Pennsylvania Pending Legislation

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As a service to liberty-minded individuals within Pennsylvania, FederalExpression is launching a service providing information about pending bills in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We will provide a list of bills we perceive to be important, We will summarize, give our recommendation and our reasons. When possible we will provide sample letters that our readers may use in part or in whole, changing or ignoring portions at will. We will not always provide the bill’s current status, however we will try to provide links to the Assembly website that will provide that info automatically.

 

Your Participation

From time to time, this service will announce a campaign to push or oppose legislation that we think is critical. We hope that we will attract enough interested activists across the state to make a real impact in the progress of some legislation. We fully understand that our reputation will be a key factor in our effectiveness. Therefore, we want your input. We want to know when you agree, when you disagree and when there is a bill of interest to you that is not listed. We also want you to pass our information and links to your acquaintances. This is a great opportunity for various liberty-minded groups to pool efforts in concert and in a timely manner to protect and increase liberty in Pennsylvania. There may be times when we must agree to disagree, however, there will be many opportunities to act together on an issue.

Ways to Participate:     ***      Sign up for our Newsletter !!!    ***

1. Use our Act Now links under each piece of legislation or use the Quick Links Section. It will take you to a form for submitting pre-written position statements to your representatives.
2. Alternatively, you may adapt our sample letters to your use and send them independently. You can Use this tool to locate addressees: Find Your Legislator
3. Help us build a network of concerted activists across Pennsylvania:
   1. Sign up for our Newsletter
   2. include your name & Address
   3. use an email address that can receive replies
   4. optional: provide a phone number and/or fax number if you wish
4. Reach out to your friends and acquaintances and ask them to join the effort.
5. Educate yourself and others using our links to pertinent information.
6. Leave Comments or Send Me an Email: FederalExpression14@gmail.com

Just remember, The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

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Quick Links To Online Letters:

You will find bill descriptions, bill status, sample letters & position statements plus additional self study resources provided in the following sections.

1. General Common Core Opposition Letter To Your State Legislators
2. To The Education Committee of the PA General Assembly Supporting PA HB-1551 thru HB-1553
3. To Your PA Legislators Supporting PA HB-1551 (details)
4. To Your PA Legislators Supporting PA HB-1552 (details)
5. To Your PA Legislators Supporting PA HB-1553 (details)
6. To Your PA Legislators Opposing PA HB-1554 (details)
7. To Your PA Legislators Supporting PA HB-1757 (details)
8. Tenth Amendment Warantless Drone Spying: PA HB2158 (details)
9. To Your PA Legislators Supporting PA HB-357 (details)
10. To Your PA Legislators Opposing PA HR-293 (details) & PA HR539 (details)
11. To Your PA Legislators Opposing PA HB-1182 (details)
12. To Your PA Legislators Supporting PA  HR-652 & HR 672 (details)

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EDUCATION:  

The best approach to solving our education issues “once and for all” would be to re-establish a free enterprise education market in Pennsylvania, eliminating the state from participation. At that point, your local community could provide public schooling or communities could opt to retain parental authority over schools, maintain a complete privatization of local schools and parental development of all curriculum. One of the main arguments against this idea is that the poor cannot afford private education. My response is: 1) The cost of public education on a per pupil basis is often many magnitudes greater than that of private schools. 2) Private schools are not normally subject to political pressures, corruption and litigation as are state-run schools. 3) Student performance and actual literacy rates in public schools are generally much lower than that of their private counterparts. 4) The tax savings to the general, public will fuel the economy and will most likely create opportunities to lower income individuals in the form of higher wages and scholarships or private aid. 5) Some local communities will, undoubtedly decide to provide free public education and those programs will be forced to compete with surrounding systems which will help to maintain their integrity. 6) It is wrong to tax everyone to provide a service to a small portion of the community.

Common Core: Common Core is a K-12 set of national education standards for English language arts and mathematics classes that was developed by Achieve Inc., and promoted through the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officials, both of which are private-Washington DC based trade organizations. A majority of states signed on to Common Core when they signed up for the Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” program in 2009 and 2010. Common Core’s English and math standards were not yet written at the time, thus these states never saw the standards when they agreed to them. These standards are copyrighted and thus cannot be changed.

As a result of the poor quality of Common Core’s English Language Arts (ELA) standards, Dr. Sandra Stotsky, of the University of Arkansas, who served on the Common Core Validation Committee, refused to sign off on them. Dr. James Milgram of Stanford University, the only mathematician on the Common Core Validation Committee, refused to sign off on Common Core’s math standards, stating, “It’s almost a joke to think students [who master the Common Core standards] would be ready for math at a university.” Minnesota has refused to sign on to the math portion

In addition to Minnesota, other states have become aware of the adverse effects of Common Core. Alaska, Nebraska, and Texas refused to participate. Indiana, Missouri, and Utah have passed legislation to review Common Core and/or to hold hearings to pull out of it. Virginia has already withdrawn and most recently Oklahoma and S.Carolina have rejected it For the latest information on the State response to Common Core see the Truth In American Education Website: http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/states-fighting-back-map/

Resources:

• Common Core Exposed by Dr Duke Pesta – March 29, 2014 Address (Montgomery County, PA)
• Common Core and UN Agenda 21: Mass Producing Green Global Serfs (TNA Article: March 27, 2014 – Alex Newman)

Act Now: General Common Core Opposition Letter

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1551	An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, requiring approval for implementation of Common core state standards; and abrogating regulations.
Support	We feel that parents should have a voice regarding School Standards. One way to accomplish this is to require a legislative act from our elected representatives before the Board of Education can approve any new standards. This legislation would be better if it included language encompassing “any” changes to the standards, but it will help to combat the Common Core threats that currently exist. A free market approach to education would be even better.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message To The Education Committee Send A Message to Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1552	Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled “An act relating to the public school system, including certain provisions applicable as well to private and parochial schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating thereto,” in preliminary provisions, prohibiting imposition of common core standards.
Support	This bill prevents Common Core from being forced upon non-state run schools. While it troubles me greatly that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is allowed to legislate at all in matters related to private education, this bill would at least help to fend off Common Core. Obviously, it would be best if the state was prohibited from regulating private schools.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message To The Education Committee Send A Message to Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1553	An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, providing for national standardized assessments and surveys prohibited.
Support	This bill prevents National standardized testing and National Surveys. This bill would help prevent the Federal Government from assessing progress on any attempts at implementing a national or international curriculum in Pennsylvania.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message To The Education Committee Send A Message to Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1554	An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in preliminary provisions, prohibiting the release of certain student data and library data.
OPPOSE	Will not protect student privacy. The memo and introduction on this legislation looks good on the surface, however, there seems to be some ambiguity within the text of the bill which would allow it to be used for purposes exactly opposite of that which it purports to accomplish.  We list references to some of the language which we find alarming and tie it back to a New American Magazine Article called “Feds Building Massive Common Core-linked Databases on Your Kids“. These references stood out to us in our review but there may be more problems. We think the list below is sufficient to recommend opposition to this legislation. Even if government were to keep the information private, the very existence of a ‘dossier’ is immensely intimidating and inhibiting. This alters both civil society and the private realm, and not in the direction of greater freedom.” (HB 1554 Pg. 1 Lines 13-18) Meanwhile, despite occasional protestations from the architects of the surveillance regime targeting America’s children that the data will be “anonymous,” the report points out that Big Data “makes anonymization of an individual student’s information practically impossible.” Even children being homeschooled or enrolled in private schools may be engulfed, the authors explain.  (HB 1554 pg. 2 lines 13-16). The report also calls on state lawmakers to pass laws protecting student privacy while recommending that Congress undo last year’s “gutting” of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.  (HB 1554 pg. 3 lines 16-21).
ACT NOW:	Send A Message to Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter
Resource: Feds Building Massive Common Core-linked Databases on Your Kids According to the House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda  Questions or concerns should be directed to: Karen Updegraff at Kupdegra@pahousegop.com or 717-260-6117 and/or Carol Hoffman at Choffman@pahousegop.com or 717 -783-8875. I would recommend encouraging them on the 3 supportable measures and addressing concern over this one.

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1555	An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in preliminary provisions, providing for establishment of advisory committee; and imposing a moratorium on implementation of Common Core Standards.
NO ACTION	This Bill imposes a moratorium on Common Core Implementation. Although this places a moratorium on Common Core it also leaves the door open for approval of some or all of Common Core down the road. It also incurs expenses dealing with an issue that did not originate within the state. A better approach is to support HB1551, HB1552 & HB1553.
ACT NOW:	No Action Recommended
Current Status	No Sample Letter

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HR 338	Resolution PASSED in the house, ensuring that PA’s educational standards should maintain their rigor and effectiveness.
NO ACTION	This is a meaningless resolution with no force of law. It misrepresents the process by which the Common Core State Standards were developed and delivered to our nation’s several states and it could be interpreted as an endorsement of the standards that have already been forced upon Pennsylvania. Furthermore, it references rigorous standards, but never defines metrics by which future standards would be considered rigorous and endorses the philosophy that the STATE should “ensure Pennsylvania’s academic standards are thoroughly rigorous and effective for all Pennsylvania students”; a philosophy which destroys parental supremacy over the education of their children. Still, there are some sentiments within this resolution which can be leveraged in support of other related bills.
INFO:	HR 338 opposes data mining (pg.4 lines 1-4) and any attempts at a national standardized assessment (pg.3 lines 22-25). It supports local control of education (pg.3 line 16) and the amendment of any regulations necessary to these ends. (pg. 4 lines 10-13) While it is only a resolution, it was approved by the very officials we are working to influence. Therefore, it make sense to use this resolution in support of meaningful legislation which will have the force of law.
Current Status	No Sample Letter
Resource: Debunking the Myth that Common Core is State Led

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 Bill of Rights:

PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1757	Protecting Pennsylvanians’ Privacy Act. An Act requiring a government entity to obtain a search warrant prior to obtaining location information of an electronic device; providing for exceptions; and imposing a civil penalty.
Support	Prevents any “government entity” from obtaining an individual’s location information from an electronic device without a duly authorized search warrant, makes this kind of data obtained without a search warrant inadmissible in court, and imposes a $50 fine for violating this act. See Amendment IV of the US Constitution – Bill of RightsNote: You may wish to suggest amending this bill to stiffen the penalties. It seems to us that a $50 slap on the wrist undervalues our unalienable right to be “secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”.  An increase in the fine amount would remove the affordability of bulk abuses in the hopes of escaping the majority of the offenses and paying the bill with our own tax money. The fines should be paid by the offender and there should be jail time. Also, the offense should apply to abuses which originate outside the state if the intrusion involves equipment located within Pennsylvania or identifies a location within Pennsylvania.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message to Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter
Resource: Tenth Amendment Center NSA Spying Info

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB2158	Drone Use Restrictions: An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in wiretapping and electronic surveillance, further providing for definitions; and providing for drones.
Support	General rule.–Except as provided under subsection (b), no State or local government, department, agency or instrumentality having jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement or regulatory violations shall employ the use of a drone.  Subsection (b) allows for their use in conjunction with a properly issued warrant, life saving measures, disaster reconnaissance, training exercises associated with the exceptions etc. See Amendment IV of the US Constitution – Bill of Rights
ACT NOW:	Join the Tenth Amendment Center Action Plan
Current Status	Follow The 10th Amendment Center Instructions in the Link below
Resource: Tenth Amendment Warantless Drone Spying (HB2158)

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 357	Right to Bear Arms Protection Act.  An Act providing that any Federal law which attempts to register, restrict or ban a firearm or to limit the size of a magazine of a firearm in this Commonwealth shall be unenforceable in this Commonwealth; and imposing penalties.
Support	Declares all laws, rules, regulations and orders that attempt to register, restrict or ban the ownership or purchase of a firearm, magazine of a firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition to be null and void by rendering them unenforceable and classifies such attempts to enforce as a felony offense. Penalties provide for up to 7 years imprisonment and up to $15,000 in fines. The Attorney General of Pennsylvania is declared duty-bound to interpose on behalf of a Pennsylvania citizen charged under these unenforceable acts. see  Amendment II of the US Constitution – Bill of Rights
ACT NOW:	Send A Message to Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter
Resource: Tenth Amendment Center Info

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Federal Constitutional Amendments

Article V Constitutional Convention Calls: In the United States of America, the sovereign will of the people is the basis for all government. We are reminded in the Declaration of Independence that “…Men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights… That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

The methods established within the Constitution to invoke this abolition or altering of the government is the Article V process. One such method is via a Constitutional Convention commonly called a Con-Con. There is a reason this method is not normally used.

Once this process is invoked and delegates are appointed, they would operate with the sovereign power of the people. This raw power must operate outside the confines of the governmental form which they seek to alter or abolish and there is no authority on earth which can restrain it. We are told that the amendments they would seek to establish would require ratification by the existing state governments. Is that a guarantee? No. Theoretically, the existing ratification process could be altered or abolished during this process. We have the historical precedent of the 1787 Constitutional Convention to prove that fact.

When the original 1787 Convention was called, the body was under instruction to alter the Articles of Confederation and the ratification process was specified to require unanimous consent of the 13 state legislatures. Rather than alter the existing document as instructed, they wrote an entirely new document. Read the document they gave us:

“The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.”

What happened to the unanimous consent requirement? Notice how the State Legislatures were bypassed in favor of Ratifying Conventions !

So, I caution my fellow countrymen. Do not be so gullible as to accept these assurances. There are no assurances. Ask yourself a simple question. In a country in which its leaders refuse to obey the contract of government, what makes our “Conservative” leadership believe that new amendments will be obeyed? The solution to America’s woes ultimately comes down to the American people having the will to enforce the Constitution as it is written and as it is intended. That need will still exist regardless of how many amendments we pass.

Resources:

• A Fairy Tale That Could Destroy Our Nation
• Beware of Con-Cons Blog & Video
• A Two Pronged Assault on the US Constitution (Illustrates how current Foreign Policy and Domestic Policy share the common goal of revising the Constitution.)
• The Historical Precedents Established during the Constitutional Convention of 1787
• TNA Article Nullification vs. Constitutional Convention

PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HR 293	Campaign Finance Reform. A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States on the subject of election spending.
OPPOSE	Key Points: 1. A Con-Con acts as the sovereign will of the people, as such it cannot be constrained by the authorizing legislation, nor the existing governmental framework it seeks to alter or abolish.2. The ratification process for any proposed plan can be altered and delivered within the proposal drafted.3. The Congress may be instrumental in determining many open-ended issues not specifically addressed by Article V as it is empowered to make all laws necessary and proper to bring into execution the powers of Article V.4. There is no guarantee that a Congress that will not be constrained by the existing Constitution will suddenly adhere to a new one.5. Our present condition is a result of not enforcing the Constitution, there is no great need to alter it, but rather to enforce it. This same problem will persist even if a new Constitution were to be drafted.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message To Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HR 539	Free & Fair Elections. A Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States, pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States, to call for a Convention of the States to restore free and fair elections in the United States.are both resolutions calling for a Constitutional Convention, and should be opposed.
OPPOSE	Key Points: 1. A Con-Con acts as the sovereign will of the people, as such it cannot be constrained by the authorizing legislation, nor the existing governmental framework it seeks to alter or abolish.2. The ratification process for any proposed plan can be altered and delivered within the proposal drafted.3. The Congress may be instrumental in determining many open-ended issues not specifically addressed by Article V as it is empowered to make all laws necessary and proper to bring into execution the powers of Article V.4. There is no guarantee that a Congress that will not be constrained by the existing Constitution will suddenly adhere to a new one.5. Our present condition is a result of not enforcing the Constitution, there is no great need to alter it, but rather to enforce it. This same problem will persist even if a new Constitution were to be drafted.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message To Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter

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National Popular Vote

The National Popular Vote movement seeks to create an alliance among states to pool their electoral votes in favor of the candidate that receives the majority popular vote across the nation. There are serious ramifications associated with this idea:

1) The constitutionality of this arrangement is questionable. According to Article 1 Section 10 clause 1 of the US Constitution:

No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation …

However, Article 1 Section 10 clause 3 allows:

No state shall, without the consent of Congress … enter into any agreement or compact with another state

So, it appears a Judge will need to determine Constitutionality and then the state may need to acquire Congressional approval depending on how this contract is classified.

2) Under this arrangement, voters in a specific state that voted for a candidate that did not receive the majority of the popular vote, would have their vote stolen. The vote of that state would not result in the electors they chose, but rather, for the slate of electors representing a candidate that they did not vote for.

3) The transfer of electors from one candidate to another has a dual effect on the results. You are not only awarding a candidate with votes they did not earn but you are stripping those same votes from the candidate that was chosen.

The NPV movement has the audacity to claim “Every Vote Equal”. Changing state-wide election results based upon what happens in other areas of the country does not sound like “Every Vote Equal” to me. Apparently, in their minds, some votes are more equal than others.

At any time, a state that wishes to withhold their electors and award them to the national popular vote getter can do so if their constituents agree, however, this notion of building a block of voting states to force the rest of the nation into this dynamic is wrong. It will be offensive, no doubt, to some of the states and it can be accomplished with as few as 11 states.

Resources:

• NPV Blog Entry
• Stealth Attack on the Constitution: National Popular Vote
• Nebraska Governor Opposes NPV

PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HB 1182	An Act authorizing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to join the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote; and providing for the form of the agreement.
OPPOSE	Key Points: 1. Requires a court ruling to determine if this is a violation of Article 1 Section 10 of the US Constitution barring states from treaties, alliances and confederations 2. Can reallocate a majority of the votes of a state from one candidate to another based on how that candidate was perceived nation-wide. 3. Further alienates the states as sovereign entities from control over the government which they established. 4. Increases the potential damage to the electoral process in the case of fraud or a poorly managed election in another state. 5. Compromises the sovereignty of individual states.
ACT NOW:	Send A Message To Harrisburg
Current Status	Sample Concerted Action Letter

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The Free Trade Agenda

“The Free Trade Agenda” should not be confused with the classical notion of free trade. “The Free Trade Agenda” has never been about trading freely. The Sovereignty destroying Free Trade partnerships are a preliminary step towards true Globalism. The globalist “New World Order” seeks an internationally controlled economy managed by unelected councils (or Soviets as they are called in Russian) whose influence extends beyond the borders of member nations. The object is to convert sovereign nations into member districts of an unaccountable Super government in which Multi-National Corporations partner with political puppets in a Global Fascists Dictatorship. This New World Order cannot be realized all at once. The Free Trade Agenda facilitates a step by step incremental regionalization process, whereby, blocks of nations establish regional agreements and establish regional councils and tribunals. The inter-locking nature of the various regions is to be revealed in the final phase.

The EU as a model.

If you doubt my assessment of the process described above, simply look to the European Union as a prime example. The EU is the ultimate result of the “Coal and Steel Community” established amongst six European nations after World War II. The scheme was supposed to help prevent further war, or at least that is what its proponents claimed. In the decades since 1952, however, the first real supranational body has morphed into an emerging super-state that will eventually obliterate national sovereignty, and inevitably individual liberty, if left unchecked. Former Maoist revolutionary and current European Commission President José Manuel Barroso declared in May 2013 that a federal Europe would be a “reality within a few years.”  In his “State of the Union Address” he stated: “We will need to move toward a federation of nation states. This is our political horizon,” he declared, adding that “unavoidable” changes to European treaties had to be made. “This is what must guide our work in the years to come.”

Those of you who are familiar with Norman Dodd’s quotation of Rowan Gaither (Ford Foundation, President 1953-1956) in which he stated that the foundation was working under directives from the White House to so alter life in America as to make it possible to comfortably merge the United States with the Soviet Union will recognize the Free Trade Agenda as a leading mechanism by which to accomplish this goal. A comprehensive study of the Free Trade Agenda is available in Arthur R. Thompson’s book International Merger by Foreign Entanglements.

PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HR 652	A resolution urging the President & The Congress of the United States to consider the impact of free trade agreements on the American Economy.
Support	This resolution is critical of previous “free trade” agreements such as NAFTA and TTIP (although it gives the impression that the TTIP is a done deal which is not the case), and is skeptical regarding the TPP specifically. These types of “free trade” agreements should be opposed, and it is good for PA to make her voice known in opposition to them.
ACT NOW:	Tell Harrisburg To Oppose The Free Trade Agenda
Current Status	Resources: http://www.jbs.org/issues-pages/stop-the-free-trade-agenda

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PA Bill	Bill Title / Description
HR 672	A resolution urging the The Congress of the United States to oppose S.1900 identified as the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014 and all other Fast Track trade authority legislation that expands presidential authority beyond what is granted by the Constitution of the United States.
Support	TPA is a “fast track” to enactment of “Free Trade” agreements, authorizing the President of the United States to negotiate a treaty and sign off on it before Congress approves. When the President presents the agreement to Congress, it is only allowed an up or down vote on the agreement and cannot offer amendments. This is unconstitutional and deeply troubling. It is the duty of Congress to set the country’s trade policy, and they are not constitutionally authorized to delegate that power to the President. In fact, it is questionable whether a simple federal law is sufficient to provide for a multi-national trade agreement in the first place; this seems to require treaty law, which is to be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate before taking effect. In either case, TPA has no constitutional authority. TPA and all fast track legislation should be opposed, and the PA House’s attempts to voice her opposition should be supported.
ACT NOW:	Tell Harrisburg To Oppose The Free Trade Agenda
Current Status	Resources: ‘How the Free Trade Agenda Is Knocking Down America,’ Special Report of The New American (PDF)

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