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, July 7 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., today said he is honored that legislation he introduced 18 months ago to stop sexual assaults in police custody is on its way to becoming law. Rabb said his measure (H.B. 1807) to close a dangerous loophole that has allowed police who sexually assault a person in custody to use sexual consent as a defense was amended into legislation (H.B. 256) relating to corrections institutions. “This is another victory for Pennsylvanians who took to the streets across our commonwealth demanding real police accountability,” Rabb said. “While we have a long way to go in order to change the system and right the wrongs of the past and present, we must commit ourselves to destroying its toolbox, tool by treacherous tool.” Rabb’s H.B. 1807 was among nearly 20 Democratic bills that were presented to House Republican leadership on June 8 when a handful of Black legislators commandeered the Speaker’s rostrum demanding immediate legislative action on police violence and police accountability. After bipartisan negotiation, House Republican leadership agreed to support four Democratic bills, which have now been passed unanimously in both chambers of the General Assembly, including Rabb’s legislation (amended into H.B. 1841) to create a game-changing statewide law enforcement misconduct database. “Police officers are supposed to use their authoritative power to protect the public, Read more
Email from July 1, 2020. Read more
State Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Phila.), who wrote much of the bill that would create a statewide database for police personnel files, said despite FOP opposition, he’s feeling confident that real changes are possible.“It’s a cumulative effect of oppression, and everybody hits a boiling point at some point,” he said. “As long as there are continued, organized mass protests, and there are consequences for inaction and indifference. We’re going to have a series of measures to substantively address these issues.” Read more
Email from June 25, 2020. Read more
HARRISBURG, June 24 – State Rep. Chris Rabb today expressed tremendous gratitude to his House colleagues for their unanimous support of H.B. 1841 which would improve police accountability and safety. “This is personal to me,” Rabb said, before quoting a passage his great-great-great-grandfather, Rev. Amos Noë Freeman, co-authored with four other men, including Frederick Douglass, for the Colored National Convention in July 1853. ‘ We ask that in our native land, we shall not be treated as strangers, and worse than strangers. ‘We ask that, being friends of America, we should not be treated as enemies of America. ‘We ask that, speaking the same language and being of the same religion, worshipping the same God, owing our redemption to the same Savior, and learning our duties from the same Bible, we shall not be treated as barbarians.’ Rabb, whose legislation to require law enforcement to keep detailed personnel records to improve transparency and accountability was added as an amendment to H.B. 1841, said he had just recently learned of that passage co-authored by his great-great-great-grandfather. Reading his ancestor’s dreams, and seeing his children grow in the world today – where Black people are still working so hard to be treated as friends and not strangers, including by law enforcement officers who are sworn to serve all members of the community –has Read more
The State House unanimously passed two bills that aim to curb police brutality.The first bill, presented by Representative Chris Rabb, would set up a data base for all police officers so those with checkered pasts are weeded out.The other would improve training and screening of police officers. Read more
June 19 email. Read more
PHILADELPHIA, June 18 – State Rep. Chris Rabb on Thursday announced his office is preparing to help local businesses that qualify for COVID-19 relief grant funds to apply for those funds. “The effort to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic has required that people stay home and social distance,” Rabb said. “While that effort has been vital, we all know that the impact on our local businesses has been profound. I am grateful for the opportunity this grant funding will provide local businesses, and I’m excited to help local businesses that wish to access some of this grant funding as they look toward recovery.” The state grants available to local businesses will range from $5,000 to $50,000 and can be used to cover any operational costs associated with COVID-19. The recently enacted state budget includes $2.6 billion in federal stimulus funds through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. Within that allocation, the Department of Community and Economic Development has been allocated $225 million for this COVID-19 relief program through a distribution to Community Development Financial Institutions . Local businesses in Rabb’s district, the 200 th Legislative District, which include the Zip codes 19118, 19119, 19138, 19144 and 19150, may reach out to Rabb and his staff for assistance now so they are prepared once the grant program opens for applications. Read more
PHILADELPHIA, June 16 – State Rep. Chris Rabb will speak about the effort to reform Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system, including recent movement on legislation that would improve police accountability, during a virtual roundtable event at 1 p.m. Friday, June 19. “It is gut-wrenching that in 2020 – 155 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation – we must fight so hard for justice,” Rabb said. “It is devastating that there are Americans out there who can watch a video of police killing a Black man named George Floyd and continue to resist that police accountability is necessary instead of looking for solutions to a very obvious problem. “But I am hopeful that soon, meaningful legislation addressing police violence will be enacted into law, since a couple of bills aimed at police accountability and training were recently unanimously voted out of the House Judiciary Committee,” Rabb said. “I believe that it is possible to use legislation to address systemic issues of racism, and I am committed to doing just that.” Rabb will join For Our Future Pennsylvania for an in-depth virtual town hall about the state of criminal justice reform in Pennsylvania at 1 p.m. on Friday. The discussion will happen on Zoom, and people interested may RSVP online at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-us-juneteenth-roundtable-for-justice/?source=Event%20Build__email_org_rsvp-invite . Read more
The Police Reform Working Group, a collection of elected officials and advocates working to bring accountability and transparency reforms to law enforcement, released the following statement in response to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s commitment to police reform: “To bring about true and meaningful law enforcement reform, we must work together with leaders at all levels of government so the voices of those we represent can be heard and forward-thinking change achieved. We’ve already had several conversations with Mayor Kenney’s administration and those discussions have been promising. We appreciate the mayor’s willingness to listen and believe that his announcement today is the first step in what will be a long, but productive, journey to reform. Read more
Shortly before 1 p.m., the House’s online feed switched to a color-bar test pattern as Democrats staged their takeover. Black lawmakers, including Rep. Chris Rabb and Minority Whip Jordan Harris, both of Philadelphia, respectively streamed the peaceful takeover on their Instagram and Facebook accounts. Read more
The Police Reform Working Group, a collection of elected officials and advocates working to bring accountability and transparency reforms to law enforcement, released the following statement on Gov. Tom Wolf’s adoption today of their request for a state-level deputy inspector general aimed at improving law enforcement conduct, as well as Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s, along with the Fraternal Order of Police’s, support of a confidential database to track complaints against police officers: Read more
In the midst of civil unrest across Pennsylvania ignited by the murder of George Floyd, elected officials from Philadelphia introduced a series of much-needed reforms aimed at improving community/police relationships. Read more
Rep. Rabb and his team have been working successfully with the Board of Elections to provide a secure drop box on Election Day to avoid concerns about possible voter disenfranchisement by allowing constituents who wisely vote at home to bypass putting their ballots in the mail. Read more
Ona Judge was a woman who dared to be free — even if it meant fleeing enslavement from George and Martha Washington, our nation’s idyllic first couple. Read more
HARRISBURG, May 18 – Holding firm on his belief that all registered voters should have an assurance that their votes will count, especially during a pandemic or other disaster emergency, Rep. Chris Rabb has introduced legislation, H.B. 2532, that would do just that. Read more
“The use of electric vehicles means cleaner air, and it’s important to study the specific costs and benefits that these vehicles will have here long term,” said Rabb, D-Phila. Read more
PHILADELPHIA, Mar. 12 – Members of Philadelphia leadership team in the state House were joined by fellow Philadelphia legislators in asking Gov. Tom Wolf to place a moratorium on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission from further utility shutoffs for the foreseeable future for all Pennsylvanians in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Philadelphia members in leadership positions, including Reps. Jordan Harris, Democratic whip; Joanna McClinton, Democratic chairwoman; Rosita Youngblood, Democratic secretary; Jason Dawkins, Philadelphia Delegation chairman; Stephen Kinsey, Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus chairman; and Jim Roebuck, Education Committee chairman, were joined by Philadelphia Reps. Donna Bullock, Morgan Cephas, Joe Hohenstein, Malcolm Kenyatta, Brian Sims, Maria Donatucci, Danilo Burgos, Isabella Fitzgerald, Mike Driscoll, Mary Isaacson, Pam DeLissio, Chris Rabb, Elizabeth Fiedler, Jared Solomon and Kevin Boyle in issuing the following statement: “The COVID-19 virus situation is literally evolving by the hour in Pennsylvania as we continue in what’s a situation many Pennsylvanians have never experienced. Many of our neediest residents have life-saving medical equipment that they use in their home, and it’s of the utmost importance that they have consistent access to that equipment through their electric utility. Our emergency rooms and first responders can’t be asked to spend finite resources on Read more
The proposed bill would turn the focus from “under the influence” to “impairment,” reducing the risk of patients receiving a DUI charge. Read more
PHILADELPHIA, March 11 – State Rep. Chris Rabb announced today that Germantown Jewish Centre has received a $49,810 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to improve the safety and security of its facilities. “All people – people of all faiths, ethnicities, genders, races, sexual orientations and abilities – should be safe from violence wherever they gather,” Rabb said. “Our diversity is what makes our communities stronger and more interesting. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to be done toward fostering appreciation for people who are different from ourselves, and while that work is in progress, this grant award will help the people of Germantown Jewish Centre to ensure their safety and security when they gather for fellowship or other activities.” The grant award Rabb announced today is one of 113 approved for nonprofit organizations around the state in the first round of grants ever awarded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency through its Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program, which was created after H.B. 859 was signed into law last year. The law established the new grant fund program, and directs the commission to administer grants to Pennsylvania-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that principally serve people, groups or institutions that are included within a single bias motivation category for single bias hate crime incidents as Read more
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