Lawmakers urged to turn down money from Pa.’s richest man
A newly formed coalition is hoping to quell the influence Pennsylvania’s richest man has on state politics by urging lawmakers to pledge not to accept money from him.
The so-called Pledge for a Healthy Democracy asks its signatories to commit to reject money from billionaire Jeffrey Yass and his affiliated political action committees and to resist his “privatizing and profiteering agenda” including school vouchers among others.
As of Wednesday, 16 Democratic House and Senate members had signed the pledge.
Gathered outside the Commonwealth Foundation’s building in Harrisburg, a small band of members of the All Eyes on Yass coalition along with lawmakers held a news conference on Thursday to announce the launch of a campaign targeted at combatting Yass’ influence on state politicians particularly when it comes to using public money to fund scholarships or vouchers for students to attend private and religious schools.
“From Pittsburgh to Philly to Chester to Lancaster, it seems that we have the same pain in our Yass,” said Rep. Lindsay Powell, D-Allegheny County. “I’m grateful to seeing here other legislators that stood today to say no to dark money in our politics and took the pledge for a healthy democracy to ensure that our local politics stay local.”
“I just feel compelled to speak out against this effort to divert our public tax dollars to fund the education of kids who go to private school,” said Rep. Tarik Khan, D-Allegheny County, who was among the lawmakers in attendance who made the pledge. “What really bothers me is the tactics that people like Jeff Yass have done to flood our districts with flyers telling people that public school champions don’t care about our kids. That’s a disgrace.”
Yass, the mastermind behind the suburban Philadelphia-based global trading firm Susquehanna International Group, is the 64th richest man in the world with a net worth of $27.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Along with contributing to Republican and Democratic legislative campaigns, he invested more than $46 million in federal candidates campaigns in this election cycle alone, ranking him as the nation’s top individual donor, according to data from the nonpartisan Open Secrets.
Others at the news conference criticized Yass’ support of using tax dollars to send to private schools that can discriminate while public schools, which must accept any student, are being shut down due to asbestos concerns.
“We don’t have extra dollars to be giving out like that,” said Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia. “I’m here as a proud legislator and public school parent signing the pledge to make sure that we don’t let billionaires rig our democracy and we don’t let them take taxpayer dollars.”
Defense of Yass
Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners, a conservative group which has political action committees that lists Yass as a contributor and whose office is housed in the building next to where the news conference took place, listened as speaker after speaker condemned Yass and his political contributions.
He said of the lawmakers who pledged to refuse Yass money that Yass would never have offered them any money in the first place.
“It would be like House Republicans saying they will refuse Planned Parenthood or ACLU contributions. Methinks they don’t have to worry about it,” Brouillette said.
He also took issue with their argument that Yass doesn’t care about kids.
Yass contributes to “people who want to help kids and he doesn’t care if they are Democrat, Republicans, independent, whatever. It’s whoever is putting their hand out to stand up for kids,” Brouillette said. “That’s why I’m proud to stand with him and fight for those kids as opposed to these people here who want to block kids from getting out of schools that don’t work. He’s all about helping every kid have a chance.”
Yass, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the newly formed coalition’s campaign to thwart his political influence.
‘Monied interest’
Rep. Rick Krajewski, DPhiladelphia, who boasted of defeating a Yass-funded
opponent in 2020, described the state’s richest man as someone who is using his wealth to push an agenda that goes beyond just privatizing public schools to attacking the LGBTQ community, democracy and reproductive rights.
“It is our responsibility as representatives in Philadelphia and Lancaster and Pittsburgh or across this commonwealth to stand up and fight back against a monied interest,” he said.
Miracle Jones, legislative director of 1Hood Power, a social welfare advocacy group, said the coalition intends to reach out to all state officials to ask them to reject contributions from Yass and the network of political action
committees that support his agenda.
As of Wednesday, lawmakers who signed the pledge include those quoted in this story as well as Democratic Reps. Tim Briggs of Montgomery County, Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz of Berks County, Roni Green of Philadelphia, Carol Kazeem of Delaware County, Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia, Maureen Madden of Monroe County, Tarah Probst of Monroe County, Josh Siegel of Lehigh County, Izzy Smith Wade-El of Lancaster County and Ben Waxman of Philadelphia. Democratic senators who signed the pledge are Katie Muth of Montgomery County and Nikil Saval of Philadelphia.