PA Senate Democrats

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

The Democratic Caucus of the Pennsylvania Senate is committed to serving all Pennsylvanians who call our districts home. We share a strong belief that our government can and must level the playing field so that everyone has a good job to earn a living, an excellent school that delivers beautiful childhoods, a safe affordable home, and accessible care for every mind and body. Our work will not stop until this is true for every Pennsylvanian.

We find ourselves up against actors and agents who are trying to hold these things back from us. From far-right ideologues to enemies of our public schools to greedy corporations, the opposition we face is mighty and entrenched. But let us be crystal clear: we have won enormous victories for PA’s families before, and we’ll do it again.

Jobs

GOOD JOBS

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

  • 100% of jobs pay a livable wage
  • Paid family, vacation, and sick leave for 100% of jobs
  • Fight to provide property tax relief to seniors and working families
  • Protect labor rights and increase worker representation including public sector OSHA protections
  • Invest in infrastructure
  • Encourage small business development and growth
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Quality, Affordable Healthcare

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

  • Protect abortion access and reproductive rights
  • Universal health care coverage for everyone
  • Ensure adequate staffing and proper training for health care workers
  • Support health care providers and frontline workers
  • Retain and recruit nurses
Education

An Excellent Education

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

  • Fight to enact fair and equitable funding and ensure quality and safe learning spaces for every PA child
  • Retain and recruit high quality teachers and childcare providers
  • Make higher education accessible and affordable to all
  • Invest in early childhood education
  • Provide mental and behavioral health services to all struggling children
  • Retain and expand services and providers who help children with disabilities
  • Make childcare accessible and affordable
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Safe Communities

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

  • Equal pay for equal work for all
  • Safe and affordable housing for every Pennsylvanian
  • Ban assault weapons, implement extreme risk protections and expand universal background checks for guns
  • End discrimination in jobs, housing, health care, and education
  • Invest heavily in gun violence & community violence prevention
  • Fund treatment for Substance Use Disorder
  • Eliminate hunger for 100% of household
Education

Clean Air, Water, Energy

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

  • Combat climate change
  • Invest in electric vehicles
  • Ensure all new energy investments are clean, green, and safe
  • Hold fossil fuel industries accountable
  • Provide clean water for every community
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Protect Democracy

FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN

  • Protect voting rights for all
  • Make it easier to register to vote
  • Enact campaign finance reform
  • Protect no excuse mail-in voting and expand drop box access
  • Fund local elections administrations and improve voting equipment

As a housing crisis displaces hard-working families, our caucus championed the Whole Home Repairs program to deliver grant funding to low-income homeowners in need of critical repairs.

We fought to deliver good jobs to our working families by reducing the Corporate Net Income tax and harnessing the power of the tax code to spur more local investments.

Our legislature invested an unprecedented amount of funding in our schools, including mental healthcare for our students so that every child has a trusted counselor available to them.

After a surge in violence across the state, we secured funding to support our law enforcement officers and community violence prevention organizations, doing the work on the ground to keep us safe from harm and stop crime before it even happens. We ensured that every single voice could be heard in our elections by protecting no-excuse mail-in ballots and expanding our ballot drop box program.

Right now, our commonwealth faces overlapping crises: As housing prices continue to skyrocket, our schools are hurting for educators, and our parents struggle to find care for young children as childcare workers cannot make ends meet in a low-paying industry. Families are desperate to feel safe in their homes and communities as gun violence plagues our streets, and seniors need reliable affordable care.

We know that the solution is to build on our work. We must expand our investments in education, school safety, mental health, and good jobs. We must lessen the burden of housing and healthcare costs and ensure that a beautiful life is affordable on one good job.

The Senate Democratic Caucus will continue to lead our commonwealth through these challenges and deliver on the values we all share. As we begin a new chapter under Governor Josh Shapiro, we must take the time and energy to listen to our constituents and ensure a beautiful, vibrant future for every Pennsylvanian.

We invite you to read through our legislative priorities and learn more about how we intend to fight for our values in Harrisburg.

In solidarity,
The Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus