HARRISBURG, April 13 -- State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila, is advocating for formal acknowledgement of the extraordinary work of caregivers of Pennsylvania’s veterans through the Hidden Heroes campaign. “Many times, a veteran’s caregiver is a spouse, parent and other loved ones whose lives are transformed, their goals set aside, and they rearrange their lives to help the ones who sacrificed the most for us,” Rabb said. “We need to recognize that these women and men are heroes and sacrifice more than we currently understand.” The Hidden Heroes campaign is an initiative through the Elizabeth Dole Foundation that seeks to raise awareness of the struggles of these special caregivers. It also seeks to establish a national registry where veterans and their caregivers can access resources available to them. Read more
HARRISBURG, Sep. 19 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., released the following statement on today’s news conference where his Democratic colleagues rolled out a package of reproductive rights legislation. “Today’s press conference that my colleagues held introduced several crucial bills to protect the reproductive freedoms and bodily autonomy of birthing people across the commonwealth. “Our Republican colleagues, who claim to be so “pro-life”, are not concerned with the birthing people who will be affected by forced births if reproductive freedoms are taken from Pennsylvanians. We are already hearing gruesome stories of people who are not allowed to get abortions in states where it’s already been made illegal. “I stand with my colleagues in this fight to preserve these freedoms for all birthing people of the commonwealth and will continue fighting in Harrisburg to ensure the Republicans’ attempts to strip them do not come to fruition. Read more
Rep. Rabb's 2022 Summer Newsletter Read more
STATE PROGRAMS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Commonwealth Financing Authority: Gaming Economic Development Tourism Fund (GEDTF) (Funding Source: Pennsylvania Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund) Who May Apply : Allegheny County Municipalities, Authorities (Redevelopment, Municipal or Industrial), Councils of Government, Non-Profit Organizations, Trusts and For Profit Organizations. Use : To support community and economic development projects in Allegheny County. Funds : Awards between $150,000 and $500,000. Application Deadline : September 23, 2022 More Information : Click on https://www.alleghenycounty.us/economic-development/authorities/gedtf-fund.aspx . Pennsylvania Department of Transportation: Traffic Signal Technologies Grant Program (Funding Source: Motor License Fund) Who May Apply : Municipalities. Use : To install and maintain traffic signal technologies. Funds : Varies by award. This is a reimbursement grant with no matching funds required. Application Deadline : September 30, 2022 More Information : Click on https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/Bureaus/BOMO/Portal/TST_INFO.pdf . Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency: Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Grant Program (Funding Source: American Rescue Plan Act Funds) Who May Apply Read more
STATE PROGRAMS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture: ?Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grant Program (Funding Source: General Fund) Who May Apply : An individual, partnership, association, firm, corporation, cooperatives or any other legal entity. Use : To support projects that grow agricultural infrastructure in urban food deserts to improve access to fresh, local food and provide opportunities for hands-on learning, community-building, and for people to become social entrepreneurs. Community gardens are eligible projects. Funds : $2,500 micro grants or up to $50,000 for collaboration grants. Application Deadline : September 16, 2022 More Information : Click on https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Funding/Farmbill/Pages/Urban-Ag-Grant.aspx . Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture: ?Very Small Meat and Poultry Processor Reimbursement Grant Program (Funding Source: Federal Funding) Who May Apply : An individual, partnership, association, firm, corporation or any other legal entity. Use : To support the development and expansion of current or future very small meat and poultry processing operations. Funds : Grants are limited to no more than $100,000 per applicant. Application Deadline : September 26, 2022 More Information : Click on https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Funding/Farmbill/Pages/Very-Small-Meat-Processor-Grant.aspx . Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture: ?Agriculture and Youth Grant Program Read more
Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb hosted three different youth-centered organizations at the state capitol who organized a trip to Harrisburg to learn about the state legislature and share their views on the public health crisis that is gun violence. Rabb says groups like Philly BOLT, Frontline Dads and PA Youth Vote are educating, engaging and empowering youth to lead on gun violence prevention, but they need the help of state legislators to put forth substantive legislation to address this crisis and allocate more funding for restorative justice and community-centered violence prevention programs. Read more
Pa. state Rep Chris Rabb joined Frontline Dads’ Peacemakers Summer Program to talk with young people about possible solutions to the public health crisis of gun violence. He says that giving kids the tools to succeed is a good place to start, but more efforts must be made to stop the flow of firearms into the city. Read more
STATE PROGRAMS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Pennsylvania Office of the Budget: Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) (Funding Source: General Obligation Debt) Who May Apply : Entities that have a project itemized in a Capital Budget Itemization Act from the past 10 years. List of eligible projects can be found here: Itemized Project Eligible for Funding . Use : The acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects that have a regional or multi-jurisdictional impact and generate substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues, or other measures of economic activity. RACP projects are state-funded projects that cannot obtain primary funding under other state programs. Funds : Projects must have a $1 million minimum project cost and a 50% match (state funds cannot be used as match). Application Deadline : August 19, 2022 More Information : Click on https://www.budget.pa.gov/Programs/RACP/Pages/Main%20Page.aspx . UPCOMING APPLICATION DEADLINES: DDAP Pregnancy Support Services Grant: July 29, 2022 (Funding Source: Federal Funding) Any entity that is able to serve pregnant or postpartum women in recovery from SUD. - To provide support services to pregnant women and postpartum women in recovery from Substance Use Disorder Read more
HARRISBURG, June 14 – As states begin to impose abortion restrictions in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Reps. Carol Hill-Evans, D-York, Chris Rabb, D-Phila., and Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, are working to ensure Pennsylvania remains a safe haven for people seeking abortions. “It is bad enough that people have to travel hundreds of miles to receive medical care, but the thought that they may be harassed and charged with felonies, it’s outrageous,” Hill-Evans said. “It is not the duty of people on the state payroll to investigate personal health matters; Pennsylvania officials have no business harassing pregnant people on the taxpayer’s dime.” “The Dobbs decision is an assault on bodily autonomy and the half-century during which abortion was constitutionally protected,” said Rabb. “Now that this ruling defers to the states on how to proceed, our legislature should act to prohibit cooperation of state and local government officials with out-of-state investigators regarding the healthcare choices of women and birthing people across our commonwealth.” The legislation they are proposing would prohibit all law enforcement officers, state government departments and their employees, and local government entities and their employees from cooperating with out-of-state investigations into abortions legally obtained in Pennsylvania. The Read more
HARRISBURG, July 7 – Timothy Loehmann, the officer who killed Tamir Rice, was hired yesterday by the Tioga Township Police Department to be their lone officer. State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., said that while Loehmann has now resigned, hiring him in the first place was wholly unacceptable. Rabb authored legislation to establish a police misconduct database, which was incorporated into Act 57 and signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2020. “The statewide database was created to weed out dangerous officers and to keep our communities safer,” Rabb said. “While I’m glad Loehmann resigned due to mounting public pressure, had my legislation passed intact back in 2020, the public would have been automatically informed about his employment application before he was hired.” Rabb has collaborated with municipalities and other stakeholders since the enactment of Act 57 of 2020 to close dangerous transparency loopholes that have made this law-enforcement database far less effective than originally conceived in his 2018 legislation . Read more
Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb says the legislature should not give law enforcement more tools to abuse their power and make unlawful arrests. He rises in the Pa. House Chamber in strong opposition to a measure that would do nothing to make the people he represents safe, but instead would criminalize the natural flight or fight response. He says this response is an automatic and physiological reaction to something that may be perceived as a threat or frightening. He says the bill would make those suffering from PTSD, anxiety, or fear of animals subject to being criminalized for perceiving a threat. Read more
We must act - while the Court ruling limits the EPA’s ability to regulate climate change, we can pass legislation on the state level to require that those corporations who enter rural communities to drill for shale gas are held account by comprehensive transparency measures my bill would institute if enacted into law. Local residents harmed by fracking and the people of Pennsylvania have a right to know the implications of the operations of these frackers on the built and natural environment of our state. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb is worried about the vague words and descriptions used in legislation that could give law enforcement a large amount of ways to abuse their powers. When it comes to resisting arrest, he wants to make sure specific words are used so that law enforcement officers are not able to abuse power as they have been shown to do, especially in the City of Philadelphia. He is worried that the public trust will continue to be eroded by giving officials additional means to arrest individuals who question their motives. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb is opposed to any measure that would undermine the will of Philadelphia voters. He says that the legislature should be looking to solve root causes of violence, rather than attack the city’s District Attorney. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb decries the criminalization of self-preservation instinct that will have a profoundly racially disparate impact on Black and other marginalized individuals. RepRabb knows that yet another felony criminal offense that can be borne of misdemeanor is just another way to feed the prison industrial complex while making us all less safe. Read more
PHILADELPHIA, June 22 – The office of state Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., attended the historic panel unveiling of the Allen Lane Station Saturday with SEPTA General Manager Leslie S. Richards and leaders of First Episcopal District AME Church to showcase the design of forthcoming historical panels honoring the memory and accomplishments of Bishop Richard Allen. SEPTA worked with leaders of Mother Bethel AME Church to design the 2-foot x 3-foot soon-to-be-installed decorative panels, which will tell the story of Allen’s contributions to racial justice in Philadelphia as a preacher and Civil Rights leader during the late 18th century. The SEPTA station will soon be renamed, The Richard Allen Lane Station on the Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail Line. Allens Lane was previously named after William Allen, the 26th mayor of Philadelphia who was an enslaver and British loyalist. Philadelphia City Council, at the behest of Rabb, passed a resolution to have the street renamed after Richard Allen instead of William Allen. “We must closely examine popular narratives we’ve been so conditioned to embrace, especially versions of the past that marginalize the value of Black people and other communities of struggle,” Rabb said. “This is a step in the right direction toward achieving racial equity and inclusion.” Read more
STATE PROGRAMS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency: Assessing Racial & Ethnic Disparities (R/ED) in PA’s Criminal Justice System (Funding Source: Federal Funding) Who May Apply : Higher education institutions (public/not-for-profit), nonprofit organizations, and for-profit institutions (i.e., consulting firms). Use : To develop and implement a statewide research initiative to identify current R/ED levels using quantitative methods, understand potential drivers using qualitative methods, and make recommendations to chart a path forward. Funds : Up to $250,000. Application Deadline : July 12, 2022 More Information : Click on https://egrants.pccd.pa.gov/Public/OpenAnnouncements.aspx . Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency: Victim Advocacy – School District of Philadelphia (Funding Source: General Fund) Who May Apply: Organizations that provide direct services to crime victims and may be operated by a non-profit organization or public (governmental) agency, or a combination of such agencies or organizations. Use : To support students and their families who are victims of violence within the School District of Philadelphia. Funds : Up to $375,000 over three years. PCCD expects to fund one (1) applicant over a three-year project period. Application Deadline : Read more
HARRISBURG, June 16 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., along with many of his House Democratic colleagues, has introduced legislation to end charging children as adults in Pennsylvania. In 2017, more than 400 children between 14 and 17 were charged with criminal offenses in adult court due to a law passed by the Pennsylvania state legislature in 1995. Originally heralded as rehabilitative and a deterrent, Act 33 of Special Session 1 of 1995 requires individuals 15 to 17 charged with certain felonies to be charged in adult court if they meet certain requirements, such as the use of a weapon during the alleged crime. “Act 33 was inspired by the racist 'super-predator' trope that was applied to young Black men in the mid-'90s,” Rabb said. “We should ensure the legal system treats all children as children by prohibiting direct filing and transfer of cases involving children to the adult system.” More than 80% of youth prosecuted as adults arrive in adult court through direct file, with young Black men accounting for 57% of adult convictions while only making up 7% of the statewide youth population. In fact, nearly 60% of cases in which youth are tried as adults end up being dismissed, withdrawn, or returned to the juvenile system anyway. Rabb continued: “Instead of helping our youth, this “direct file” law has been proven time and time again to be a failure, nothing more than a cruel, unnecessary Read more
PHILADELPHIA, June 9 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., issued a statement about increasing the minimum wage as Pennsylvania’s secretary of Labor and Industry, Jennifer Berrier, attended Night Kitchen Bakery and Café in Rabb’s legislative district to highlight the need to increase the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. “I greatly appreciate Secretary Berrier attending Night Kitchen Bakery and Café highlighting the need to increase the minimum wage,” Rabb said. “The people who work here and at other establishments across the commonwealth work really hard and they deserve to be compensated with a fair and livable wage.” Rabb has introduced legislation that would protect vulnerable members of the workforce. House Bill 15 would increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour and index it to inflation, strengthen worker protections against wage theft, and expand eligibility to classes of workers originally excluded from the federal law enacted in 1938 creating the minimum wage. These marginalized workers include incarcerated workers, gig workers and workers with intellectual disabilities. Read more
HARRISBURG, June 8 – State Reps. Malcolm Kenyatta and Chris Rabb, both D-Phila., have introduced two pieces of legislation that would ban sedition amongst elected officials in Pennsylvania. The first piece of legislation is a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania. It would prohibit any person convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States from being eligible for elected office in Pennsylvania. It would also remove civil officers upon conviction of seditious conspiracy against the United States. The second piece of legislation would create a new offense and assess penalties under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code for seditious conspiracy against the Commonwealth. “Misinformation has serious and dangerous consequences. Last year we saw thousands of seditionists storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. because they were told the 2020 presidential election was stolen,” Kenyatta said. “We cannot allow individuals who’ve engaged in seditious violence against our state and country to be in positions of public trust.” “The misinformation that is being spread by far-right Republicans is radicalizing people to commit seditious acts of violence and treason,” Rabb said. “To ensure these radical acts of violence do not continue to occur, there need to be consequences for elected officials who spread misinformation.” Read more
HARRISBURG, June 7 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., is introducing legislation to require the reapportionment of wards in Philadelphia. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census is taken, which among other things facilitates reapportionment of legislative districts on the federal, state and local levels. All of these districts are comprised of wards. However, wards are not required to be reapportioned. As a result, Philadelphia has not updated ward boundaries for more than 50 years. Due to shifts in demographics over the years, Philadelphia’s current wards have vastly different populations and geographic footprints. “It is long past time for Pennsylvania’s largest city to modernize its ward reapportionment process and ensure that it is done so in a transparent, efficient and equitable manner,” Rabb said. Rabb continued: “My legislation would amend the Pennsylvania Election Code to require the city of Philadelphia to expand the decennial reapportionment process to political wards within its municipal borders. It would mandate its city council establish a non-partisan commission charged with presenting a plan to reapportion wards in the city to the aforementioned governing body.” Read more
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