From Fair Districts PA (http://www.fairdistrictspa.com):
This summer, dozens of Fair Districts PA volunteers have donated hundreds of hours in dozens of counties, talking to fellow Pennsylvanians about PA’s broken legislative process.
What we’ve found as we’ve talked at PA fairs and community days: most folks don’t know that fewer than one in five bills introduced is even considered in committee.
Most don’t know that fewer than 7% of bills introduced per session are enacted into law.
Most haven’t heard that half the bills passed by the PA House never get a vote in the Senate, and less than half passed in the Senate don’t get a vote in the House.
Maybe most important: most aren’t aware that Pennsylvania’s expensive, full-time legislature is among the five least effective in the nation. Whether you evaluate legislatures by number of bills enacted or percent of introduced bills signed into law, PA is near the very bottom.
Bills with strong public support can sit in committee decade after decade, or pass in one chamber to be ignored in the other. That’s why so many across PA have given up on any help from Harrisburg. It doesn’t need to be that way. We’d like your help to change it.
Why is Fair Districts PA talking about legislature rules? Our goal from the start has been to see our legislature amend the PA constitution to create an independent, citizens redistricting commission. What we’ve learned in the six years since we started is that legislative rules block reform and allow committee chairs and party leaders complete control over what bills get a vote. Most states don’t allow such a small handful of leaders, elected by such a small percent of the population, such absolute control.
Until we have better legislative rules, solutions the people of PA want will never be enacted.
Petitions in PA don’t have any legal standing, but they DO show public concern and help us make the case for reform.
So – please sign the petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/fix-harrisburg, then share this email with a friend. (Cut and paste rather than forward so your friend doesn’t accidentally unsubscribe you!)
With your help, we can double our number of petition signers quickly!
PS: Since the first Monday of September is Labor Day, our monthly Volunteer Update Zoom meeting will shift to Monday, September 12 at 7 pm. These meetings are a chance for conversation with FDPA leaders about ways to become more involved as volunteers. We have a busy fall planned and could use your help. Register here.
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