UUPLAN will kick off 2010 focusing on same-sex marriage, global warming, and campaign finance reform. Please join us in advocating for these important changes in our state laws:
Is it Getting Warm in Here?
UUPLAN members are passionate about protecting our beautiful state. That is why, leading up to Earth Day, we are asking you to advocate for the Clean Energy and Jobs Bill (HB80/SB92), which reduces Pennsylvania’s reliance on coal and oil. Did you know Pennsylvania produces more heat-trapping gases than 47 states? Only California and Texas produce more.The Clean Energy bill will:
- increase Pennsylvania’s alternative energy requirements from 8 percent to 15 percent.
- significantly decrease greenhouse gases.
- create thousand of new jobs in our state.
Sharon Pillar is a member of Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church in Pittsburgh and is the global warming outreach coordinator for PennFuture. She has agreed to be UUPLAN’s environmental issue coordinator.
For our first advocacy effort on this issue, we ask that you visit this link, from where you can electronically send a letter to your representative in support of HB80. The form allows you to personalize your message. Please mention UUPLAN—remember you are writing as a person of faith whose religious tradition speaks to the interdependent web of life of which we all are a part.
If you would like to write a letter to the editor of your local paper, or write directly to your elected representatives in Harrisburg, you will find useful background information on PennFuture’s site.
We will be asking UUPLAN liaisons to table at their congregations leading up to Earth Day to provide support for this important legislation. Look under the Contact Us tab to see if we have a liaison at your church. If we don’t, or if you would like to help your liaison with this effort, please contact info@uuplan.org and we’ll be in touch! We need new energy and ideas to make a difference for all Pennsylvanians!
Standing on the Side of Love
UUPLAN’s campaign in support of Senate Bill 935, legalizing same-sex marriage, was our biggest campaign yet. We delivered 1,500 Valentines to 37 out of 50 senators in the state legislature and 107 out of 200 representative districts.Sen. Daylin Leach, sponsor of SB 935, received many Valentines from grateful UUs in the Philadelphia/Main Line region. His letter in response: The support of faith communities, especially Unitarian Universalists, has been critical in the fight for marriage equality in Pennsylvania. This will be a long, tough battle, but one well worth waging. As the primary sponsor of SB935, I guarantee that I will do all I can to see that Pennsylvania “stands on the side of love.”
Sen. Leach held a Feb. 8 press conference in Harrisburg, at which UUPLAN’s Alanna Berger, member of Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, and the Rev. Dr. Justin Osterman, senior minister of Main Line Unitarian Church, Devon, were both featured speakers.
“As a person of deep personal religious conviction and the leader of a community of faith, I believe that this bill challenges us to live up to the highest ideals of our American democracy and plumb the depths of our hearts – the depth of our spirits – to act in the name of love and justice,” said Rev. Osterman.
You can read Rev. Osterman’s full remarks here.
You can also see a video of Rev. Osterman and of Alanna delivering their remarks.Alanna reports that Leach’s bill is stalled in the senate. In the meantime, she is seeking UUs to target members of the senate judiciary committee, which is considering SB707. This bill would change Pennsylvania’s constitution to define marriage to be one man and one woman. Ideally, this bill would die in committee, as most bills do. Is your senator named: Greenleaf, Boscola, Pileggi, Costa, and Vance? If so, call, write, or visit to encourage them to keep this bill in committee.
E-mail Alanna at glbt@uuplan.org if you would like to help defeat SB707.UUPLAN sends a big THANK YOU to the following congregations, which helped us Stand on the Side of Love in February:
Allegheny UU
Buxmont Unitarian Fellowship
East Suburban UU Church in Murrysville
First UU of Berks County
First UU Philadelphia
Main Line Unitarian
Restoration
Thomas Paine
Towanda UU Fellowship
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
UU Church of Athens & Sheshequin
UU Church of Lancaster
UU Church of Lehigh Valley
UU Church of Meadville
UU Congregation of York
UU South Hills
UU's of Cumberland Valley
UU's of Pottstown
UU's of Washingtons Crossing
Wellsprings
Campaign Finance Reform Heating Up
When public officials consider legislation, they often receive huge contributions from wealthy special interest groups affected by their decisions. Examples include insurance companies stifling health care reform or polluters killing environmental legislation.Pennsylvania is one of only 12 states without a law on the books limiting campaign contributions. At UUPLAN, we don’t think “you get what you pay for” is a great way to run a state. Those with the most money get what they want, which is often at odds with the interests of the people of our commonwealth.
UUPLAN is partnering with Common Cause/Pennsylvania in supporting House Bill 1910. This bill was introduced in the state House of Representatives by Rep. David Levdansky (D-Allegheny) and 24 cosponsors. It was referred to the House State Government Committee, chaired by Rep.
Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia). It pertains to elections at the state and local level, not federal elections such as for the U.S. Congress.House Bill 1910 would:
- require the disclosure of more information in campaign expense reports that contributors and candidates must file.
- establish a limit of $2,400 on the size of contributions made by individuals to candidates for statewide office and a limit of $500 to candidates for the state legislature or county or local office for each election (primary and general).
- establish a limit on contributions from PACs to between $1,000 and $5,000, depending on the number of donors to the PAC.
- place a limit of $5,000 on the size of contributions that anyone can make to a PAC.
- limit to $25,000 the total combined campaign contributions any person can give in a calendar year to all candidates, PACs, and other political committees.
UUPLAN members are asked to be attentive to legislative alerts on this issue in early 2010, when we hope to see action on HB 1910. For more information please visit the clean elections area of the Common Cause website.
UUs Bring Their Voices to the Public Square
UUPLAN Board Member Cynthia Jones and Celia Sharp, a fellow member of the Buxmont UU Fellowship, meet with Gov. Rendell at a March 9, 2009 conference in Harrisburg organized by UUPLAN partner PA Health Access Network (PHAN). Cynthia is UUPLAN's point person on health care issues. Celia is a volunteer at a free clinic in Doylestown and advocates for health care for undocumented workers and their families.
Rep. Tony J. Payton Jr. (Democrat, Philadelphia County) joined a long list of speakers at the March 17, 2009 rally for HB 300. The consensus was that the time has come for ALL Pennsylvanians to enjoy basic rights. However, the speakers reminded the crowd that the work has only just begun.
