United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania November 30, 2016

Following is my UM Advocacy report for November 2016:

In the Pennsylvania Legislature the month of November was a time of gearing down. The 2015- 16 legislative session ended November 30. Governor Wolf was busy with the session’s final batch of legislative bills to be signed or vetoed. And of course, November is the general election month, with all state representative seats and half the state senate seats up for election. I only needed to go to Harrisburg one day this month, to attend a Pennsylvania Council of Churches Public Witness Committee meeting.

 November Elections

 Gerrymandering

 Legislative Caucus

 Legislative Pay Raises

 Sanctuary Philadelphia

 State Deficit

 Wolf Vetoes Police Identity Nondisclosure Bill

 Disclosure Guidelines for Police Shootings

 AG Pornographic Emails Report

 Mike Veon

 Kathleen Kane

 Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting State from Contracting with BSD

 MORALtorium

 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

 Woodland Community Crowd Funding

______November Elections

Republican Donald Trump won the majority of votes in the Pennsylvania presidential election to win the state’s 20 Electoral College votes. Republican Pat Toomey won the Pennsylvania US Senate election. On Election Day, pollsters had rated both as underdogs. However, surprise surprise, sometimes underdogs win. Everybody has an explanation. I don’t have anything to add.

In the Pennsylvania Legislature, the Republicans gained three extra seats in both chambers. The Republicans now have 122 in the House and 34 in the Senate. The Democrats now have 81 in the House and 16 in the Senate. This strengthens the Republican Party’s majority, which is the largest in half-a-century, in either chamber. However, Democrats were elected to all three row offices (Attorney General, Auditor General and Treasurer). Why? This one is easy to figure out. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in Pennsylvania by over 900,000. However, Democrats are concentrated in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Republicans are more uniformly spread out, creating more local majorities. Row office elections are statewide. But, legislative elections are local. Of course, many believe that all else being equal, gerrymandering of the legislative districts tips the scales in the Republican Party’s favor. On the other hand, Republican leadership would say that their success is a result of the quality of their candidates.

Gerrymandering

In Pennsylvania, new legislative districts are created after each US Census. State legislative district boundaries are drawn by a five-person commission consisting of the Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, House Majority Leader, House Minority Leader and a fifth member, appointed by the other four, to act as chair. As you know, gerrymandering is the creation of legislative districts with the intention of giving an advantage to one party or the other. Whichever political party controls the legislature appears to have the advantage in drawing the district lines. In Pennsylvania, both parties have attempted to use that advantage. Currently, the Republicans have control, as they did during the last redistricting. There is currently a movement to change the redistricting procedure and to take it out of the hands of politicians—or power-brokers, as some see it.

Recently in Wisconsin, a three-judge federal court panel struck down that state’s legislative district boundaries, on the grounds that they were gerrymandered to the point they violated the equal protection clause of the US Constitution. Could this groundbreaking decision have ramifications for Pennsylvania? In Wisconsin, the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center developed an analytical method to determine the impact of each party’s voters in a given district. The center’s deputy director, Ruth Greenwood, observed that in Wisconsin, Democrats were concentrated in a few urban areas while Republicans were distributed more evenly across the state, providing just enough of a margin to win many districts. Sound familiar? The center developed an index for examining legislative districts, called an “efficiency gap.” The concept was created by Nicholas Stephanopoulos of the University of Chicago and Eric McGhee of the Public Policy Institute of California. According to their method, the current Pennsylvania legislative map has been influenced by gerrymandering to the point where control of the House will likely remain Republican regardless of how well the Democrats do.

If the redistricting procedure is to be changed in Pennsylvania, it will require an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. For this to be accomplished it first takes legislative approval in two legislative sessions (a “session” is the two-year period of a state House of Representative term, e.g. 2017-18). Then it must be approved by the voters of Pennsylvania. The earliest this could be completed is 2020. In recent months there have been efforts in the House to draft legislation for changing the redistricting procedure. As a new session begins in January, this effort will likely continue. If it is to succeed, I suspect that it will require a groundswell of popular support.

In the interest of creating a more neutral and level playing field, I support the effort to change the redistricting procedure in Pennsylvania. I believe the goals are good, in theory. With this in mind, I have had contact with FairDistrictsPA (you can check its website), a nonprofit special interest group focused on influencing a change in the redistricting procedure. They recommend creating a nonpolitical, nonpartisan commission to oversee redistricting. I plan to attend one of their meetings in Pittsburgh, early in December, to learn more about them.

Legislative Caucus Leadership

The Republican party and the Democratic party in each chamber of the Pennsylvania legislature have their own organizations, or caucuses. Each caucus has a leadership team. The leadership members are chosen before a new legislative session begins. Caucus leadership for the next session was chosen last month. Following are the leadership rosters for the new session, beginning in January:

SENATE DEMOCRATS: Minority Leader Jay Costa, Allegheny Co. Minority Whip Anthony Williams, Philadelphia Minority Caucus Chair Wayne Fontana, Allegheny Co. Minority Caucus Secretary Lawrence Farnese, Philadelphia Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes, Philadelphia Policy Committee Chair Lisa Boscola, Northamption Co. Caucus Administrator John Yudichak, Luzerne Co

SENATE REPUBLICANS Majority Leader Jake Corman, Centre Co. (UNITED METHODIST) Majority Whip John Gordner, Columbia Co. Majority Caucus Chair Bob Mensch, Montgomery Co. Majority Caucus Secretary Richard Alloway, Adams Co. Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Browne, Lehigh Co. Policy Committee Chair David Argall, Schylkill Co. (UNITED METHODIST) Caucus Administrator Charles McIlhinney, Bucks Co.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS: Minority Leader Frank Dermody, Allegheny Co. Minority Whip Mike Hanna, Clinton Co. Caucus Chair Dan Frankel, Allegheny Co. Caucua Secretary Rosita Youngblood, Philadelphia Appropriations Chair Joe Markosek, Allegheny Co. Caucus Administrator Neil Goodman, Schuylkill Co. Policy Chair Michael Sturla, Lancaster Co.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS: House Speaker Mike Turzai, Allegheny Co. Majority Leader Dave Reed, Indiana Co. (UNITED METHODIST) Majority Whip Bryan Cutler, Lancaster Co. Caucus Chair Marcy Toepel, Montgomery Co. (new to position) Caucus Secretary Donna Oberlander, Clarion Co. Appropriations Chair Stan Saylor, York Co. (new to position) Caucus Administrator Kurt Masser Policy Committee Chair Kerry Benninghoff, Centre Co. (UNITED METHODIST)

House Republican Appropriations Chair Stan Saylor was formerly United Methodist. In 2015 I had a one-on-one with him. Among other things, I asked him about his church membership. He told me that he became discouraged and left his UM congregation because of internal church drama and pastoral misconduct. Folks like to talk about corruption in state politics, but in the church we sometimes don’t do much better.

Legislative Pay Raise

Pennsylvania lawmakers have the second highest base salary of all state lawmakers in the country—only California’s is higher. Pennsylvania legislators will receive their first pay raise in two years, a 1.34 percent increase. Rank-and-file member's annual pay will increase by $1,140, to $86,478.50 for 2017. This increase will boost legislative leaders' pay to between $98,609 and $134,998. A state law provides a formula for automatic cost-of-living adjustments for the members of the Legislature. In addition to their salaries, lawmakers receive a generous benefits package, free parking, unvouchered per diem allowances, and a defined benefit pension plan. Following are the new salaries for the top legislative leaders: Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati - $134,998 House Speaker Mike Turzai - $134,998 House Majority Leader Dave Reed - $125,296 Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman - $125,296 House Minority Leader Frank Dermody - $125,296 Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa - $125,296 Most of the other caucus leadership positions receive $115,938

Sanctuary Philadelphia

According to Mayor Jim Kenney, Philadelphia remains a sanctuary city. As you recall from my past reports, a “sanctuary city” is one where its law enforcement officials do not cooperate with federal immigration officials in holding undocumented immigrants in custody, unless that person has been convicted of a violent felony. Mayor Kenney’s assertion was prompted by President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. Senator Pat Toomey has threatened Philadelphia, in particular, regarding its policy. In fact, Kenney re-branded the concept, saying, “First of all, we’ve changed the name from ‘sanctuary city’ to ‘the Fourth Amendment city.’ We respect and live up to the Fourth Amendment which means you can’t be held against your will without a warrant from the court signed by a judge.” Those who support sanctuary cities claim that the policy improves immigrant-police relations and encourages undocumented people to seek help without threat of deportation. Critics claim that the policy is a threat to safety and security.

State Deficit

On November 15, the state Legislature’s budget analyst, the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), provided bad news. IFO director Matthew Knittel said that a revenue package approved in July, of more than $1 billion to relieve this year’s deficit, has made limited progress for the long-term deficit. The Legislature has consistently rejected Governor Tom Wolf’s efforts to relieve the deficit with a multibillion-dollar tax increase. The IFO has projected a shortfall of more than $500 million in the state’s current $31 billion budget. Tax collections are running behind expectations. Furthermore, the IFO projected a $1.7 billion deficit for next year’s budget. The deficit is expected to grow every year after that. IFO thinks average costs will rise by a percentage point per year faster than tax collections over the next five years. Part of the current year’s revenue package relied heavily on “sin taxes” and casino licenses (which I wrote about in my September 2016 report). But, the income has not met expectations. Furthermore, the Legislature has not acted on a gambling expansion bill, which was expected to provide more revenue. The day after the IFO’s declaration, the state Treasury Department announced that it is providing $600 million to keep the state solvent. This puts the state $2.2 billion in debt to the treasury.

Wolf Vetoes Police Identity Nondisclosure Bill

On November 21, Governor Wolf vetoed House Bill 1538 that would have restricted public officials from immediately releasing the names of police officers who kill or seriously injure someone. (See my October 2016 report for details.) The Governor explained his action in his veto message, "While I am deeply concerned for the safety of the commonwealth's police officers, government works best when trust and openness exist between citizens and their government, and as such, I cannot sign into law a policy that will enshrine the withholding of information in the public interest. These situations in particular – when law enforcement uses deadly force – demand utmost transparency, otherwise a harmful mistrust will grow between police officers and the communities they protect and serve. Further, I cannot allow local police department policies to be superseded and transparency to be criminalized, as local departments are best equipped to decide what information is appropriate to release to the public.” The bill was sponsored by Republican State Rep. Martina White of Philadelphia and approved by the Legislature with bipartisan support. Though the bill passed both legislative chambers with veto-proof majorities, it was vetoed by the Governor after the lawmakers had left the Capitol for the holidays. Rep. White has expressed her intention to revisit this issue when the new legislative session begins. A few days before the Governor’s action, I called the Governor’s Office to lodge an opinion that this bill should be vetoed.

Disclosure Guidelines for Police Shootings

On November 29, about a week after Governor Wolf’s veto of HB 1538, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA) released recommendations for police departments and district attorneys to follow in the event of an officer-involved shooting. The PDAA’s document appears to be the first such guidelines issued in the nation. The PDAA was neutral on HB 1538. A spokeswoman for the PDAA said that the guidelines were in the works before the bill was vetoed. The effort to create the guidelines was led by Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, who chairs the PDAA’s Best Practices Committee. Among the 16 items in the guidelines is the recommendation to keep anonymous an officer who was involved in a shooting, unless charged with a crime. (It is worth noting that there is a big difference between a recommendation and a law.) PDAA President and Lebanon County DA David Arnold observed, “Officer-involved shootings are traumatic, complex and highly publicized events. As prosecutors, it is our duty to ensure that any police-related shooting is thoroughly reviewed in a manner that is objective and fair for everyone involved.”

AG Pornographic Emails Report

On November 22, state Attorney General Bruce Beemer released a long awaited report regarding pornographic and offensive emails involving the Attorney General’s Office, sent by high-ranking state employees. The report was commissioned in December 2015 by Beemer’s predecessor, Kathleen Kane— Ms. Kane resigned in August after being convicted of abusing the power of her office and lying under oath. Kane said her office discovered the emails after she started a review of her predecessor’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky investigation. People involved in the scandal included personnel from the Attorney General’s Office and elsewhere. Over sixty state employees have been fired or disciplined over this matter. The 50-page report released by Mr. Beemer was conducted by a private law firm. It found at least 38 public servants were high-volume senders of inappropriate emails from 2008 to 2015. Thirteen were senior government officials or judges. Beemer said that he did not believe that the commissioning of the report was in the best interest of the citizens of Pennsylvania. He called it a poor use of taxpayer money--$385,640 so far, perhaps growing to $1 million. The report reviewed 6.4 million documents and found 11,930 as being inappropriate. It identified 25 percent of the inappropriate emails as “obscene” and the remainder as “offensive.” Beemer criticized the methodology that resulted in these conclusions. Though acknowledging the presence of offensive material, Beemer believes there is no evidence that the administration of justice was undermined by this email traffic. He also noted that there was no evidence of any prosecutable crimes. However, the report’s author, former Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, called this email traffic a “significant problem.” Beemer did not release the names of people identified in the report, because he said this would unfairly damage their reputations and make his office vulnerable to lawsuits. However, the report also identified previously unknown offensive emails and Beemer acknowledged that others might be facing future consequences.

Mike Veon

On November 22 the state Supreme Court vacated the 2012 conviction of former state representative Mike Veon on public corruption charges. The justices ruled a Dauphin County judge erred when he told jurors that Veon did not have to gain financially to be convicted of violating the state’s conflict-of-interest law. The Supreme Court said that the crime must involve a financial benefit, and that intangible political benefits are not sufficient. Mr. Veon was previously convicted in 2010 as part of the state attorney general’s Bonusgate investigation of corruption in the Legislature and was sentenced to the State Correctional Institution at Laurel Highlands. He served five years before being paroled in June 2015, for good behavior. In 2010 he was charged with 19 counts relating to corruption and conflict of interest. He was found guilty of using taxpayer resources for political campaigns and sentenced to 6 to 14 years in prison. But, Veon worked hard to appeal the second conviction of 2012, on charges relating to the misuse of grants directed to his not-for-profit organization, Beaver Initiative for Growth. That conviction carried a prison term of one to four years and a financial penalty of court costs, fines and restitution to the state. The Supreme Court unanimously overturned that conviction and voided the financial penalty. The overturned conviction centered on the state law against elected officials committing conflict-of-interest for “private pecuniary benefits.” But the original prosecutors had expanded that ban to include “intangible political gain” such as favorable publicity. In explaining the Supreme Court decision, Justice David Wecht wrote, "The trial court's jury instruction here made of the statute a meat axe, finding (or creating) a conflict of interest in every dais, at each parade, and at every ribbon-cutting, given that the very nature of seeking to satisfy one's constituents and secure re-election all but requires the taking of official action to secure intangible political gains. This criminalization of politics is a bridge too far." Today, Mr. Veon lives in Pittsburgh and works as a lobbyist and consultant. It might be said that the prosecution in 2012 perverted the law. I recently heard former Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Bill DeWeese—himself convicted of corruption charges in 2012—say, “If they want to get you, they will.” Politics can be a rough game.

Kathleen Kane

Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has appealed to Superior Court her conviction and the jail term she received last month from a Montgomery County judge on charges of abuse of power and perjury. Ms. Kane was permitted to remain free on $75,000 cash bail pending the outcome of her appeal.

Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting State from Contracting with BSD

On November 4, Governor Wolf signed House Bill 2107. In essence, this bill prohibits the state from contracting with any company or organization that engages in an economic boycott against Israel. Mr. Wolf said, “We must make clear that we are in favor of a peaceful, negotiated solution to this conflict and that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the United States, stand behind our friends and allies, and will not encourage economic punishment in place of peaceful solutions to challenging conflicts.” A vender contracting with the state must certify, according to the language of the law, that it is not currently engaged in a boycott of an entity based in or doing business with a jurisdiction not prohibited by Congressional statute from engaging in trade or commerce. Also, the entity must certify that it will not engage in such boycotting during the duration of the contract. I watched the Pennsylvania Cable Network’s live broadcast of Gov. Wolf signing this bill. I was surprised and disappointed at the accompanying rhetoric that, I believe, misrepresented and demonized the BSD (Boycott, Sanction, Divestment) movement.

MORALtorium

Since last January, I have been participating with an informal group of religious-based environmental advocates, supporting a moratorium on the drilling of new hydraulic fracturing wells in Pennsylvania. The group has called this initiative “MORALtorium.” On November 18 the group sent a letter to Governor Wolf in support of a drilling moratorium, highlighting recent medical opinions, and encouraging the promotion of renewable energy sources. Copies of the letter were also sent to Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Dr. Karen Murphy and to Physician General, Dr. Rachel Levine—with whom we have had previous contact and dialogue. I signed-on to this letter, in the name of UM Advocacy in PA. Attached separately is a copy of the letter.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

In November, I signed-on, in the name of UM Advocacy in PA, to a letter to US Senator Pat Toomey, asking for protection for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is a US Government consumer protection agency, established in 2011 to be a financial sector watchdog. The CFPB has been a target of the payday lending industry. Attached separately is a copy of the letter.

Woodland Community Crowd Funding

In November, I included my name on a letter of support for a crowd funding effort for the Woodlands Community in Butler County, Connoquenessing Township. A dozen families in this community have had their water contaminated by the gas and oil industry. This crowd funding effort is part of an ongoing movement to help these families obtain clean water. Attached separately is a copy of the letter.

If you have any issues that you want me to pursue, please let me know.

Dai Morgan United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania [email protected]

November 18, 2016

Governor Tom Wolf 508 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, PA 17120

Honorable Governor Wolf,

We wish to bring to your attention that on October 23, the 300 members of the House of Dele- gates of the Pennsylvania Medical Association, representing 16,000 members, unanimously passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on any new development of fracking infrastructure anywhere in Pennsylvania because of the increasingly compelling evidence of carcinogenic chemicals used in the natural gas extraction process. 1

A recently released study by Yale University documents further evidence of significant levels of carcinogenic chemicals released in the air and water due to fracking. Due to the medical profes- sionals’ concern, especially for the health effects on children who live in fracking zones, they have called for this moratorium, the development of a registry of health complaints, and addi- tional research on the potential scale of the problem.2,3

Finally, the Concerned Health Professionals of NY, together with the Nobel Prize-winning, Phy- sicians for Social Responsibility, just released the Fourth Edition of the Compendium on the risks and harms of fracking at a press conference in Harrisburg, PA on November 17, 2016. The Compendium forms the scientific rationale for the recent call by the Pennsylvania Medical Soci- ety for a statewide moratorium on fracking.

Additionally, the all-new Compendium features a much-expanded section on infrastructure, in- cluding methane's impact on climate change in light of the Paris Agreement. Compendium forms the scientific rationale for the recent call by the Pennsylvania Medical Society for a statewide moratorium on fracking. There are now more than 900 studies--with 200 peer-reviewed studies on fracking published so far this year.4

We the undersigned are members of a statewide moratorium coalition made up of faith-based or- ganizations and environmental non-profits which has been working with those front line commu- nity members who have been directly affected by the ill effects of fracking. We are from Catho- lic religious orders, as well as Jewish, Muslim, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Unitarian Universalist con- gregations, from the PA Council of Churches which represents 20 Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations, and from PA Interfaith Power and Light. Our statewide environmental organizations include Food and Water Watch, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra

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Club, and Pennsylvania Against Fracking. We take environmental justice seriously, and we see some Pennsylvania residents suffering greatly.

All of these denominational and environmental organizations have called for a moratorium on any further development of fracking in our state. We have lobbied in Harrisburg and in our home districts to this end. We also convened a meeting of representatives from our member groups last January with Secretary of Health Karen Murphy, Physician General Rachel Levine, and the then Secretary for Public Policy Advisor John Hanger.

We are asking our state leaders to establish a moratorium on any further development of infra- structure related to fracking and instead support or incentivize the development of wind, solar and other renewable enterprises in Pennsylvania.

We urge you to move forward swiftly in light of the recent research from Cornell and Harvard (2016) that confirms that methane leaks from our drilling rigs are speeding up global warming dramatically. While methane burns clean, it is the leakage of methane in the fracking extraction, transport and distribution process that is the culprit. Methane is 86 times more “efficient” a con- tributor to global warming than CO2 is, according to their research! Both independent studies agree. This is urgent. And Pennsylvania has just learned that we have hundreds of thousands more uncapped wells spewing methane than previously documented.5

Now with the release of the recent Yale study on potential health risks, it is even more critical that we refrain from further investment in hydraulic fracturing and infrastructure for natural gas in our state. Future energy investments should prioritize the expansion of clean energy operations such as those wind and solar companies that already exist in our commonwealth. This must be the future we invest in starting now; we must invest in job creation that give us the energy we need without the health and environmental damages that come with oil and natural gas. The na- tions of the world agree that fossil fuels must stay in the ground; burning fossil carbon is destroy- ing the environment worldwide.

We believe that by working with the renewable energy producers who already exist in PA, who are already providing a growing number of jobs for our people, this will lead to a clean and safe energy future over the long term. Pennsylvania long has contributed greatly to the problem and must become part of the solution for us and our descendants.

We are united in asking you to take this issue seriously and to take on the challenge of being a courageous leader on one of the most urgent issues of our time not just for Pennsylvania but for the entire world.

We hope to hear from you soon,

Signators:

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Anita Mentzer, UUPLAN Director James Schmid, PHd c/o Unitarian Church of Harrisburg Schmid & Company Consulting Ecologist 1280 Clover Lane 1201 Cedar Grove Road Harrisburg, PA 17113 Media, PA 19063

Wanda Guthrie Rev. Cindy Crowner Convener, EcoJustice Working Group Presbyterian Church (USA) Thomas Merton Center Member denomination of PA Council of Churches Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Marcia & Kenneth Berry Rabbi Daniel Swartz 119 Fish Hatchery Rd. President of the Board Newville, PA 17241 PA Interfaith Power & Light (PA IPL) Affiliation: Member of Baha'i Faith and PA-IPL 243 S. Allen St., #337, State College PA 16801 Pat Lupo, OSB Rev. Dai Morgan Benedictine Sisters United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania 355 East 9th Street 7704 Westmoreland Avenue Erie, PA 16508 Pittsburgh, PA 15218 Rev. Sandra Strauss Rabbi Mordechai Leibling Director of Advocacy, PA Council of Churches Reconstructionist Rabbinical College 900 Arlington Avenue 1299 Church Road Harrisburg, PA 17109 Wyncote, PA 19095

“Doctors Call for State Ban on Drilling and Fracking”, Pittsburgh Post Gazette: October 28, 2016. http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2016/10/27/Doctors-group-calls-for-morato- rium-on-fracking-in-Pennsylvania/stories/201610270226

“Fracking Linked to Cancer-causing Chemicals New YSPH Study Finds”, Yale School of Public Health: October 24, 2016. https://publichealth.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=13714

Diziel, Nicole C. et al. “Unconventional oil and gas development and risk of childhood leukemia: Assessing the evidence, Science of the Total Environment”, Volume 576, 15 January 2017, Pages 138–147, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.072

Compendium 4.0. November 17, 2016. http://concernedhealthny.org/compendium/

“Pennsylvania has more abandoned wells than expected, new study says” State Impact Pennsyl- vania, November 14, 2016. https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2016/11/14/pennsylvania- has-more-abandoned-wells-than-expected-says-new-study/

3 Defend the CFPB

Dear Senator Pat Toomey,

We, the undersigned organizations and community leaders, write to urge that you reject attempts by big Wall Street Banks and other financial institutions like payday lenders to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was created after the economic collapse to protect consumers and reduce the risk of another collapse. Since 2011, it has served as an effective and accountable watchdog over unfair practices in financial products and services, such as mortgages, student loans, and credit cards. The CFPB is protecting students, seniors, service members and the rest of us too. It has implemented fair rules of the road that have evened the playing field for responsible consumers and businesses alike.

The CFPB has already returned nearly $12 billion to over 27 million consumers by suing companies for breaking the law. Among its numerous actions is a record $100 million penalty and consumer restitution against Wells Fargo for fraudulent consumer accounts created by its employees. Additionally, the CFPB's website hosts a complaint database that has processed over 1 million complaints, and it provides educational resources to make important financial decisions. Over 24,000 complaints from Pennsylvania have been published in the database.

The CFPB has also been accountable to the public, including with a small business review panel, 4 advisory boards, 36 public town halls and field hearings, and 61 visits by senior officials to testify before Congress. Please oppose alterations to the agency's leadership structure, funding, or oversight authority. We urge you to take a strong stand for, not against, a fairer, more transparent and safer financial system without tricks and traps. Please stand up to big Wall Street banks and protect the CFPB

We, the below signed faith leaders and faith communities, support the Clean Water for the Woodlands fundraiser.

Imagine being deprived of clean water. Imagine living in a house where drinking a glass of water from the tap or taking a shower or even flushing a toilet are activities too risky to attempt. Now imagine what it would be like to live that way for not days or weeks or even months, but years.

That is precisely the plight of families in towns and rural communities across the shale fields of Pennsylvania where modern oil and gas drilling techniques have turned them into industrialized wastelands. The problem is particularly acute in an area of Butler County, where fracking fouled the well water of several dozen families in a community called the Woodlands six years ago. To date, families in the Woodlands still rely on a weekly donation of 20 gallons of clean water for drinking, cooking, and brushing their teeth, which they receive from volunteers operating a water bank at the nearby White Oak Springs Presbyterian Church. This falls far short of what the American Red Cross considers the minimum required for an emergency – two gallons per person per day. The Woodlands community has gone far too long without the help they need from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s faith community is stepping in where Governor Tom Wolf has not, and will be holding a fundraiser for the month of December with the goal of raising $5,000 for the Woodlands community. This would provide five months of clean water for the residents of the Woodlands. We support this effort, and we call on Governor Wolf to take long overdue action. If Governor Wolf won’t hold the industry accountable for the contamination, then he must take the burden off of volunteers and set aside funds in his proposed 2017 budget to provide ongoing help to the Woodlands and communities like it that have been adversely impacted by fracking