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Khalif Ali Joins Plaintiffs Calling for Fair Maps

On December 31, 2021, Common Cause PA's Executive Director Khalif Ali joined plaintiffs from across the state in filing an Application to Intervene in the ongoing congressional redistricting litigation currently before the Commonwealth Court.

Looking to solve a Harrisburg problem, Pa. House Speaker Rozzi turns to Pittsburgh for advice

“We’ve gotten to a point where some elected officials are spending much more time finding loopholes in the system than moving towards a democracy that works for everyone."

Voting & Elections 01.26.2023

Khalif Ali, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Pennsylvania, told Rozzi his organization is concerned about the way legislators have attempted to use amendments to the state constitution.

“The constitutional amendment process was never meant to be used as a means to advance vetoed and failed legislation, or to punish the court for decisions that weren’t favorable to a party’s agenda,” Ali said.

Ethics 01.17.2022

Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed more than 50 bills as he begins his final year in office, a number that illustrates the institutionalized gridlock between the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

“They’re using the constitutional amendment to pass legislation they can’t pass through the traditional and appropriate way,” Ali said, calling it unethical.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez said she will introduce legislation next year with rules aimed to prevent corruption.

Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania — a nonprofit that advocates for government accountability — said at Monday’s news conference that he’s concerned about diminishing confidence in democracy. “We cannot our legislators to forget about the verdict and what happened in Philadelphia,” he said. “We needed to enact these laws yesterday.”

The corruption exposed by the bribery conviction of a city councilmember and a top union leader is part of a culture of conflicts that must be stopped.

In the wake of the last massive City Hall scandal in the early 2000s, a wave of reforms followed, including restrictions on pay-to-play contracting, campaign finance limits, lobbying disclosure, and ethics oversight. But as this trial made clear, glaring vulnerabilities remain. To move forward, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania should start with reforms in three key areas.

Ethics 10.12.2021

Congressman Scott Perry (R-PA 10th) admits he is on the hot seat and on Tuesday spoke for the first time about a senate report alleging he sowed seeds of mistrust following the 2020 election.

“When you’re in a position of leadership, you have a responsibility, to tell the truth,” Executive Director of Common Cause Pa., Khalif Ali said. He says Perry should step down for sowing seeds of mistrust in our democracy. “You can’t just arbitrarily object and call into question the integrity of the process that was questioned in previous elections in which Republicans were successful.”

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