Mailing including a cover letter, petition and leaflet advertising rally on March 10 in support of six bills that would divest various state funds from companies with operations in South Africa or Namibia. These include pension funds of state employees and state educational employees, holdings of state-owned and -related colleges and universities, and city governments. These funds would be required to invest in Pennsylvania. The prime sponsor of the bills is Rep. David Richardson. Six of seven bills cleared the committee process and first reached the floor of the House in October. House Bill 3 passed by a vote of 105-94 and has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The Pennsylvania...
Mailing including a cover letter, petition and leaflet advertising rally on March 10 in support of six bills that would divest various state funds from companies with operations in South Africa or Namibia. These include pension funds of state employees and state educational employees, holdings of state-owned and -related colleges and universities, and city governments. These funds would be required to invest in Pennsylvania. The prime sponsor of the bills is Rep. David Richardson. Six of seven bills cleared the committee process and first reached the floor of the House in October. House Bill 3 passed by a vote of 105-94 and has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The Pennsylvania Divest Coalition and Rep. Richardson are calling for people to lobby and rally at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on March 10, when a vote in the State House of Representatives in scheduled. A press conference and rally will be held at 10:00 a.m., and lobby visits to representatives will take place from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. This is being organized quickly; people are asked to begin circulating the attached petition, phoning local representatives in support of the legislation, publicizing the rally, and organizing buses to come to Harrisburg. The leaflet says that, in South Africa, Blacks (70% of the population) cannot vote, are relocated by force to barren homelands or reservations and are denied decent housing, education and health care. Black men, women and children are arrested without charges and over 1,100 Blacks have been killed by the police at funerals and peaceful demonstrations during the past year. The leaflet says your tax dollars are being invested in banks and corporations that do business with the South African government and firms in that country. Many of these same corporations have closed plants in Pennsylvania, affecting thousands of workers and the health of the state economy. Banks that refused to assist and make loans to the steel companies in Western Pennsylvania have invested in the steel industry of South Africa.
