All Eyes On Yass Coalition Floods Capitol Rotunda, Demanding Lawmakers Tax Jeff Yass Instead of Making Budget Cuts
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvanians from across the state with the All Eyes On Yass campaign flooded the Capitol East Wing rotunda today with a clear demand to lawmakers: No more budget cuts to protect billionaires’ bank accounts. The crowd called for legislators skip the cuts and instead generate revenue by taxing billionaires like Jeff Yass, as banners reading “No Cuts, Tax Yass” and “Fund Our Needs Not Billionaire Greed” fell from the second floor while participants held signs “Prevent Cuts, Tax Billionaires” and “Tax That Yass.”
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(Credit: All Eyes On Yass)
With the state legislature barreling toward another blown budget deadline, the coalition drew a direct line between Yass’s outsized political influence – funding 1 in 3 state legislators’ campaigns between 2017 and 2024 – and the looming cuts that result from lawmakers’ refusal to consider new revenue streams.
The All Eyes on Yass revenue platform to raise $14 billion annually is already in motion, with legislation introduced to establish a digital ad tax (worth $541 M), enable taxation of stock dividends (worth $6.22 B), and enhance the accuracy of corporate profit reporting (worth $1 B) which passed out of the finance committee last week.
Last June, the coalition occupied capitol offices and revealed that 1 in 3 PA legislators are funded by Jeff Yass, according to data between 2017 and 2024. As Yass poured millions into the fight for vouchers, the coalition forced PA’s richest man and his influence on state policy into the spotlight.
Ms. Paulette Whitfield of Philadelphia with One PA said:
“I know these politicians think they got a secret, but we are educated constituents and we know that one in three state legislators took campaign money from Jeff Yass. We won’t let Senate Republicans try to cut all the services we need while Jeff Yass gets a free pass. Yass shouldn’t be allowed to take more billions off the backs of the poor people. ”
Celine Schrier of Reading with PA Working Families Party said:
“Pennsylvania could raise 14 billion dollars by fairly taxing billionaires and their corporations. While Yass hoards billions, politicians tell us to sacrifice more and more each year: Our public transit, our schools, and home repair programs. Enough coddling billionaires at our expense. Tax that Yass!”
Lorraine “Ms. Dee Dee” Haw of Philadelphia with Free The Ballot said:
“My community has been ravished by opioids and homelessness. Politicians will say there’s no solution, but there is. They say there's no money, but there is. Here’s the solution: Tax the billionaires, and fund communities like mine.”
Angel Ramone of Scranton with PA Stands Up said:
“Senate Republicans are threatening to cut the very programs that my mother relied on to survive domestic abuse. We won’t abandon women, children, or anyone in need just so billionaires can pay less in taxes.”
Gavyn Marincheck of Washington with Center for Coalfield Justice said:
“The same corporations and billionaires who pollute our water and poison our air are getting a free ride on their taxes. Support rural communities instead of just extracting from them, and make Jeff Yass pay.”
Sharon Mundy of Pittsburgh with One PA said:
“Politicians about budget cuts to our schools, but we feel them. Education isn’t just for the youth. It’s for people who are looking for jobs, mothers who are going back to work, and people transitioning back into society. Education is a must.”
Angelo Ortega of Allentown with Make The Road PA said:
“We need yearly funding for education to serve our students. Tax Jeff Yass.”