Legislative Initiatives

Rep. Babette Josephs
182nd Legislative District
Philadelphia County

Past Legislative Initiatives

I was a co-sponsor of the Health Care Partnership Act, which will provide health care coverage for the 300,000 Pennsylvania children currently without health insurance. The plan, the Children's health Insurance Program (CHIP) is currently in effect.

I formed and headed the bipartisan Task Force on Drug Offenders programs. The task force has drawn together district attorneys, public defenders, probation officers, drug and alcohol counselors, prison officials, clergy, neighborhood groups and others from all over the state to hammer out a consensus on common sense, cost effective methods of detaining and treating drug offenders.

I was an active member of the Philadelphia delegation Ad Hoc Task Force on Nuisance Bars, which worked with neighbors to shut down nuisance bars. The result of my work is the Nuisance Bar Program which the Liquor Control Board initiated and which is still in effect.

I am the co-sponsor of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which would draw upon federal housing funds to help first-time home buyers and nonprofit community development corporations secure financing for moderate-income homes.

I am a prime mover in the effort to amend the Hate Crimes Act, which now provides special sanctions against crimes of vandalism and violence motivated by bigotry against race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity. My amendment would add sexual orientation.

I was the co-sponsor of the Fair Tax Plan, which provided Pennsylvania income tax payers with a $9,500 standard deduction and a 5 percent tax on income above that amount. The plan would have reduced taxes for the poor and moderate income families, while at the same time raising an extra $1 billion over the then current tax system. Unfortunately, the corporate dominated legislature did not enact this measure.

I'm a co-sponsor of legislation which would mandate health insurance coverage for new mothers and babies where medical necessity dictates a post-delivery hospital stay of more than 24 hours.

I was instrumental in having legislation released from the Insurance Committee which would stop the common practice of insurers of punishing people who make good faith mistake in seeking emergency room care. Under this legislation no insurer could deny payment to a subscriber who had good cause to think her or his condition was life threatening.

Legislation co-sponsored by me would end the current insurance company practice of discriminating against victims of domestic abuse.

Angered about the fact that Pennsylvania has the highest bounced check fees in the nation, I introduced legislation which would prohibit banks from charging more than $1.50 for those who bounce checks and reduced to $1.00 the fee charged to those who deposit checks against insufficient funds.

Noting that nothing in tuition voucher legislation would prevent church schools from raising their tuition the amount of the voucher, I was a leader in the fight to defeat so-called "school choice," legislation designed to funnel millions of tax dollars to religious groups. I was instrumental in limiting the role of Edison, Inc. in the operation of the Philadelphia School District, and I oppose the privatization of public schools. I support Charter Schools.

Understanding that crime is an important issue for everyone, I strongly opposed the repealing of Philadelphia's gun control ordinance and continue to work for the instantaneous background checks, for prohibiting private citizens from owning automatic weapons. I supported the one gun a month initiative. Gun control is imperitive after September 11; Pennsylvania must become the source of weapons for every terrorists who wants firearms.

I co-sponsored the 1991 Family and Medical Leave Act to help workers who are sick or must care for a sick family member.