Calling it a victory for criminal justice reform in Pennsylvania, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic Whip, thanked the committee chairmen and members for moving multiple pieces of legislation aimed at correcting injustices in Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system. Read more
Calling it a positive decision for both Pennsylvania and Cheyney University, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic Whip, released the following statement regarding Cheyney receiving accreditation: “Cheyney university retaining its accreditation is excellent news for not simply the university, but for Pennsylvania and the African American community at large. As the oldest historically black institution of higher learning in the nation and the conscience of the African American community, Cheyney represents an integral cultural piece of the African American experience in higher education. Read more
Gov. Tom Wolf is urging lawmakers to revamp Pennsylvania’s probation system so that people can get a fair chance at improving their lives.The issue has growing bipartisan support in the General Assembly. Lawmakers are weighing measures to reduce the length of probation sentences and create incentives that would allow people to shorten their sentences if they stay out of trouble. Read more
On the heels of a $1.48 million grant awarded earlier this year to the Schuylkill River Trail, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic Whip, announced an additional $800,000 in grant funding from the Commonwealth Financing Authority for the Christian to Crescent segment of the trail. Read more
In modern times, the United States has never been as polarized and partisan as it is now. The two parties cannot work together and have stopped talking to each other, and many of their members barely see people in the other party as human. Adversaries become enemies; disagreement is seen as treason. Read more
State Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic whip, is slated to be part of a panel on probation reform and question presidential candidate Julian Castro on criminal justice reform this weekend at the 2019 Second Step Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C.“It’s a tremendous honor to take part in this vital discussion on where we go next with criminal justice reform,” Harris said. “Criminal justice reform has become the civil rights issue of our time, and it’s imperative that our presidential candidates on both sides have a plan for reform and voters understand exactly where the candidates stand and how they plan to move us forward on criminal justice.” Read more
State Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic whip, and Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin, are gathering support for legislation that aims to create a state database of job postings by employers who are willing to hire formally incarcerated and convicted people. Read more
This week's FOX43 Capitol Beat is a bipartisan interview with Cumberland County Republican Sheryl Delozier and Philadelphia Democrat Jordan Harris. The two are working on legislation to improve Pennsylvania's criminal justice system. Read more
The economic benefits of proposed legislation to “free the weed” by state lawmakers was the main talking point at a Wednesday morning press conference to legalize marijuana and allow the state to oversee the selling of it for recreational use.State Rep. Dave Delloso, D-162 of Ridley Township, was flanked with co-sponsors and other advocates of House Bill 1899, the legislation he introduced earlier this week that pushes Pennsylvania to join 10 other states to decriminalize the drug. Read more
Taili Thompson spent three years on probation and wonders if he would have been better off getting to jail.A Pittsburgh resident, Thompson spoke about his experience at a state Capitol rally Tuesday organized by advocates trying to change the probation system. He said he completed his three years on probation and met all the terms. Read more
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry recently presented the third annual Allegheny College Prize for Civility in Public Life in Pennsylvania award to the four members of the General Assembly’s Criminal Justice Reform Caucus. Read more
Along with the other three chairs of the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic whip, received the Allegheny College Prize for Civility in Public Life award on Monday evening.“It’s incredibly humbling to receive an award that has been given to such great figures in American politics as Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. John McCain, Congressmen Beto O’Rourke and Will Hurd, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Lindsay Graham, the Women of the United States Senate, and Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia,” Harris said. “Civility in politics is essential to ensuring that we are able to accomplish our goals and properly represent those who elect us to serve. It’s possible to disagree without being disagreeable, and this ability to be civil helps us work together when we find common ground. Success found through bipartisanship can inspire other lawmakers to follow the same path and restore civility to our political process.” Read more
Each year, Pennsylvania taxpayers spends hundreds of millions of dollars on probation violators. Two new bills look to reform the system. Supporters of House Bill 1555 and Senate Bill 14 rallied today at the State Capitol in an attempt to move the legislation. Read more
In a boost to the development of the Schuylkill River Trail and a community center in Wharton Square, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic Whip, announced today nearly two million in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding coming to the 186th Legislative District. “Both of these grants will provide a huge boost to our community by creating jobs and enhancing our shared community spaces,” Harris said. “I look forward to seeing both projects completed and the positive benefits they will have on our neighborhoods.” Read more
Calling it a tremendous boost to the local economy, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., House Democratic Whip, announced a $1.5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for the University of Pennsylvania. “The University of Pennsylvania is an unparalleled resource for Philadelphia, and I appreciate Governor Tom Wolf realizing that and awarding this grant,” Harris said. “The renovations that will be completed thanks to this funding will boost our local economy and help further innovation and technological advancements being researched at Penn.” Read more
Highlighting the public benefit of shared community space, state Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Phila., announced a Commonwealth Financing Authority grant for the Neighborhood Gardens Trust to renovate its Concert Garden. Read more
NBC10 @ Issue is a weekly public affairs discussion program that takes an in-depth look at local, state and national issues and politics. This week, we discuss gun control with state Reps. Jordan Harris and Chris Quinn. Read more
N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy last year said that if recreational marijuana was legalized in the Garden State, it would generate at least $60 million in taxes annually. The state’s Office of Legislative Services guessed even more, estimating legal sales would reap between $80 and $210 million.In Pennsylvania, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has said fully legalized weed would net the Keystone State more than $580 million in additional annual tax revenues, an estimate echoed by State Reps. Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia) and Jake Wheatley (D., Allegheny) in their recently introduced legalization bills. Read more
At the end of a week that saw two mass shootings in Philadelphia, Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Friday morning intended to reduce gun violence in the state.The new order requires state agencies to collect more data about gun violence, instructs state police to boost their monitoring of hate groups and white supremacists, and increases efforts to help local police departments respond to threats of mass shootings. Read more
HARRISBURG, Aug. 16 – House members of the PA SAFE Caucus and others today joined Gov. Tom Wolf in announcing a slate of executive actions to make sweeping changes to state agencies and programs to better target the public health crisis of gun violence. At a news conference Friday in Harrisburg announcing the executive actions, Wolf directed his administration to create new state offices focused on violence prevention and reduction, expand programs that promote safety, refocus departments on combatting gun violence as a public health crisis, and increase collaboration and data sharing between the public, government agencies and other states. Reps. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) and Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) joined Wolf at the news conference and spoke of the significance of the governor’s actions in light of recent events in their districts, expressed gratitude for Wolf’s leadership and said the state legislature must commit to taking on gun violence when it returns to session in September. Speaking on the tragic impact of gun violence in not only his district, but in those across Pennsylvania, Harris said, “This must stop. It must end. There are far too many victims, there are far too many people who have lost their life to gun violence in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Time is out for the talk. We have to do action, and we have to do it now.” Furthering this call for action, Frankel said, “We currently have about two dozen Read more
Please use the form below to sign up for email updates. By completing this form your are acknowledging your request to receive periodic email updates.
Thank you. Your email signup has been sent. You should start getting emails within 24 hours.
Please use the form below to email Rep. Jordan A. Harris.
Thank you. Your feedback has been sent.
Oh no! It seems cookies are not enabled for your browser. This site unfortunatly uses cookies to help provide you with a customized experience on the site. Please enable cookies to allow your experience to be customized. Thank you.
1310 Point Breeze AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19146
P*: (215) 952-3378
F*: (215) 952-1141
2103 Snyder AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19145
P*: (215) 755-9185
Hours of Operation - Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
428 Main CapitolP.O. Box 202186Harrisburg, PA 17120-2186
P*: (717) 783-1792
F*: (717) 787-7172