Philadelphia – November 25, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione will begin distributing more than 1,500 Thanksgiving turkeys to needy families in the 2nd Senate District at 1 p.m. today at her 1061 Bridge Street district office.
Tartaglione will travel throughout the district delivering turkeys this week. Your coverage is invited.
Harrisburg – November 25, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today urged students to take some time to research often overlooked college scholarship opportunities.
“You don’t have to be able to dunk a basketball or graduate at the top of your class to get help with college tuition,” she said. “There are numerous opportunities for students with focused interests or a record of volunteer work.”
Scholarships can be awarded to students who demonstrate or show high-achievement in areas such as academics, athletics, music, art and many other fields. They can be offered by federal or state governments, schools, civic organizations like the Rotary or Lions Clubs, religious institutions, businesses or trade associations and private foundations.
Students should ask school counselors if they are aware of scholarships that may be available, in addition to exploring the free scholarship search engines and databases on the Internet.
“Researching scholarships should be part of every student’s college preparation,” Tartaglione said. “It’s possible to cut years off student loan payments.”
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) produces a career and college-planning website (www.educationplanner.org), which has links to FastWeb, a free national scholarship search engine. Once students complete their profile, the FastWeb search engine provides links to the awards that match their profile. Each award links-out to the application for the scholarship.
Harrisburg – November 20, 2013 – The transportation funding plan that passed the Senate tonight was the ‘flawed product of a flawed process,” state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today.
“Changes to Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage laws have been proposed and debated for years and have failed to reach a majority or even a consensus,” she said. “Leveraging this unpopular idea against the safety of Pennsylvania drivers, who make millions of trips across structurally deficient bridges every day, is pure politics and bad public policy.”
After Senate Republican leaders rebuffed an attempt to amend the House transportation plan to remove the controversial wage language, Tartaglione voted for the critical transportation improvement plan on final passage.
“There is no time to go back to the start on a transportation plan,” she said. “I believe the safety of drivers and the soundness of our economy is at risk if we don’t start rebuilding our long-neglected infrastructure.”
The $2.4 billion package increases spending to $1.7 billion by the fifth year for highway and bridge projects. Another nearly $500 million would be targeted for mass transit and $144 million for multi-modal projects.
It is expected to create more than 60,000 jobs and create an improved infrastructure that will attract billions in private investment.
The new transportation investment is largely paid for by the removal of the cap on the Oil Company Franchise tax over a three-year period to generate $1.8 billion by FY 2017-18. Fee and fine increases included in the bill would raise hundreds of millions more.
Tartaglione noted that she voted in favor of a similar funding plan, Senate Bill 1, that passed the Senate on an overwhelming, bipartisan vote earlier this year without the prevailing wage changes.
“It’s is good news that help is coming for commuters and public transit riders,” Tartaglione said. “But the process that produced that funding is a sign that difficult decisions will not be made in the future without partisan gamesmanship.”
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Harrisburg – November 19, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today joined Senate Democratic colleagues in announcing a series of bills intended to address problems faced by Pennsylvania veterans in their return to civilian life.
“Today’s returning veterans face unique challenges in returning to civilian life after long deployments during a weak recovery from recession,” Tartaglione said. “We have to do more than just thank them for their service.”
Tartaglione, Democratic Chair of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, discussed the legislation, titled “Saluting PA Veterans,” at a Capitol news conference with Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia).
Their plan contains measures intended to help returning veterans with education, housing and jobs, in addition to initiatives that provide monetary assistance, counseling services and financial relief for families.
In the package of bills is a Tartaglione-sponsored measure requiring the state Department of Health to provide training for emergency service providers to help them recognize and treat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or brain injury.
“This effort will involve virtually every department of government in making sure veterans and their families are understood and not underserved,” Tartaglione said.
Pennsylvania is home to nearly 1 million veterans, more than 100,000 of them having served in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. The unemployment rate among recently returning veterans is above the rate of the civilian population, despite their military training.
The Salute Pa Veterans Plan also includes:
Senate Democrats had previously introduced several legislative items within the context of their PA Works plan. These have been incorporated into the Saluting Pa Veterans plan. These initiatives include:
Development of a training program to help veterans start small businesses; creation of a $5 million veteran-owned businesses loan guarantee; new tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans; new standards to incorporate education and training in the military into education credits to help expedite the obtaining of a degree; doubling of tuition assistance and increasing the years the assistance is provided.
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HARRISBURG, Nov. 18, 2013 – The state Senate today unanimously passed a resolution sponsored by Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione marking Dec. 3 as “International Day of Persons with Disabilities.”
Started in 1982 by the United Nations, the day is recognized around the world.
“This day of recognition has helped raise understanding and awareness throughout the world,” Tartaglione said. “Here in the U.S. and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we have come a long way over the past few decades in accommodating persons with disabilities.”
According to organizers, who estimate that 15 percent of the world’s population lives with some form of disability, the major focus of the day is “practical and concrete action to include disability in all aspects of development, as well as to further the participation of persons with disabilities in social life and development on the basis of equality.”
The theme of this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is: “Break barriers, open doors: for an inclusive society for all”.
The United Nations recently concluded high level meetings intended to draft a plan to ensure that development throughout the world includes persons with disabilities to help further the goal of full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society.
“I hope that we will continue looking for new and better ways for all citizens to fully participate in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life in this state,” Tartaglione said.
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 17, 2013 — At a news conference in Philadelphia’s City Hall today, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione announced new legislation aimed at restoring the buying power of Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.
Tartaglione, the Democratic chair of the Labor and Industry Committee was joined by Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vincent J. Hughes and local labor leaders in a push to join other states that have created minimum wages that resist the erosion of inflation.
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“Pennsylvania isn’t keeping up with the times or with its neighbors,” Tartaglione said. “Right now, there are too many adults working full-time, but living below the poverty line in this state.”
[audio:https://www.senatortartaglione.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/minimum-wage-hike-bill-tt-webstory.mp3|titles=Minimum-Wage-Hike-Bill-TT-WebS]
Tartaglione was the prime sponsor of legislation that was signed into law in 2006, boosting the state minimum wage from $5.35 an hour to $7.15. The federal minimum wage was increased to the current $7.25 an hour in 2009.
“Creating a minimum wage that accounts for inflation will prevent thousands of working families from sinking below the federal poverty line as they wait for action from the legislature,” Hughes said. “A stagnant minimum wage hurts families and puts increased pressure on already overburdened social services.”
Earlier this year, Tartaglione introduced legislation that would tie Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to the consumer price index, allowing it to rise annually in small increments. One of the bills announced today (Senate Bill 858) would raise the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour by 2015 to account for years of inflation, while the other (Senate Bill 1099) would boost the minimum wage for tipped employees, which has remained unchanged at $2.83 an hour for 15 years, to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage.
“Both bills will raise these wages in increments to ensure employers are not financially overburdened,” Tartaglione said. “And both bills will help employees earn more livable wages.”
Hughes noted that 10 states have already adjusted their minimum wages for inflation. Most were accomplished through overwhelming voter approval in statewide referenda.
“We know that there is strong support among all Pennsylvanians for wages that keep families out of poverty,” he said. “The task ahead is to impress that support on the General Assembly.”
New York’s minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour by 2015 under legislation enacted earlier this year, and New Jersey voters will go to the polls this fall to decide whether to raise that state’s minimum wage. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll of New Jersey voters showed 76 percent support for the increase.
“With so much focus on minimum wage right now, this may be the year Pennsylvania’s workers finally get their raises,” Tartaglione said.
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HARRISBURG, Sept. 3, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione joined thousands of local workers and their families yesterday in a rain-drenched parade held to celebrate Labor Day and to show solid support for working families.
Rather than detract from the event, Tartaglione said, the morning downpour served as a fitting symbol for the day.
“A lot of these people I’ve known for more than 20 years,” she said as she rolled her wheelchair along South Columbus Boulevard. “They don’t want fair–weather friends. They want to know that you’ll be there no matter what. It was great to see entire families, even toddlers, squeezed together under one umbrella, marching in the rain for the dignity of hard work.”
Before the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO’s 26th annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade, Tartaglione served ice cream outside the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 Union Hall to draw attention to Pennsylvania’s stagnant minimum wage, which has not changed since her 2006 legislation raised it in steps to $7.15 by 2007.
“Allowing the minimum wage to be eroded by inflation has pushed thousands of working families into poverty and added pressure on social services,” she said. “A fairly adjusted minimum wage lowers the poverty rate and saves money for every taxpayer in Pennsylvania.”
In every legislative session since 2007, Tartaglione has introduced legislation that would apply an inflation index to Pennsylvania’s minimum wage – as ten states have already done. With that bill stuck in committee, she added a bill that would simply raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour.
“Ten years ago we started out with heavy opposition and we were able to make the case for fair wages,” she said. “It’s going to happen again.”
Despite challenges on many fronts, organized labor is determined to stand up against the legislative majority and Gov. Tom Corbett in their efforts to resolve budget difficulties on the backs of working families, Tartaglione said.
“They try to tell you that a Philadelphia teacher makes too much money but Shell Oil needs government help,” she said. “They’re not even trying to make sense anymore.”
Tartaglione said she is working on legislation that would add tipped workers to the minimum wage adjustments and will be discussing a legislative strategy on her effort at a news conference Sept. 17.
PHILADELPHIA, August 21, 2013 – Hundreds of residents from the neighborhood surrounding Wissinoming Park turned out yesterday for a community picnic organized by state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione.
The event was the first in the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood after years of popular events in Norris Square Park.
“State funding cuts are presenting difficult challenges for local schools and families,” Tartaglione said. “The neighborhood picnics bring together local residents and volunteers from community organizations to help get children ready for school.”
Sen. Tartaglione distributed more than 700 backpacks to young students at her Community Picnic in Wissinoming Park this week.
More than 700 donated back packs were distributed to young students who were also treated to hot dogs, water ice and face painting.
The event comes on the heels of the Norris Square community event which has been held for eight consecutive years.
“The Norris Square picnic has a tremendous turnout each year, but not every family has the ability to get there,” Tartaglione said. “So we decided to expand the outreach to help other families who are getting ready for school.
Like the prior events, the Wissinoming Park picnic involved coordinating numerous sponsors and community partners who donated service and supplies.
“One good thing that came out of the recession was a network of local people and organizations who take pride in helping others,” Tartaglione said. “I think we can continue to build on it to make better communities.
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HARRISBURG, August 9, 2013 – Thousands of constituents from the neighborhoods surrounding Norris Square Park attended state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione’s annual community festival yesterday.
By coordinating numerous sponsors and community partners, Tartaglione was able to personally distribute more than 1,500 backpacks stuffed with back-to-school supplies such as pencils, notebooks and erasers.
Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (right) talks about the upcoming school year with constituents at her annual community festival on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013.
“This event has grown every year and it’s become a tradition in this neighborhood,” Tartaglione said. “With budget cuts to schools across the state and especially in Philadelphia, our community partners were willing to do everything they could to help local children get a head start in school.”
The event also featured free hot dogs, popcorn and water ice, along with family services such as fingerprinting and safety programs.
Eight years ago, when the first community picnic was held in Norris Square Park, 500 children received backpacks that were donated by local organizations.
“The growth has been tremendous,” Tartaglione said. “It’s one of the biggest events of the summer in the region and outstanding community organizations help make it possible and help make it free to the local families.”
Among the volunteers for the event were more than a dozen Philadelphia Police Explorer Cadets who stuffed hundreds of backpacks before the event and helped organize the crowds gathered to receive backpacks.
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HARRISBURG, June 18, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today released the following statement regarding Sen. McIlhinney’s liquor proposal:
“I am grateful to Sen. McIlhinney for taking the time and making the effort to listen to a broad range of opinions on the short-sighted House liquor privatization bill. Unfortunately, the result appears to be a bill that tries to be everything to everybody, and in that attempt serves to only delay massive job losses and only temporarily slow down the big-box liquor frenzy the House bill would produce.
Over a slightly longer period of time, the result would be the same and Pennsylvania taxpayers wouldn’t even see the overstated revenue in the House plan. In a few years, beer distributors, small grocers, locally owned convenience stores and specialty wine shops will have gone the way of the stationary store and the corner hardware store: replaced by large corporations with no community connection and responsible only to shareholders.
It was a terrible thing when this happened to small Pennsylvania retailers selling paper clips or hand tools. But when the sale of a commodity as dangerous as liquor is turned over to large corporations, a minimum-wage workforce and a profit-over-all philosophy, the result will be worse than just the loss of local businesses.
With a stubbornly high unemployment rate, schools laying off thousands of employees, and the nation’s largest inventory of unsafe bridges, it’s hard to imagine that making liquor easier to buy is a priority.
The Senate should consider a streamlined modernization plan and get back to the real job of putting Pennsylvanians back to work rebuilding our long-ignored infrastructure.”
HARRISBURG, April 15, 2013 – With the deadline for filing tax returns looming, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione decried the Corbett administration’s strategy of relief for large corporations along with increased scrutiny for individuals.
“When the administration talks about tax relief, they’re talking about big business,” Tartaglione said. “Over the past two years individuals have seen a crack down on sales taxes for online purchases, but there has been no effort to investigate corporate tax shell games. Individuals are paying more in school and municipal taxes to fund business tax breaks. That’s not the kind of tax reform people are looking for.”
Tartaglione said two events leading up to today’s tax deadline should give individuals cause for concern. In a published report today, a Department of Revenue spokesperson said state tax officials can get information about individuals’ “purchase behavior” to enforce sales tax obligations.
“The idea that the department would gather information on consumer purchases while it hasn’t taken action against any companies over the use of Delaware subsidiaries is disturbing,” she said. “Other states have sued and won. Maryland collected nearly $300 million, but Pennsylvania would rather look at its citizens ‘purchasing behavior.’”
Last week, Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser testified before the House Finance Committee on the details of Gov. Corbett’s tax-reform plan, a plan geared entirely toward cutting business taxes.
“We’ve already cut $800 billion from corporate tax liability and our job creation numbers are in the tank. This hyper-focus on greasing the wheels of industry and getting no jobs in return is terrible public policy,” Tartaglione said. “Tax reform should include closing loopholes and providing adequate school funding to prevent higher local taxes.”
HARRISBURG – April 12, 2013 — Bad news continues to pile up for Pennsylvania workers, while the state’s economic leaders look to South America for answers, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today.
Figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor this week show Pennsylvania with the sharpest rise in new unemployment claims, while claims for the nation as a whole fell sharply.
“We need serious leadership and commitment right here at home,” Tartaglione said. “We continue to fall behind the rest of the country in job creation while leading in unemployment claims and the answer isn’t going to be found thousands of miles from the cities, towns and schools that need help. We have the ability, right here, to create a 21st century economy.”
New unemployment claims jumped by more than 3,000 in March, according the the Department of Labor. U.S. unemployment claims dropped by more than 300,000.
The news comes on top of reports that Pennsylvania has had a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the country for six consecutive months, after having a better jobless number for nearly four years.
“The last two years have been a disaster in terms of where we stand among states in our ability to create jobs and participate in the national recovery,” Tartaglione said. “Simple solutions, like investment in transportation infrastructure, schools and tax reform are collecting dust while administration officials and hand-picked friends are collecting souvenirs. It’s unthinkable.”
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, administration officials announced that a South American company will create 74 jobs in Central Pennsylvania.
“That probably didn’t go over very well with the 3,000 people who just filed for unemployment,” Tartaglione said.
Harrisburg, March 19, 2013 — Employment numbers released by Pennsylvania labor officials this week show the state continuing to move in the wrong direction while falling far behind surrounding states in job creation, two leading state senators said today.
“The unemployment rate is still rising in Pennsylvania while the rest of the nation is recovering from the recession,” said state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione, Democratic chair of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. “It’s stunning that the governor continues to prioritize cutting family-sustaining jobs with more than a half-million people still out of work.”
January’s unemployment rate – up to 8.2 percent from 7.9 percent in December – is Pennsylvania’s highest rate in more than two years, while unemployment has fallen 1.4 points in the rest of the country.
“We’re moving in the wrong direction and the administration is even more determined to cut jobs and give breaks to corporations making record profit,” said Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “The proof is in the numbers. The U.S. economy is moving forward and Pennsylvania workers are being left behind. We need a shift in focus or we’re going to be the national example of how to ignore opportunity.”
Before the most recent figures were released, Pennsylvania had fallen from the top ten to a dismal 34th among states in job creation, Tartaglione said. The disappointing January revisions drop the state to 43rd.
“The governor’s preoccupation with gas drilling to cover for a lack of imaginative investment in job creation and training has failed Pennsylvania workers, small businesses and struggling communities,” she said. “After two years of sliding, Pennsylvanians are angry and impatient at the governor’s misplaced priorities.”
Over the past year, New Jersey saw employment grow by 66,000, while New York created 110,000 new jobs, Hughes said. Pennsylvanians saw only 35,000 new jobs over the past year, as new entries into the labor pool outpaced opportunity.
“Young people coming out of college with enormous debt won’t have much choice but to give up on this administration and look for work in states that can provide jobs,” Hughes said. “We’ve heard over and over that we’re cutting corporate taxes to compete for jobs and, two years in, we’re in a competitive free fall. We have to change course if Pennsylvania families are ever going to see the end of the recession.”
Tartaglione and Hughes have each sponsored portions of a plan they said would create 80,000 new jobs.
The plan, called “PA Works” would make use of state resources, leverage private resources and make critical long term capital investments that would create new opportunities for future growth and development.
“We could create thousands of new jobs by simply adopting the recommendations of the transportation funding advisory commission,” Hughes said. “Next month it will be two years since the commission was named and we have nothing to show for it but a dusty report.
“There is also an opportunity to draw down $43 billion in federal funds to expand Medicaid, provide health insurance to low-income workers, and create 41,000 jobs. It’s been one missed opportunity after another.”
Tartaglione said the administration’s preoccupation with awkward attempts to sell the successful Pennsylvania Lottery to Britain-based Camelot Global Services while forcing a massive expansion of liquor licenses, will kill jobs at a time when policy should favor job preservation and creation.
“The governor has distracted himself with selling off the lottery to a foreign company and gutting thousands of good jobs from a profitable liquor system,” Tartaglione said. “Looking back at teacher layoffs forced by education cuts and we’re seeing a deliberate strategy to cut jobs, not create them. After two years of it, the result is clear.”
HARRISBURG, January 30, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today released the following statement regarding Gov. Corbett’s plans for Pennsylvania liquor stores:
“It’s obvious that there is little support in the General Assembly for the governor’s strange agenda and holding school funding hostage reveals a sad desperation.
After gutting staffing for unemployment call centers, Gov. Corbett’s plans for selling off liquor stores and handing the lottery to a foreign company would push the number of family sustaining jobs he wants to eliminate or ship overseas to more than 5,000.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want Pennsylvania children to get a first –class education and they’re willing to work to find a stable, sound revenue plan for the future. They’re not going to fall for a liquor-for-schools scheme. Both the lottery and the liquor store systems are returning significant revenue to the state, while providing jobs that keep families out of the social service safety net and provide substantial local tax revenue.
These are the type of jobs that Pennsylvania public policy should be fostering and encouraging, rather than eliminating or shipping overseas.
While Pennsylvania’s job-creation ranking has plummeted and its unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high, the administration has busied itself by tinkering with the parts of state government that are functioning well.
Making it a little easier and a little cheaper to purchase alcohol is an odd priority to hold while our cities struggle to put enough police on the street to make people feel safe, while a million citizens have no access to health care and while urban and rural schools wonder how they’re going to make ends meet.
Gov. Corbett should be making jobs, health care and education easier to get not booze.”
HARRISBURG, Jan. 8, 2013 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione, recently re-appointed as Democratic chair of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, said today she will use the position to push for changes in Pennsylvania’s minimum wage law in order to prevent working parents from sinking into poverty.
“This is the committee where I’m comfortable and this is the committee where I have had great experience and success,” she said. “Making sure there are jobs for everyone who wants to work and making sure those jobs pay enough to put food on the table have been my main focus in the Senate and that will remain the same.”
The last time Pennsylvania passed a minimum wage adjustment, in 2006, it came after six years of effort over three sessions and three different bills, Tartaglione said.
“Obviously it takes more than public support, it takes a great deal of communication with colleagues and a concerted effort by all of those who believe in fair wages,” she said. “We’ve done it before and we will do it again.”
In the most recent Senate session, Tartaglione introduced a bill that would have tied the state’s minimum wage to inflation, as ten other states have done. She tried to have language from the bill inserted in another wage bill being considered by the Labor and Industry Committee, but the amendment was tabled, rather than receiving a vote.
“Everyone knows that the public overwhelmingly supports fair wages,” she said. “In the states where minimum wage calculators were put before voters – even red states – they were approved overwhelmingly. It’s just a matter a getting past the special interests.”
Tartaglione was the author of the state’s last minimum wage bill, which raised the state’s lowest wage from $5.15 to $7.15 in several steps. Since then, the federal minimum wage was increased to $7.25.
After the last increase, Tartaglione said, Pennsylvania’s poverty rate took a steep decline, only to gradually increase to a 20-year-high in 2010.
“Paying minimum wages that don’t keep pace with inflation puts more burden on government services, like food stamps and child care,” Tartaglione said. “Putting and inflation index on our minimum wage would decrease that burden and create a predictable base for employers.”
In addition to the Labor and Industry Committee, Tartaglione has been appointed to the Senate Rules and Executive Nominations Committee where, as Democratic Caucus Secretary, she helps guide the administration’s nominations through the Senate confirmation process.
She has also been named to the Law and Justice and State Government committees.
HARRISBURG, Nov. 21, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione announced today that she is again hosting a “Toys for Tots” collection box in each of her two district offices.
“Through these years of difficult financial times, the people of Philadelphia have always found a way to help those less fortunate,” Tartaglione said. “Toys for Tots has become one of the great and traditional ways of doing that.”
The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community.
Since the program started in 1947, Marines have distributed more than 452 million toys to more than 209 million needy children
“Many of the people who stop by to drop off toys say they were once recipients of Toys for Tots,” Tartaglione said. “It shows the importance of this tradition to the community.”
Tartaglione is asking the community to bring new, unwrapped toys to the collection boxes at her district offices at 1061 Bridge Street and 127 W. Susquehanna Ave.. The offices are open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Coordinators pick up the toys and store them in central warehouses where the toys are sorted by age and gender.
At Christmas, coordinators, with the assistance of local social welfare agencies, church groups, and other local community agencies, distribute the toys to the needy children of the community. The toys will be collected until December 17.
For more information, go to www.toysfortots.org.
HARRISBURG, Oct. 31, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today reminded voters that Pennsylvania officials have extended the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot.
“Hurricane Sandy forced a halt to most government services, putting pressure on last-minute absentee ballot applicants,” Tartaglione said. “The new deadline gives those affected by the storm and local election officials a chance to catch up.
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot for the upcoming General Election had been yesterday at 5 p.m. That deadline has been extended until 5 p.m.Thursday in Philadelphia and other counties affected by the storm.
Even with the extended deadline, time is short for those who can’t vote in person on Nov. 6, Tartaglione said.
“The deadline for turning in the ballot is still 5 p.m. Friday, which is unchanged,” Tartaglione said. “Voters who apply for an absentee ballot should be prepared to fill it out and vote on the spot, rather than wait for the ballot to come in the mail.”
Absentee ballots can be obtained at City Hall, Room 142. Anyone with questions can call the city elections office at 215-686-3469.
HARRISBURG, Oct. 2, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today said a Commonwealth Court decision restores voting rights for thousands of Pennsylvanians, but can’t entirely fix a “costly mistake.”
“I’ve been confident all along that the courts would see the serious flaws and dubious reasoning behind voter ID,” Tartaglione said. Unfortunately, the ruling comes after the millions of dollars were wasted trying to get this done in time to affect the presidential election. The effort was a costly mistake and it comes at a time when we’re cutting back on help for families with disabled children and other important social services.
Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson ordered state election officials to continue the “soft roll-out” of voter ID, similar to what took place in the spring primary. Voters will be asked for ID, but will not be required to present it to vote.
Tartaglione said a great deal of damage has already been done by the push to convince voters they need a certain type of photo ID to vote and efforts in the next few weeks should focus on clarifying the situation for voters.
“I hope the administration has a plan for trying to set the record straight for thousands of voters that were misinformed over the past few months,” she said. “It’s a mess that has to be cleaned up.”
Tartaglione said the issue has been a chief source of anxiety in her district which has a disproportionate number of affected voters.
“For months I’ve been hearing from frustrated seniors, students and others who didn’t know what the requirements were and the requirements kept changing,” she said.
HARRISBURG, June 12, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione praised the hundreds of union apprentices lining the Rotunda steps today and urged them to help convince lawmakers to rebuild the middle class.”Apprenticeships through organized labor not only prepare students for jobs, but they help ensure that the jobs can support families and communities,” she said. “We do a lot of talking in Harrisburg about creating jobs but there isn’t enough talk about whether the jobs we are creating will sustain families without the need for government support.”
The Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council organized the Capitol rally that drew trades people from across the state.
Tartaglione told the workers that, despite thousands of structurally deficient bridges dotting the state and hundreds of miles of obsolete roads, many lawmakers have lost the courage to build.
“At the same time we wonder why the economy is slow to recover,” she said. “So, while you are here in Harrisburg and the legislators are listening, try to instill in them the courage to build. We already know we have people trained and ready to do it.”
According to the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council President Frank Sirianni, Pennsylvania currently has more than 8,000 apprentices in the construction industry. He said the graduation rate from these programs is 75 percent in the union sector, compared to 50 percent in the non-union sector.
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HARRISBURG, March 27, 2012 –State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione will join the Pennsylvania Assistive Technologies Foundation next week for a news conference to discuss the success of investments in Pennsylvanians with disabilities and the challenges they still face.
The news conference will be held in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, April 2, at 11 a.m.
Your coverage is invited.
Assistive Technologies News Conference
Monday, April 2, 2012
11 a.m.
Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg, PA.
