Tell PA Legislators We Need Greater Investment to Reduce Gun Violence

From CeaseFirePA (http://www.ceasefirepa.org):

Outreach and trauma-informed programs are interrupting violence in every part of Pennsylvania right now. But if we don’t continue those efforts, and expand them, the slow work to heal communities and prevent violence will stop.

That’s the chance we have here. It is one our senators are considering right now, but they’re not ready to go to leadership yet. You can make this a top priority for senators…because when they are spending billions in taxpayer money, we want some of it spent to save lives from gun violence. We need at least another $80 million in state investments this year to keep these efforts going—call for this funding at https://ceasefirepa.salsalabs.org/220408InvestBudget/index.html.

These programs matter. They’ll reduce gun violence by 30%. 

Here’s just a few examples of what is being funded right now:

In Harrisburg, the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg is advancing a trauma-informed mentorship program for young people in the community. Near Allentown, the Lehigh Valley Health Network secured $2 million in state investments to directly interrupt violence before it costs lives in schools and communities. In Erie, $1.6 million has been invested for re-entry programs for high-risk offenders, in coordination with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

These programs are disrupting the patterns and policy failures that allow community violence to be perpetuated, but we’ve only just started this work. More investments are needed for us to see the full potential of this effort.

We need you to contact your lawmaker right now. Tell them that as a voter, this issue is a top priority for you. Tell them that dollars spent on reducing gun violence are dollars well spent. We need an $80 million investment from the General Assembly in this year’s state budget.

Thank you for your time and for your continued advocacy.