars and embroil our Commonwealth in burdensome lawsuits, and instead put the focus back on creating jobs and growing our economy.

WHERE:        Rotunda, Main Capitol Building

                        Harrisburg, PA

WHEN:          12 p.m., Tuesday, August 30

 
NOTE from PA NOW: This press conference immediately precedes the two days of hearings being held by the PA House State Government Committee that is chaired by Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R), the prime sponsor of many of these bills.  Please attend this event in Harrisburg on Tuesday and/or contact your legislator. Tell him/her to vote NO on all of these anti-immigrant bills that threaten the lives of anyone, especially women and children, who look like they might be undocumented. 

I'll be posting a second blog that includes a list of all the bills that will be heard at this hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30 and 31.  This blog also includes Pennsylvania NOW's testimony on several photo identification bills (HB 858, HB 41, HB 738, and SB 9), a bill (HB 857) that denies citizenship to children born in the United States whose parents are not US citizens, and a bill (HB 856) that uses racial profiling to target undocumented laborers.

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Fall Issue of the Pennsylvania NOW Times

The Fall 2011 issue of the Pennsylvania NOW Times is now available online. The newsletter includes:

• The PA NOW PAC Voters' Guide for the November 8, 2011 General Election
• Legislative Updates for the 2011-2012 legislative session in the Pennsylvania General Assembly
• "We've Had Enough!" Information on the September 27 rally at the Capitol in Harrisburg opposing the legislators' attacks on women's reproductive health
• United We Rise - article on the upcoming October 1, 2011 PA NOW Convention and PAC fundraising in Bucks County. There is a discount on registering for the convention if you register by Friday August 26, 2011 (Women's Equality Day). 
• Proposed By-Laws Amendment
• My First National Conference - a first-hand report of the June 2011 National NOW conference in Tampa, FL by Michelle Weisen, member of Ni-Ta-Nee NOW.
• What Can We Do? - tidbits on what you can do for women's equality
• Chapter Exchange - information of actions and programs of some of the local NOW chapters across the state.

United We Rise! Pennsylvania NOW Convention on October 1, 2011

We need and will rise to fight the War on Women that is currently being waged against women in the US and here in Pennsylvania. A war that includes: 1) women continuing to earn only 78% of men’s salaries, 2) Congress and the PA General Assembly’s attempts to take away our reproductive rights;  3) Threats to public education; 4) etc.

Join us at our biennial convention October 1, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Philadelphia Bucks County, 4700 Street Road, Trevose, PA 19053 (215-364-2000).  We will be focusing on this war on women and how, United, we can fight back.

Lodging is $99 + tax/night; deadline for this rate is September 15.  To receive this rate, contact the hotel and mention Pennsylvania NOW when you make your registration.

This all-day conference will include workshops focusing on reproductive rights attacks, school vouchers, single-payer health care, maternity care, and care giving, as well as working in coalitions, voting, and election work to make sure our united voice is heard. In addition, we will be electing new officers, holding a luncheon PAC fundraiser, voting on the proposed by-laws change, and hosting a cash-bar reception in the evening.

ELECTIONS

We will be holding elections for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, & three At-Large Executive Committee members.  The four officers must run together as a slate.  If you are interested running for office, you must contact our Elections Committee. Chairing this committee will be Cindy Purvis (814-460-3568, cindypurvis@velocity.net). Lois Herr (717-371-5721, herrlk@me.com) and Irene Boyle (215- 913-0108) are the other two members of this committee.

PA NOW PAC FUNDRAISER

We have moved the traditional PAC fundraiser from Sunday to Saturday so that more people have a chance to attend if they are not staying overnight.  The keynote speaker at the PAC luncheon will be Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, President and CEO, Women’s Campaign Forum and 2008 NOW PAC-endorsed Congressional candidate from Allentown, PA.

The luncheon will also present current and past NOW PAC-endorsed candidates to the attendees.
This fundraiser will help get out our Voters’ Guide and to also support our endorsed candidates.  Cost is a minimum $50.00/person.  You can use the form below to send in your registration. You can also register online with your credit card for the luncheon at http://panow.org/PAC_file/PANOWPAC.htm.  Then follow-up the online payment with an email to Treasurer Pamela Macklin, pmacfish@aol.com, saying your PAC donation is for the PAC luncheon. Deadline for registering for the PAC luncheon is Friday, September 23.

REGISTRATION FEES

NOW member registration fee is $50.00; early registration by August 26 is $40 in honor of Pennsylvania NOW’s 40th anniversary.  Non-member registration, including a one-year membership is $70.00.  Current members can register and attend the convention on a sliding scale down to $0.00. 

Register online with your credit card at http://panow.org/contribution.htm.  Please follow-up all online payments with an email to pmacfish@aol.com,  saying your “donations” are for your registration and/or PAC luncheon.

You may also register by printing out and mailing in the registration form pictured below.  You can also contact us at panow@panow.org and we will email you a full-size copy of this registration form.

Registration Form for PA NOW Convention

We've Had Enough!

Across the country, women’s reproductive rights are being attacked. In some cases it’s shouting and harassment when a woman seeks treatment at a women’s health clinic for either an abortion or for other reproductive health services. In other instances, it’s legislative attacks that attempt to deny a woman access to all forms of reproductive health services, including screenings, contraception, and abortion services.
In some states and at the Federal level, this has taken the form of funding restrictions on Planned Parenthood. The federal effort fortunately failed in the US Senate. Some states, including Indiana, New Hampshire, and Texas, have unfortunately restricted this funding.

Other states, including Pennsylvania, have attacked women’s reproductive health by passing TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider) laws which require extensive renovations that may be physically impossible in existing facilities and which are different and more burdensome than for other medical facilities; they also often include unannounced inspections. SB 732 has passed the PA Senate and the House Health Committee. A full House vote is expected in September or early October. This bill, if and when it becomes law (the Governor has said he will sign it) will shut down the 22 free-standing abortion clinics throughout PA. This amendment requires all free-standing abortion clinics to meet the standards for the Ambulatory Surgical Centers in addition (and in some cases, in contradiction) to the Abortion Control Act, the Ambulatory Gynaecological Surgery Facility Regulations, and the MCARE Act which they already have to follow. Take a moment and go to the Pennsylvania NOW blog to compare what the current abortion clinic regulations are and what this TRAP law would do.

Other legislative attacks occurring across the country—e.g.,in Tennessee and Missouri as well as here in Pennsylvania—are attempting to pass “Stupak on Steroids” bills that will, starting in 2014, prohibit women who purchase health insurance through the new federal health insurance exchanges, from purchasing, WITH THEIR OWN MONEY, coverage for abortion services and, depending on how it is interpreted, possibly even the purchase of contraceptives. Specifically Senate Bill 3 will deny insurance plans participating in the insurance exchange from covering abortion services except in the cases where the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or where the life of the woman is in danger. Note that this legislation is not necessary. The question of whether abortion will be covered in federally subsidized insurance exchanges has already been settled. In response to concerns raised by US Senator Ben Nelson, a staunch opponent of abortion, women who want to use their own money to purchase a health insurance plan that covers abortion services must send a separate payment so the funding for abortion coverage is completely separate and paid entirely by the individual.

And against the backdrop of this wave of anti-abortion legislative assaults previously mentioned, Operation Rescue/Operation Save America are targeting abortion clinics in Orlando, FL and Germanantown, MD, in an attempt to shut these clinics down via efforts to block clinic entrances and harassment of women attempting to receive treatment at abortion facilities in these two cities. In Orlando, Operation Rescue/Operation Save America attempted, but failed to shut down six clinics during the week of July 22. In Germantown, Operation Rescue has announced plans for a “Summer of Mercy 2.0″ targeting the brave and outspoken Dr. LeRoy Carhart in Germantown, MD, July 31-August 7. Operation Rescue is the same organization that hounded Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, KS, for years (until he was assassinated by one of their associates in May ’09). Their original “Summer of Mercy” in 1991 shut down access to the Dr. Tiller’s clinic for six weeks and resulted in 3,400 arrests, they are invoking this alarming history again in their “Summer of Mercy 2.0” event.

WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!

You can show your support for women seeking abortion services by helping out in Germantown this week. Between July 31 and August 7, activists will be needed from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. outside of Dr. Carhart’s clinic, located at 13233 Executive Park Drive in Germantown, Maryland. These shifts will kick off with the Summer Celebration of Choice Kick-Off Walk on Sunday, July 31 and continue through the evening of Sunday, August 7. To sign up for a shift, please go to www.summerofchoice.com or contact NOW Field Organizer Anita Lederer at fieldorg@now.org.

You can also speak out against the legislation winding its way through the Pennsylvania General Assembly by participating in Pennsylvanian’s for Choice “We’ve Had Enough” rally on September 27 in Harrisburg in the Capital Rotunda. Join us in telling the PA Legislature to STOP the attacks on women’s health in Pennsylvania! You can sign up at http://www.wevehadenoughpa.org/take-action.html to join in our effort to stop this legislation. Help us fight these dangerous bills and join us in declaring that…

WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!

Contraception is Prevention

From Raising Women's Voices...

Contraception is Prevention: Make Sure Health Reform Treats It That Way

The new health care reform law is lowering the cost of preventive health services by eliminating co-pays and deductibles for these services in all new insurance plans. Amazingly, however, contraception is not yet included in the list of preventive services exempt from this kind of “cost sharing” – even though birth control is one of the preventive services that’s most critical for protecting women’s health.

This summer, U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will decide whether contraception should be added to the list of preventive services that are exempt from co-pays and deductibles under health reform. She will receive a recommendation from medical experts at the Institute of Medicine in July and is expected to issue a ruling in August.

Take Action Today:

Tell HHS to add contraception to the list of preventive services exempt from insurance company co-pays and deductibles so that comprehensive contraceptive care will be available at no additional cost.

Sign our petition at http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/contracpt-is-preventn-petition/

Mobilize your friends and neighbors to speak out on this issue!

Between now and when HHS announces its decision, you can help secure this women’s health victory by raising the visibility of this issue in your community. You can make sure that policy makers in Washington hear the message loud and clear– comprehensive contraceptive care should be exempt from cost-sharing, just like other medically proven preventive health care. Raise the topic at community meetings and educational forums on health reform and other places where women’s health is being discussed. Here are key points to make

• Women strongly support removing co-pays for preventive health care services.
• Contraception is essential preventive care for women, and better access to comprehensive contraceptive care leads to better health for women and their babies.

The Case for Having Contraception Exempt from Co-Pays and Deductibles

 Eliminating cost barriers to contraception will prevent health problems for women and families. Cost-sharing requirements, like co-payments, make people, especially low-income people, less likely to get health services, including preventive care and prescription drugs.1

In 2009, 30 percent of sexually active low- and middle-income women reported having put off a gynecology or birth control visit to save money; one-quarter of those who used the contraceptive pill reported saving money by using the method inconsistently.2

In states that made it easier for low-income women to afford contraception by extending Medicaid family planning coverage to more people, there was a dramatic drop in the incidence of short birth intervals (a year or less between babies) for women in the program. Shorter times between a birth and a subsequent pregnancy make preterm birth and low birth weight more likely, which has serious negative consequences for the babies’ health.3, 4

There is broad public support for making contraception available at no additional cost. Public opinion research shows that 84 percent of adults nationwide believe family planning services, including contraception, are important to basic preventive health care services. This strong support crosses many demographic lines: 5, 6

·         77 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Independents and 93 percent of Democrats agree.

·         77 percent of Catholic women voters say insurance should cover the full cost of contraception

·         Latinas and African American women ages 18-34 are almost unanimous in their support for this policy (89% and 92%, respectively).

Medical and public health experts agree with the public – contraception is prevention.

There is a strong public health consensus that contraception is an essential tool in preventing bad health outcomes for women and children. The CDC cites family planning as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century, noting that access to contraceptive services and supplies is responsible for expanding intervals between births, “contribut[ing] to the better health of infants, children and women.”7

“Contraception is an essential and basic preventive health service; it reduces the number of unintended pregnancies and thus the need for abortion.”8

Association of Reproductive Health Professionals

References

1 Swartz K, Cost-sharing: effects on spending and outcomes, Research Synthesis Report, Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010, no. 20

2 Guttmacher Institute, A Real-Time Look at the Impact of the Recession on Women’s Family Planning and Pregnancy Decisions, 2009. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/RecessionFP.pdf

3 Conde-Aguedelo A, Rosas-Bermudez A and Kafury-Goeta AC, Birthspacing and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes: a meta-analysis, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2006, 295(15):1809-1823.

4 Zhu BP, Effect of interpregnancy interval on birth outcomes: findings from three recent US studies, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2005, 89(supplement 1):S25-S33.

5 Survey Findings on Public Support for Family Planning, Lake Research Partners, June 3, 2011

6 Fully Covering Rx Birth Control, June/July 2010, Hart Research for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: family planning, Morbidity and Mortality

Weekly Report, 1999, 48(47):1073-1080.

8 http://www.arhp.org/about-us/position-statements#11

VOUCHERS ARE MOVING IN THE SENATE – WE NEED YOUR CALLS AND EMAILS TODAY

Please contact your own State Senator today urging them to vote NO on any school voucher bill and then contact as many of these critical Senators as time permits. The following Senators are especially critical as they may swing the vote:

Argal (717) 787-2637 dargall@pasen.gov
Greenleaf (717) 787-6599 sgreenleaf@pasen.gov
Gordner (717) 787-8928 jgordner@pasen.gov
Alloway (717) 787-4651 alloway@pasen.gov
Vogel (717) 787-3076 Evogel@pasen.gov
Ward (717) 787-6063 kward@pasen.gov 
Yaw (717) 787-3280 gyaw@pasen.gov
Vance (717) 787-8524 vance@pasen.gov
Baker (717) 787-7428 lbaker@pasen.gov
Boscola (717) 787-4236 boscola@pasenate.com
Stack (717) 787-9608 stack@pasenate.com

If your Senator isn't listed above, you can find his/her contact information at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator.

House Education Committee to Hold Hearing on School Vouchers This Wednesday and Thursday

I received an email this afternoon from Carol Karl, the Assistant Director of Government Affairs for PSEA.  She had just been notified that the House Education Committee is holding hearing tomorrow, June 22 and Thursday, June 23 on "Charter School Law and School Choice.”  By the latter, they mean tuition vouchers.  

The first hearing starts 9:00 AM tomorrow, Wednesday, and will be held in Room G50, Irving Office Building, Harrisburg.  The second hearing starts at 9:00 AM on Thursday and will be held in Room B31 Main Capitol, Harrisburg. The people testifying on Wednesday are primarily legislators and officials, with one charter school representative. The Committee is working on Thursday’s schedule, which is where our groups would fit in for testifying against school vouchers.

As many of the PA NOW leadership will either already be in Tampa, FL or on their way down there for the National NOW Conference, I sent an email out to the Republican leadership of the House and to the Republican members of the House Education Committee asking them to oppose any school voucher bill or amendment, including SB 1, which I've previously blogged about (see here and here and here).   Here's that email. 

You too can email, call, or fax these same legislators.  To help you do this, the Keystone State Education Coalition has created a list of these legislators' contact information.  Click here, find the your Representative and contact him/her.  If your Representative isn't listed here, the contact the Republican House leaders to express your opposition to school vouchers.  Representative Mike Turzai is the House Majority Leader and Representative Stan Saylor is House Floor Leader.

Dear Representatives Turzai, Saylor, Clymer, Tallman, Milne, Quiqley, Rapp, Cox, Emrick, Fleck,  Gillen, Murt, O'Neill, Rock, Simmons, and Truitt
On behalf of the approximately 14,000 contributors and dues-paying members, I am writing you to ask you to vote no on SB 1, the proposed School Vouchers bill when it comes up in the Education committee for review.  Here is why.
Two thirds of the public oppose school voucher that give tax-payer money to private and parochial schools. This bill removes funds for public education from struggling school districts by creating a voucher program to send taxpayer monies to private and parochial schools with little or no oversight as to the education provided in these schools.

Pennsylvania NOW opposes school vouchers for several reasons.

• School vouchers are clearly unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania Constitution. Article III, Sections 15, 29, and 30 clearly prohibit state funding of non-public schools:
• Article III, Section 15 states, "Public school money not available to sectarian schools. No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school."
• Article III, Section 29 states, "Appropriations for public assistance. No appropriation shall be made for charitable, educational or benevolent purposes to any person or community nor to any denominational and sectarian institution, corporation or association…" The only exception to this constitutional prohibition is for state grants and scholarships for higher education.  
• Article III, Section 30 states, "Charitable and educational appropriations. No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or educational institution not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth [emphasis added], other than normal schools established by law for the professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House."
• Schools accepting the vouchers can discriminate in whom they accept, which could possibly violate the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act. SB 1 specifies that nonpublic schools may not discriminate in its enrollment decisions based on race. All other forms of educational discrimination would be allowed as this bill provides wide flexibility to these schools regarding other admissions policies. Therefore, a non-public school could receive monies from the state while being able to deny admissions based on gender, religion or ability. Boys, but not girls could be accepted. Christian, but not students from a Jewish or Muslim home, could be accepted. In addition, children who do not have a disability or who are "gifted" would be admitted but children who have a physical, emotional, or cognitive disability could be denied admission under SB 1. Note, it is the private schools – not the parent or the public school – who determines who is admitted. Thus, a private school can select whomever they want and still take public funding. Likewise, these schools can kick out any student they want to at any time without any protective recourse as is present in the public school system.
• Voucher programs provide little to no accountability to Pennsylvania taxpayers. Private schools do not have to follow the Department of Education's academic guidelines and students are not required to take any of the state-mandated school assessment tests. As such, there is no way for parents to determine if their children would be receiving a similar quality of education.
• Vouchers do not improve academic achievement. The schools that are targeted in SB 1 are the "under-achieving" schools in the state. The vast majority (n=125) of the 144 school districts listed by Senator Piccola are urban school districts with high levels of poverty. Research has shown that out-of-school factors such as food insecurity; lack of access to health care and insurance; family relations and family stress; and the community environment all affect academic achievement. Students who are hungry have problems concentrating in school. Students in stressful family situations and/or who are victims of or witness abuse often develop social and emotional problems that manifest themselves in low academic achievement. School vouchers do nothing to ensure that these out-of-school factors will change or improve. Without changes to the environment surrounding people living in poverty, the negative impacts of poverty will simply follow the student and continue to undermine his or her achievement potential. School vouchers do not change this one iota. This failure of education provided through a voucher program can be seen in Milwaukee, WI.  The Milwaukee schools have been using school vouchers for 20 years and have spent $1 billion spent on these vouchers.  Last year, for the first time, voucher students were finally required to take the same state assessment as the public school students. The results for voucher students were dismal, especially in math at all grade levels.
• Children who remain in the public schools have less funding available for their education. In a tight economic environment and with a mandate to expand funding for vouchers from a minimum of $53.4 million in the first year to over $1.3 billion in the third year and thereafter, public school funding will be even further threatened. Where is this money going to come from? New taxes? This number assumes that ten percent of eligible students will use the vouchers. By pulling state funds away from the public school system and still requiring those schools to continue paying for the "in-kind" services of transportation and books, the struggling school districts will have even larger financial holes that they will need to dig out of. Robbing Peter to pay Paul – or in this case robbing public schools to pay for private, parochial education – will contribute to more, not less, problems in these school districts. Moreover, it will threaten the very existence of the right to full education for all as these schools continue to fall further and further behind.

We therefore strongly encourage you to oppose and vote NO on any school voucher bill or amendment that comes up before the Education Committee or that comes to the floor of the House.
Please respond and let us know how you will handle this issue.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Joanne L. Tosti-Vasey, Ph.D.
President
Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.
P.O. Box 68
Bellefonte, PA 16823-0068 

Please take a moment and contact the House Education Committee.  Add your voice to the people testifying on Thursday by calling, emailing, and or faxing the House Committee members and telling them to vote no on ALL School Voucher proposals, including SB 1.

Thank you.