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JJ Abbott
Last week, Harrisburg Republicans, who suffered a crushing defeat at the ballot box in 2022, celebrated the election of new State House Speaker Mark Lotzi. Since then, they did so not because of his Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, nor because of their desire to reach bipartisan consensus, but because of their own cynical and purely political discourse. Turns out it was for a reason.
Rozzi, nominated and endorsed by both Republicans and Democrats, ran for Speaker to advance his life’s work. Instead, Republican leaders launched a series of irrelevant policy proposals covering partisan policy proposals for which Lotzi’s election to the presidency failed to garner enough support to become law through normal channels. They calculated that it would further their own political goal of advancing constitutional amendments.
In 2022, this Republican package includes two election changes stemming from Republican denial of the 2020 election, a legislative power grab on regulation, and a complete ban on abortion rights with no exceptions. I was. After that, Republicans lost her 12 seats and majority in gubernatorial elections, nearly every federal election, and state legislatures.
An amendment that would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to have more time to sue their perpetrators has received broad bipartisan support in the past three Congresses. But Republicans, who have just lost their tickets up and down, say they will withhold their support for the final vote unless they use it to effectively detain victims of abuse and add bipartisan agendas to state constitutions. seems threatening. Hostage to a conspiracy by former President Donald Trump.
Seeking to assuage fears among victims and advocates and prevent bitter fights over irrelevant policies, Governor TomWolf, with Rozzi’s backing, will create a window to justice with a ballot before May’s primaries. I called for a special session to focus on Some thought this would help avoid partisan fights over elections and abortion amendments that lacked urgency and consensus.
Republican leaders, outraged at the prospect of losing this power, quickly attacked the governor for calling a special congress. “Equally important” as justice for these victims.
Rozzi appoints a working group on legal remedies for abuse victims after a stall in the special session.
according to report On NBC10 in Philadelphia, “Republican House Majority Leader Brian Cutler says there are other urgent issues that take precedence over child sexual abuse. ”
seriously? Aren’t they ashamed?
Republican leaders openly admitted that they wanted to hold justice hostage, justifying the need for a special session focused on the most urgent issue of justice for these victims.
In addition to the lack of moral comparison between the Republican Amendment and abuse victim justice, there is no urgent need or policy rationale for these election and regulatory changes other than Republican political goals. is not.
Take elections, for example.
Constitutional Amendments to Voter ID, Audit, Regulator Move Pennsylvania Senate Committees Forward
Pennsylvania law already requires ID to vote and mandates state-conducted audits of all elections. Voter impersonation rarely occurs, and audits typically detect small, if any, computational errors. So while nearly three-quarters of Pennsylvania voters said in his 2022 exit polls that they were confident Pennsylvania had a fair election, Republican leaders were skeptical of these amendments. continue to promote
For years, Pennsylvania counties have outlined urgently needed election policy updates. Unfortunately, in a similar act of political gamesmanship, these bipartisan consensus shifts also remain victims of the Republican hostage-taking.
A more responsible approach would be to engage in the traditional legislative process of building consensus towards some sort of overarching election reform bill, rather than pushing bad policies into the constitution because they failed to pass it the right way. .
Republican leaders seem poised to force members to engage in raw political exercises that derail or delay justice for abuse victims over these other amendments.
In 2018, four incumbent Republican senators lost re-election after voting against proposed constitutional amendments and similar legislative changes. By taking hostages, the Republican Party’s latest legislation creates a partisan pill that’s hard for these members to swallow at enormous political risk.
This unsightly approach is a reminder of why Republicans, who have dominated Harrisburg legislation for decades, overwhelmingly opposed it in the last election.
Voters are fed up with business as usual in Harrisburg and have clearly rejected the GOP’s extreme agenda for 2022.
JJ Abbott served as Governor Tom Wolf’s Press Secretary and Deputy Press Secretary from 2015 to 2020. He is currently Executive Director of Commonwealth Communications, a progressive communications non-profit organization in Pennsylvania.
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