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
Acknowledging the similar and sometimes interwoven past of the Black and Jewish communities, Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb stood with House colleagues to support the formation of the Black-Jewish Caucus in the state Legislature. Rabb says this is about more than embracing cultural identities and practices, this is an opportunity to further the fight against white supremacy, anti-Black racism and anti-Jewish bigotry — hate that threatens the entire Commonwealth. Read more
HARRISBURG, April 27 – State Reps. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., announced today that he is drafting legislation that would establish a fair share tax plan in Pennsylvania, changing the state’s longstanding regressive income tax. According to a 2019 report from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, 20% of families with the lowest incomes pay roughly 14% of their income on state and local taxes, while those in the top 1% only pay 6%. “It’s the height of absurdity that the bottom 60% of income earners are, on average, paying nearly double the tax rate of what the richest Pennsylvanians pay,” Rabb said. “This legislation will not only make the tax system fairer, but it will work to reduce the overall budget deficit. That’s a win-win. Everyone should pay their fair share.” One of the following three versions of the Fair Share Tax Plan will be turned into legislation: Option 1 would decrease Personal Income Tax on wages and interest from 3.07% to 2.8% and increase the income tax on passive income from things like net profits, dividends, net gains derived from rents, royalties, etc. to 6.5%, raising $2.6 billion in new tax revenue. Option 2 would decrease the income tax on wages and interest to 1.9% and increase the tax on passive income to 12%, raising $6.22 billion in new tax revenue. Option 3 would be a compromise between options 1 and 2, by decreasing the income tax on Read more
In a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb expresses his feelings of gratitude leading up to a vote on the Pa. Fairness Act. Rabb says too many Pennsylvanians have been treated as second class citizens and this legislation would help to end the bigotry so often present in society. Read more
HARRISBURG, April 21 – As a founding member of the PA Climate Caucus, board member of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators and member of the National Conference of State Legislators’ Energy Supply Task Force, Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., has been a consistent and vocal advocate of clean energy, climate action and environmental justice, dedicated to promoting legislation that would move Pennsylvania toward a clean energy-producing and environmentally sustainable future. So far this session, Rabb has introduced legislation that would transition Pennsylvania to 100% renewable energy by 2050 ; establish the Pennsylvania Environmental Justice Policy Center ; codify and expand of the Office of Environmental Justice ; establish environmental justice permit applications for refuse disposal facilities ; codify the Environmental Justice Advisory Board ; establish a Pollinator Task Force ; support local farmers and agriculture through agroforestry ; commission a study on agrivoltaic farming ; modernize Pennsylvania’s energy grid ; adopt zero-emission standards for space and water heaters ; establish natural organic reduction as an option for human interment and amend the Criminal History Record Information Act, abbreviated as CHRIA, to ensure disclosure of public health and community safety risks . Rabb has previously introduced and plans to reintroduce the Read more
HARRISBURG, April 20 – As a founding member of the PA Cannabis Caucus and a medical cannabis cardholder, Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., has been a strong proponent of legalizing adult-use cannabis and improving the current medical cannabis program and its impacts on the nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians who can legally use cannabis. Rabb is using this 420 Day to highlight cannabis-related legislation he has authored, such as his removing DUI penalties for legal medicinal cannabis use and his employee protections for medical cannabis patients legislation. Additional cannabis-related legislation Rabb has circulated includes: Commercial tenant protections for medical cannabis dispensaries , which would amend the Medical Marijuana Act to provide that no landlord may?evict, threaten to evict, or otherwise discriminate against a commercial?tenant?for the lawful sale or possession of medical cannabis if the tenant is certified by the commonwealth. Tenant protections for medical cannabis patients , which would amend the Medical Marijuana Act to provide that no landlord may?evict, threaten to evict, or otherwise discriminate against a?residential?tenant?for the usage or possession of medical cannabis if the tenant is certified to use the medicine. Removing cannabis as a highly addictive and dangerous substance , which would urge the federal government take action to remove cannabis as a Read more
PHILADELPHIA, April 19 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., today hosted a graduation ceremony for participants in the third iteration of the senior-to-senior program at Hill Freedman World Academy. During the program, senior citizens learn how to access state government-related resources online via smart phones and computers from local high school seniors. Rabb’s office also recently held a refresher course for participants in the Spring 2022 and Fall 2022 cohorts, where seniors were reunited with their student-teachers. “It touches me to see the tangible impacts this program has on the lives of the participants; not only do our seniors learn how to navigate technology and see gains in tech literacy, but the interactions between them and the high school seniors bridge generations and foster a sense of intertwined community,” Rabb said. “We have no plans of stopping. I am excited to see what the next cohort has in store.” Information about sign-ups for the Fall 2023 cohort will be released at a later date. Read more
HARRISBURG, April 19 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., announced today that he will be reintroducing legislation that would establish procedures to protect public school students’ right to read and learn. Pennsylvania has the dubious distinction of being the state with the second highest number of books banned from school libraries and curriculum by school boards. “If school boards are going to try to usurp the will of educators and students, they must first go through a rigorous process to ensure that the voices of a district’s teachers, librarians, administrators and students are heard prior to making these important decisions,” Rabb said. “Often, these types of book bans are harmful to students of color and LGBTQ+ youth, as they restrict books that discuss many serious and real issues impacting these communities.” This legislation would require school boards to establish an educational resource material review committee that goes through a thorough review of the materials as facilitated by experts familiar with the content of the disputed material prior to a motion being made by an elected school board to remove such material. As well, the legislation would prohibit school districts from banning books because they discuss topics like race and LGBTQ+ issues. Read more
“It’s not science fiction. We have all the technology we need right now to get there,” Rabb said, adding that Pennsylvania has a constitutional duty from its Environmental Rights Amendment to provide clean air and water to all Pennsylvanians, including generations yet to come. Read more
“So much of what we have to do is not come up with new stuff, but to invest in the things that already exists and we also have to increase our literacy about how and why we need to move to one hundred percent renewable future because its not science fiction. We have all of the technology we need right now to get there, all of it," said Representative Chris Rabb Read more
"Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come," Rabb wrote in a co-sponsorship memorandum. Read more
At a House Democratic Policy Committee meeting on raising the minimum wage, Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb highlights how women and people of color have been on the front lines fighting for a fair wage and he is excited that the new Democratic House majority is taking action and advancing legislation to raise the wage. Read more
Every March as part of Women’s History Month, Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb holds an awards ceremony where he honors women from his district who have done great things in their communities. Read more
Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb thanks child sex abuse survivor Michael McDonnell for his work helping others. Rabb says that folks like McDonnell who tell their stories of survival are critical to helping others who were victimized to acknowledge their trauma and put the blame where it belongs, on the abusers. Read more
Pa state Rep. Chris Rabb calls this hearing of the House Judiciary Committee historic. He says after 12 years of Republicans silencing legislation that addressed issues like gun violence and victims of sexual abuse, Democratic legislation will finally get a vote. Read more
"I feel fine to do anything because I'm not impaired," said Rabb, who takes cannabis tinctures at night to help with sleep. Read more
“I’m honored to be a part of this moment and to be a part of this movement, but I also think it is important to place a spotlight on the fact why we are here today,” hearing co-host Rep. Chris Rabb said. “In spite of the work of many of the people sitting in this room today, until recently all standing committees that dealt with this issue were run by Republicans who refused to run any bill that dealt directly with raising minimum wage. I am glad to say, we have seen great change in Harrisburg in recent months.” Read more
Starting his third term on the House Judiciary Committee, Pa. state Rep. Chris Rabb expresses his feeling of optimism that this legislative session will bring the gun law reforms needed to keep people across the Commonwealth safe. Read more
HARRISBURG, March 20 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., announced today that he is drafting legislation that would amend the Criminal History Record Information Act to ensure disclosure of public health and community safety risks. Public health reports from 2016 and 2023 revealed that there is an extensive list of contaminants in the Dimock water supply in Pennsylvania. However, CHRIA prohibits the Office of Attorney General from disclosing the results of its independent report analyzing the Dimock water supply. This legislation would provide exceptions for CHRIA that allow the public to be notified of public health and community safety risks and would require the Office of Environmental Justice to investigate information pertaining to potential or prospective harm to public health. “The public has a right to information regarding potential health hazards,” Rabb said. “We cannot allow polluters to pollute our environment anywhere across our commonwealth under the veil of benign government bureaucracy.” Read more
“It is imperative that we take the initiative to infuse fairness into our election process, so that candidates are running on a level playing field,” Rabb said Read more
HARRISBURG, Mach 16 – Following the recent Philadelphia ballot lottery result, where little-known candidates lucked into top billing for the May 16 mayoral election, State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., is planning to reintroduce his rotating ballot positions legislation , which would establish a randomized candidate ballot position rotation system to ensure no candidate has an unfair advantage based on the luck of the ballot position draw. The legislation would require the randomization of each precinct’s list of candidates, so that no individual precinct will reflect the same order on the ballot, ensuring that no candidate has the unfair advantage of topping every ballot. “It is imperative that we take the initiative to infuse fairness into our election process, so that candidates are running on a level playing field,” Rabb said. “While drawing ballot positions from a Horn & Hardart coffee can is a quaint tradition, it’s an arcane, unnecessary and inequitable way to determine something as important as ballot position.” Rabb previously introduced the bill as part of his package of innovative election-related legislation in the leadup to the November 2022 election. Read more
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