Rep.-elect Young jumpstarts legislative agenda, seeks to introduce 9 bills weeks prior to being sworn in

Rep. Regina Young    December 16, 2020 | 4:02 PM

HARRISBURG, Dec. 16 – Longtime community activist state Rep.-elect Regina Young, D-Phila./Delaware, today announced that she will introduce a total of nine bills, jumpstarting her legislative agenda weeks prior to being in sworn in.

Of the nine bills, the incoming freshman legislator said the four she is currently drafting draw from her previous roles as an educator and social worker; the bills address equitable education funding, career readiness for students, improved support for immigrant services and criminal justice reform for juveniles. The proposed bills aim to:

  • Improve public education by making funding and education quality in traditional public schools equal to that of charter, parochial and private schools, regardless of the learning environment and setting.
  • Strengthen workforce development through the creation of a stronger pipeline between high schools and the trades by offering training opportunities and expanded support for high school graduates to sharpen their math and reading skills to help them better qualify for a broader range of trades and careers.
  • Expand services for immigrants by offering better support for school-age refugees.
  • Raise the minimum age for the arrest of children from 10 to 14.

“During my tenure as an educator and social worker, I witnessed firsthand how the inadequacies in our education system manifest in the lives of our young people and continue to burden them as they matriculate through school and into adulthood,” Young said. “Pupils in my community and across our commonwealth can’t afford to wait, especially when their lives and chances at success are on the line. Knowing what’s at stake is why I’m taking the initiative to draft these bills and reintroduce others as soon as I can.”

In addition to the four bills she is drafting and other efforts to bolster opportunities for public education, Young said she will reintroduce five education-focused bills from the previous legislative session:

  • House Bill 168 (previously introduced by state Rep. Maria Donatucci) -- This bill would create a process for closing school buildings. 
  • House Bill 2741 (previously introduced by state Rep. James Roebuck) -- This bill would require all public school entities to update their Plan to Offer Continuity of Education into a more comprehensive Plan for Reopening Schools and Continuity of Education in the event of future widespread emergencies. 
  • House Bill 2466 (previously introduced by Roebuck) -- This bill would provide financial compensation to people wrongfully convicted of crimes.
  • House Bill 396 (previously introduced by Roebuck) -- This bill would add a CTE director to the workforce development board.
  • House Bill 1882 (previously introduced by Roebuck) -- This bill would create the Governor's School of Urban Teaching Act.
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