Pennsylvanians Rally Outside Jeff Yass’s Susquehanna International Group HQ: “Billionaire Hands Off Our Courts”
PHILADELPHIA – This morning, community members and leaders from One Pennsylvania, PA Working Families Party, and Make The Road Action PA – all member organizations of the All Eyes On Yass campaign – rallied outside the Susquehanna International Group headquarters in Bala Cynwyd to demand billionaires like Jeff Yass stay out of Pennsylvania’s courts and to urge voters to “Vote YES, not Yass” in the upcoming PA Supreme Court retention elections on November 4.
Dozens marched from City Line Ave down Monument Road to SIG’s headquarters, where speakers took the soapbox at the doors of SIG HQ to lead chants and speak out against Yass’s attempts to buy influence over Pennsylvania’s courts. Participants held banners and signs, distributed mock “Yass Bucks” featuring Jeff Yass’s face, and highlighted the billionaire’s efforts to flood the state with dark money. The rally drew community members, union leaders, and elected officials from across the region to demand billionaires like Jeff Yass stay out of our courts and urge Pennsylvanians to “Vote YES, not Yass” in the PA Supreme Court retention elections on November 4.
The action comes as new campaign finance research reveals that Jeff Yass has expanded his political machine by creating a new dark money group designed to hide exactly how much money he is pouring into the election. The new nonprofit group, Citizens for Term Limits, appears to have been created by one of Yass’s more prominent PACs, Commonwealth Partners. According to the PA Department of State Business Database, the group shares an address with Commonwealth Partners and Commonwealth Foundation.
Nydea Graves, of One Pennsylvania, said:
“We’re here to demand billionaire Jeff Yass stay out of democracy and our courts. Billionaires want to gut the programs that keep my family safe – like housing funding, SNAP and Medicaid. Instead of taking responsibility for a broken economy, billionaires are blaming immigrants and trans kids for the consequences of their corporate greed. This is about power and control, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the next battleground. It’s our last line of defense against billionaire power grabs. We won’t let billionaires like Yass buy our Supreme Court. ”
Kadida Kenner, CEO of the New Pennsylvania Project, said:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand – and today we demand billionaire money out of our courts. Jeff Yass and his friends are attacking our independent judiciary. What’s at stake in this election is clear: fair funding for our public schools, access to abortion, and clean air and water. We must vote for our freedom now to protect our freedom in the future.”
Danny Bauder, President of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, said:
“For too long, working people have been under the heel of billionaires. Wealth inequality is out of control in America, and now dark money is flooding our democracy. Millions of dollars that should fund public transit, our schools and our streets are being dumped into our elections, dividing working people with fear and racism. But when working people stick together, we can help all the voters of Pennsylvania make an informed choice when they vote. We the people have the power.”
Ron Whitehorne, member of 215 People’s Alliance, said:
“I’m a retired educator and union member. For years, Jeffrey Yass has worked to cripple public education and shut down public schools. If we let billionaires like him take control of the PA Supreme Court, you can kiss public schools goodbye. The current PA Supreme Court has stood up to corporate power and protected union members. We need people to come out and vote on November 4th like your life depends on it. Vote Yes, not Yass – because if we don’t exercise our rights, the billionaires will keep trying to take them away.”
Nina Coffey, Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU Local 668 said:
“This November, we have a choice to make for our families, our jobs and our futures. To protect them, we must vote yes on retention. When we stand together, we– not billionaires like Jeff Yass – have the real power. Our courts are not for sale. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is not the federal court; It has stood with working people against corporate greed. We won’t let the voices of a wealthy few drown out the rights of the working many. We are workers, educators, union members, and family members. We are the people who keep Pennsylvania running. We say: workers over billionaires!”
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