Conservative Groups Forge Early Voting Coalition Built Around New Unity Pledge

In the hotel where Abraham Lincoln kicked off his Civil War presidency, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. refined his most famous speech, dozens of organizations gathered this week with a common goal: to forge a historic coalition that would catapult conservatives to the forefront of early voting and election lawfare and expand their movement to Hispanics, Asians, union workers, and African-Americans fleeing the Democratic Party.

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Evangelical Leader Says GOP Candidates Need to ‘Grow a Backbone’ on Abortion

Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) Founder Ralph Reed said that some GOP candidates need to “grow a backbone” on the issue of abortion, according to an Associated Press article published Friday.

FFC’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., from June 22-24 falls over the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and dismissed the idea of a constitutional right to abortion. Reed said that in light of the timing of the two events he wanted to give the candidates a “bit of a testosterone booster shot” to encourage them to be more aggressive on the issue of abortion, according to the AP.

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Pennsylvania Clean Slate Expansion Passes House Overwhelmingly, Heads to Senate

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week approved a bipartisan expansion of the commonwealth’s “clean slate” policy affecting those with low-level, drug-related felony convictions.

The measure, which passed 189-14, builds on a 2019 policy that made the Keystone State the first in the nation to enact automatic record-sealing for summary offenses as well as certain nonviolent misdemeanors and arrests that didn’t lead to convictions. That reform benefited 1.2 million commonwealth residents. The bill that now awaits consideration by the state Senate would seal records of those who were convicted of minor drug felonies but thereafter stayed crime-free for 10 years.

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Pennsylvania House Panel Passes Clean-Slate Bill

On Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to seal the records of those with low-level, drug-related felony convictions. 

In 2019, Pennsylvania became the first state in the U.S. to adopt automatic record-sealing for summary offenses and various nonviolent misdemeanors as well as arrests that did not result in a conviction. The change has benefitted more than 1.2 million commonwealth residents. 

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Business Conservatives and High Ranking Pennsylvania Democrat Ally on ‘Clean Slate’ Legislation

Pennsylvania state Representatives Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) and Sheryl Delozier (R-Camp Hill) on Friday reintroduced “clean slate” legislation to subject low-level drug felonies to automatic record sealing. 

The new bill boasts not only a bipartisan roster of legislative backers but also a philosophically broad range of supportive organizations including the pro-free-market Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, the Justice Action Network, Right on Crime and Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. 

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