Philadelphia, PA – On Sunday, June 22nd, the big green “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” bus welcomed Philadelphia residents just outside of City Hall. The organizations Fair Share America, Pennsylvanians Together, Unrig our Economy and local partners* brought the national bus tour to Philadelphia – the first stop on a 6 city swing through PA** – to raise public awareness of the devastating impact of the Trump/GOP budget and tax proposals on the Keystone State’s families, communities and economy.

To request video or photos from the event or to set up an interview, please contact Ashley@fairshareusa.org. 

Kristen Crowell, Fair Share America executive director and tour organizer said to those gathered at City Hall: “It's not hyperbole to say that the trillions of dollars that they want to take from our work, the taxes we pay off of the work we put in to enrich Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and billionaires that do not need another dollar, let alone dollars from our pockets. So we're here at Fair Share America and all across the country to stand up to this, but most importantly, to give our communities and folks like us a seat at the table.”

Attendees of this morning’s event at City Hall heard from the following state and local leaders who together sent a clear message: working families refuse to pay the price so that billionaires and big corporations can get more tax breaks.

Marc Stier, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center and a host of the tour’s Pennsylvania events spoke to months of organizing against the reconciliation bill: “Republicans in Congress are in the final stages of putting together the horrible, ugly budget bill, and everyone needs to know about it. Many of us have been working since January to educate Pennsylvanians about this legislation. We and our partners have done 79 events and actions, from community conversations to rallies to vigils to house parties, to town halls all across the state. We have recruited 1000s of activists…They have made phone calls and sent letters and emails to our members of Congress that now have reached about 17,000.”

Hanaa Hawthorne, Adult Advocacy Coordinator from Mental Health Partnerships, who relied on Medicaid for life-saving surgery and care: “Let's be clear, I did not choose to get sick. No one does, and so many of us are forced to choose between paying rent, buying groceries or getting the care we need to live…It's not a luxury, it's not an add on, it's the backbone of our health and our hope.”

Kay Evans, a home care worker and proud SEIU PA member decried how difficult it has always been for honest workers like her to not even get ahead, but simply get their health care benefits - and how this awful bill will make it even harder:  “We have a right to what we're fighting for,” she said. “If they [pass] this, it's going to take a piece of everything. It's going to take a piece of them, food stamps. It's going to take a piece of major medical care…Someone like me who takes care of a veteran, who is from a family of veterans, and this is how unpatriotic this thing is.

Reverend Greg Holston, Just Nation delivered powerful remarks rejecting 40 years of policies that hold people back, particularly black and brown people, while the rich take more and more and in doing so, set our nation back: “The sinnister of that racism means that those who believe in something better, those who mean leaving something greater, those who hear that 50,000 Philadelphians will lose their SNAP benefits – and that's mostly black and brown children…What they're really trying to get at is to undermine the very nation that we live, the whole dream of the multiracial, multicultural nation that some of us say we love. That they want to get rid of that for something more, something less, something deceptive: A nation for white people, and white people only, and not white people who are poor, white people who are rich.”

Sam Jones, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC): “Any cuts in Medicaid would be catastrophic for restaurant and food service workers, the health of these workers cannot be sacrificed to provide tax breaks for billionaires who build faulty rockets and automobiles. We stand here today to say no.”

State Representative Joe Hohenstein (House District 177) decried the bill’s expected impact on his working class neighbors in Philadelphia: “The wealth transfer that will happen out of the poor and the working class is astounding. It's trillions of dollars. Can anyone even imagine a trillion dollars?”

*Our event partners included: Pennsylvanians Together, Pennsylvania Policy Center, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, Mental Health Partnerships, ROC United, Just Nation, Pennsylvania Policy Center

To request video or photos from the event or to set up an interview, please contact Ashley@fairshareusa.org. 

**The full swing through Pennsylvania includes 6 stops: 

Sunday, June 22

• 11AM - Philadelphia City Hall

• 2PM - Rep. Fitzpatrick's Office parking lot, Langhorne

Monday, June 23

• 11AM - Payrow Plaza, 10 E Church St, Bethlehem

• 2:30PM - Lackawanna County Courthouse, Scranton

Tuesday, June 24

• 11AM - PA Capitol Fountain Steps, Harrisburg

• 4:30 - Schenley Plaza, 4100 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh

Follow the “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” bus online and on social media: @FairShare_USA on X and @FairShareAmerica (FB, IG, BS, Threads).

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