PathWays PA Newsletter - April 23, 2012
In Philadelphia, over 40% of workers do not have a single paid day that they can use to care for themselves or a family member when sick. Last year the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces and PathWays PA passed a bill in City Council that would give workers the opportunity to earn a minimum number of paid sick days. Unfortunately, this bill was vetoed by the Mayor.
The proposed 2012 earned sick days bill is very similar to last year’s bill, but with one important difference. After studying earned sick days bills across the country, the Coalition added a “safe days” option to the bill so that workers who are survivors of domestic violence can receive the medical attention and support they need to leave an abuser.
To pass this bill again, and to pass it with a veto-proof majority, we need your help. Will you call your City Council member right now?
If you see your City Council member in the list below, please call and tell them you support earned sick days for all Philadelphians. Then ask them to be a co-sponsor.
- Mark Squilla (215) 686-3458, (215) 686-3459
- Kenyatta Johnson (215) 686-3412, (215) 686-3413
- Jannie Blackwell (215) 686-3418, (215) 686-3419
- Bobby Henon (215) 686-3444, (215) 686-3445
- Marion Tasco (215) 686-3454, (215) 686-3455
- Brian O’Neill (215) 686-3422, (215) 686-3423
Not sure who your City Council member is? Click here.
Don’t see your district Council member? Call an at-large Council member:
- Bill Green (215) 686-3420, (215) 686-3421
- Dennis O’Brien (215) 686-3440, (215) 686-3441
- James Kenney (215) 686-3450, (215) 686-3451
- Blondell Reynolds-Brown (215) 686-3438, (215) 686-3439
- David Oh (215) 686-3452, (215) 686-3453
More than seven out of ten voters in Philadelphia want earned sick days for all workers, and it’s even more popular among moms. Please, show your support for more than 200,000 men and women who are working without earned sick days. Show your support for job security, public health and an America that values hard work.
TUESDAY IS THE PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARYThis Tuesday, Pennsylvanians will vote in the primary election. The following offices will be voted on:
- President
- Pennsylvania Attorney General
- Pennsylvania Auditor General
- Pennsylvania State Treasurer
- US Legislature
- State Legislature
- Party Convention Delegate
To find the ballot in your district, visit www.smartvoter.org.
In addition to learning about the candidates that are running, voters will also want to find their identification. Recently, the General Assembly passed a law requiring people to show a picture ID in order to vote. While this requirement does not go into effect until the November election, on Tuesday all voters will be asked for their identification. No one should be turned away from voting without an ID.
For more information on the voter ID requirements please click here. If you run into any problems while voting because of a lack of identification or for any other reasons please contact the Committee of Seventy in Philadelphia or find your local board of elections information at http://www.votespa.com/portal/server.pt/community/county_contacts_and_web_sites/13510.
The time is NOW to educate voters about Pennsylvania's new voter ID requirement. The Committee of Seventy is running a nonpartisan effort to educate voters on April 24. You can sign up to educate your friends and neighbors at polling places across the city at the April 24 General Primary.
Federal Policy Update
Last October, a new federal law began requiring credit card companies to consider only an applicant's individual income, rather than household income, to qualify for credit. This change negatively impacts stay-at-home parents, widows, and any non-working spouse. This was a radical shift in policy and a change that does nothing to help credit card companies accurately assess an individual's credit-worthiness. In fact, for this reason, credit card companies oppose this specific change.
Join MomsRising in asking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stand up for stay-at-home parents' financial security today.
State Policy Update
Predatory lending practices needlessly strip away the hard-earned income and assets of families, young and old. Luckily, Pennsylvania has effectively enforced its strong laws that prevent exploitative lending, thus saving Pennsylvanians hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Unfortunately, a bill recently introduced in the PA legislature, HB 2191, will legalize predatory payday loans – at rates of 300% annually – in our state.
Please take action today to stop this bill. Payday loans at the high rates legalized under HB 2191 threaten to strip away $233 million annually from Pennsylvanians in interest and fees, and these types of loans are associated with higher rates of bankruptcy and involuntary bank account closures. The majority of borrowers targeted by predatory payday loans are women, mostly single, with children. Take action today to keep predatory payday loans out of PA: call your legislator and ask him or her to stand up for PA’s women, children and families by opposing HB 2191.
To learn more about the campaign to keep predatory payday loans out of PA, visit: www.stoppaydayloanspa.com
Legislators will be returning to Harrisburg on May 1st and their attention will turn to passing a budget by June 30th.
Unfortunately, the governor’s budget proposal cuts state funding for proven programs like Child Care Works, Keystone STARS and the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
Early learning opens the doorway to learning and later life success.
That’s why the Pennsylvania Partnership for Children needs your help to tell lawmakers that id they cut these programs – they close the door to early learning. Every year we fail to adequately fund ECE is a year of lost opportunity for another group of young learners – a lost opportunity that cannot be regained once the economy rebounds.
Click here for registration information and the action day agenda.
Information and Events
The Why Green Is Your Color: A Woman's Guide to a Sustainable Career from the Women’s Bureau is a web-based training (WBT) is designed to help workforce development professionals better understand, adopt, and implement key strategies in order to help women find and succeed in jobs in the emerging green economy. After completing this course, participants should be able to:
- Describe opportunities available to women in the U.S. green-job market and why green jobs are good for them
- Help women identify and evaluate different education and training opportunities for entering the clean and green economy and determine which ones are appropriate for them depending on their existing skill sets
- Provide direct assistance to women seeking green jobs, including how to create resumes research sources of green jobs, and prepare for job interviews
- Inform women about how to become green entrepreneurs and succeed as business owners
- Educate women about how to address barriers and how to overcome career challenges
From our friends at NNSP
Young people sometimes struggle to connect their education with the job market, especially in this economy. It can be hard to know which jobs will be hiring, what to study, and where to go to school. Meanwhile, NNSP hears more and more often from employers that young people need to get going as soon as possible on gaining the skills and credentials required for good jobs.
We’re happy to say that there’s a new resource that can help. Our partner organization in the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce, Young Invincibles, has created the Skills That Work toolkit in order to help young people make smart choices. It provides labor market information for each state in a format designed to help them understand their options.
The toolkit can help guide young people into successful careers. For example, it makes it possible to quickly find out what fields of study have the best employment prospects in a state, and what educational credentials the fastest growing jobs require. To find out more, follow the link to the Skills That Work website.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RECEPTION Today’s Child Learning Centers and Early Childhood Education Providers in Delaware County are holding a reception and brief presentation at the Harrisburg Hilton to discuss early childhood education
WHEN: April 30, 2012, 5:00pm—7:00pm
WHERE: Harrisburg Hilton, Brady Room
Join them for hors d’oeuvres and refreshments to discuss the importance of early childhood education and the long term advantages it has for the children and community in Delaware County.
If you have any question please contact Erinn Rinn at 610-583-2273 x 126 or erinn@todayschild.us.
FIRST BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS GREEN JOBS DATA WEBINARThe U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently issued results from the first of its green jobs surveys, on green goods and services, defined as “goods and services produced by an establishment that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.” This is the first U.S. national survey to attempt to ascertain information on green jobs (data issued to date from various sources have been estimates). The survey provided information on the detailed industries where green jobs occur, state-specific data, and information on green jobs in the private sector as well as all three levels of government. In this Webinar, BLS staff will explain the innovative methodology they used to count green jobs, explain the findings, describe future green jobs surveys, and answer questions.
WHEN: April 20, 2:00
Register Now: https://www.workforce3one.org/view/5001209540268961840/info
Registration for this Webinar is limited and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please register today!
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