Dear Neighbor,
We're back in Harrisburg working to get the state budget across the finish line on time. On Friday night I talked with ABC News about the status of our budget (see below). We're continuing to work with the Senate and Governor to get it done.
Last week, we also voted to lower utility bills, protect addiction treatment, expand access to lifesaving medication, bring more transparency and oversight to AI and data centers, and strengthen accountability in education tax credit programs.
More below.
Warm regards,
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Tarik
📞 215-482-8726
📧 RepKhan@pahouse.net
📍 4001 Main St., #101, Manayunk
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Fighting For You
🏛️ Budget Update
💡 Putting Money Back in Your Pocket
🤖 Holding Big Tech Accountable
🏥 Keeping Addiction Options at Home
📚 Protecting Taxpayer Funds in Education
🙏 Opening Prayer in the House
💊 Making Lifesaving Medi More Accessible
In the Community
🌳 More Trees for East Falls
🎒 Back-to-School Supply Drive
🎨 Manayunk Mural Restoration
🛟 Helping Teens Find Summer Jobs
🏫 Penn Charter Visits Harrisburg!
🖌️ Manayunk’s Art Festival
🥊 Last Word
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As I shared in my ABC27 interview, we simply cannot balance this budget by walking away from our constitutional obligation to fully and fairly fund public education. We must also protect Medicaid and continue working to lower costs for Pennsylvania families.
“We passed the budget in the House back in April,” I told Seth Kaplan from ABC25. “Rob Thomson was still manager of the Phillies, that’s how long ago it was …”
As budget negotiations continue, I stood with fellow co-prime sponsors of our minimum wage bill—Reps. Jason Dawkins, Roni Green, Malcolm Kenyatta, Jordan Harris, and Napoleon Nelson—to push for a pay raise for Pennsylvania workers. Last week, the PA Legislative Black Caucus sent a letter to leadership highlighting our minimum wage bill as the top priority of our caucus.
While the cost of groceries, rent, and everyday essentials has risen, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has remained frozen at $7.25 an hour for more than 15 years. Our bill would allow counties to raise the wage up to $15 an hour and ensure it keeps pace with the cost of living through annual adjustments. The legislation has passed the House and is now waiting for a vote in the Senate.
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Image: With Minimum Wage Bill co-prime sponsors Rep. Roni Green and Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta this week. (Rep. Kenyatta’s Goddaughter Ceyla is in the middle).
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Last week, my House colleagues and I also passed several other important bills that will help our neighbors and improve our communities:
We protected consumers from scams by banning state agencies and the Turnpike from sending text messages without the recipient’s consent regarding unpaid fines, fees, tolls, or other charges (HB 2551).
We supported families by establishing a new state program to gather important information on pregnancy, childbirth and infant health to identify risks and improve care (HB 2621).
And we helped towns and merchants deal with the penny shortage by letting them round cash transactions to the nearest nickel (HB 2388). All three of those bills have gone to the Senate where they await consideration.
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💡 Working to Lower Your Utility Costs
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Nearly every day, I hear from constituents who are doing everything right and still struggling to keep up with rising utility bills.
That's why I was proud to support and speak in favor of HB 2224, legislation authored by Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler that would reduce excessive utility profits while ensuring utilities can continue making the investments needed to provide reliable service.
The bill is expected to save Pennsylvania households at least $150 a year. For many families, that's not just a number on a spreadsheet. That's groceries, prescriptions, a SEPTA pass, or a little breathing room in a household budget that's already stretched thin.
At a time when utility companies are reporting strong profits while families face rising costs, this bill helps put ratepayers first.
🎥 Click here or image below to watch my remarks from the House floor.
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Image: Speaking on the House floor in support of legislation to lower utility costs for Pennsylvania families.
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I was interviewed by City & State PA about the growing crisis of violence against healthcare workers—a problem I’ve experienced firsthand as a nurse and nurse practitioner.
No one should have to fear being assaulted while caring for patients. That’s why I’m proud to support bipartisan legislation to strengthen workplace violence prevention, improve staffing, and help hospitals invest in safety.
Healthcare workers deserve to come home safe after every shift.
Click here or on the image below to read the article.
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Image: Advocating for healthcare in the PA Capitol.
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🤖 Holding Big Tech Accountable & Protecting Our Community
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As data centers expand across Pennsylvania, we need safeguards that protect residents, not just corporate interests. That’s why the House passed a package of bills to give communities a stronger voice and hold Big Tech accountable.
This week, we passed Rep. Joe Webster’s bill to strengthen oversight of data center development, protect our communities and environment, and help ensure ratepayers aren’t left bearing the costs of the enormous energy demands these facilities can place on our electric grid. We advanced Rep. Greg Vitali’s bill to end the special sales tax exemption for data centers, ensuring Big Tech pays its fair share. We also passed Rep. Paul Friel’s bill which gives municipalities the option to pause new data center applications for up to six months, so local officials have time to evaluate projects and make informed decisions.
Together, these bills empower communities, protect our environment, hold data centers accountable, and ensure municipalities have the authority to adopt local ordinances that protect residents. This package now heads to the Senate.
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🏥 My Bill to Preserve Access to Addiction Treatment Advances
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The PA House unanimously passed my legislation to transfer the Gaudenzia treatment campus on Henry Avenue to the nonprofit organization that has provided substance use disorder treatment and recovery services there for years.
Every day, people walk through the doors at Gaudenzia seeking treatment, recovery, and a chance to rebuild their lives. My bill allows the state to transfer ownership conditionally to the nonprofit, ensuring long-term capital improvements can be made while allowing the organization to continue providing critical mental health services.
As Pennsylvania continues to confront the addiction crisis, preserving access to treatment should be a priority for all of us.
🎥 Watch my remarks by clicking here or the image below:
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Image: Screenshot from video on HB 2548.
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Bringing Accountability to Education Tax Credit Programs
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In 2019, WHYY did a great story exposing the flaws in our current education tax credit system. It highlighted Shipley School, which received $500,000 in EITC and OSTC scholarship funding in a single year while reporting that it served zero low-income students.
At the time, Pennsylvania invested $210 million annually in these programs. Today, that amount has more than tripled, yet taxpayers still have little information about who is benefiting or whether the dollars are reaching the students they were intended to serve.
That’s why my colleagues and I in the House recently passed legislation to modernize Pennsylvania’s OSTC and EITC programs.
Our reforms are about transparency and accountability—not taking opportunities away from students. They will help ensure scholarship dollars reach students with the greatest need while giving taxpayers confidence these public investments are being used as intended.
Read the story by clicking here or the image below: WHYY: "Trapped" on the Main Line
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Image: Screenshot from the WHYY article.
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🙏🏽Opening Prayer in the House
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On Tuesday morning I offered the opening prayer to the PA House of Reps. I spoke about grace, kindness, and seeing the good in one another, while encouraging my colleagues to choose hope over despair and healing over division.
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Image: Offering the opening prayer before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives next to Speaker McClinton and Parliamentarian Brogan.
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Image: With Speaker McClinton following the Prayer on the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
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Protecting Our Children from Life Threatening Infections
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With rising rates of communicable diseases like measles, we need to ensure that we are protecting our children. I am currently working on a bill to ensure that parents are getting information about the benefits and risks of vaccines, and the risks of declining vaccines for their children. I am working with Rep. Dan Frankel (chair of the Health Committee), Rep. Arvind Venkat (an ER doctor), and Rep. Bridget Kosierowski (an OR nurse) on this bill.
Last session, I joined Reps. Jen O’Mara (D-Delaware), Jonathan Fritz (R- Susquehanna/Wayne), and Sheryl Delozier (R- Cumberland) on a bipartisan bill HB 1993 that would allow families to get their school aged vaccines at local pharmacies starting at age 8. 1993 is a lucky number for PA, as it was the year that Dysktra, Daulton and Kruk lead the Phillies to the World Series, and our important bill HB 1993 was signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro!!
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Image: Photo with me and Reps. Fritz, Delozier and O’Mara.
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New East Falls Street Trees!
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Recently East Falls got 10 new trees on the commercial corridor on Ridge Ave! This was from a state grant that our office helped to secure working with Catie and the East Falls Development Corporation! This is just the start of improvements we are collaborating on to help improve the aesthetics, walkability and safety of East Falls!
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Image: With EFDC Executive Director Catie Laxner in front of some of the new East Falls Trees!
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🎒 School Supply Drive for Local Students
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The Philadelphia Police Department's 5th District is collecting school supplies in support of Northern Children's Services' Back-to-School Event.
If you'd like to help local students start the school year prepared and ready to learn, donations can be dropped off at the 5th District station for the next several weeks, located at Ridge Avenue & Cinnaminson Street.
A few notebooks, pencils, folders, or other school supplies can go a long way toward helping a child begin the school year with confidence!
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Image: School supply collection box supporting Northern Children's Services' Back-to-School Event at Philadelphia's 5th Police District.
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Manayunk Mural Restoration
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Shoutout to Sofia, Isaac, Reese and the entire team from Mural Arts Philadelphia for their work restoring our murals ahead of America 250 and the Manayunk Bike Race!! in less than two days, they restored the near decade-old pair of murals on Leverington right off Main Street!
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Image: Photo of me and Sofia in front of the mural.
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Summer Job & Opportunities for Teens
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Looking for something productive to do this summer? Philadelphia offers a variety of paid jobs, internships, and career training opportunities for young people ages 12–24.
Programs like Career Connected Learning PHL (C2L-PHL) and the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) connect teens with paid work experiences, internships, mentorship, and career exploration opportunities. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is also hiring teens and young adults for summer positions, including lifeguards, and provides free training for those interested in earning certification.
Whether you’re looking for your first paycheck, building a résumé, or exploring future career paths, there are opportunities available across the city.
To explore available programs and apply, visit the Cap4Kids Teen Jobs resource page by clicking here!
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Penn Charter Visits Harrisburg
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Earlier this year I was honored to travel to Penn Charter to speak with students about housing policy. I encouraged the students to visit me in Harrisburg and was so pleased to have a handful of scholars from the school visit. We had a great discussion on the house floor, including legislation on restricting data center development.
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Image: With students and faculty from Penn Charter in the PA House Chamber.
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Thank you to the Manayunk Development Corporation, the volunteers, artists, and local businesses who made another successful festival possible! I ended up with several items from local artists to decorate my home!
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Image: With friends and vendors at Manayunk Arts Festival.
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I had the opportunity to meet Larry Holmes during his recent visit to the Pennsylvania House, a guest of my colleague & friend Rep. Tim Brennan (D-Bucks). Holmes is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.
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Image: With boxing legend Larry Holmes, during his visit to the PA Capitol.
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A longtime PA resident, Larry Holmes continues to bring pride to our Commonwealth. Holmes’ extraordinary career includes a heavyweight championship reign and 69 professional victories. His significant humanitarian work also includes fighting human trafficking. The “Easton Assassin” continues to kill it, and we gave him a well-deserved bipartisan standing O on the House floor!
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Pennsylvania State Capitol
121-A East Wing
Harrisburg, PA 17120
(717) 783-4945
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Community Office
4001 Main St., #101
Philadelphia, PA 19127
(215) 482-8726
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