WASHINGTON — An all-star team of Democratic officials is making up the host committee for freshman Rep. Summer Lee’s re-election campaign kickoff on Thursday night at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers headquarters.
The list includes U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey; and Sara Innamorato, the Democratic nominee for Allegheny County executive.
But Ms. Lee, D-Swissvale, may not have clear sailing to renomination. Edgewood Borough Council member Bhavini Patel, who quickly dropped plans to run for the seat last year, is considering challenging Ms. Lee in next year’s Democratic primary over her stance on Israel.
The first Black woman elected to the U.S. House from Pennsylvania, Ms. Lee has aligned herself with the group of young, liberal lawmakers of color known as the Squad, many of whom have joined her in being critical of Israeli government policies.
In other Washington news:
Fetterman isn’t declaring victory in fight to legalize marijuana
Mr. Fetterman, who championed legalizing cannabis as lieutenant governor and during his campaign, cautioned against declaring victory following a Biden administration proposal to remove marijuana from the same classification as heroin and LSD.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended that cannabis instead be classified under Schedule III, which includes anabolic steroids, Tylenol with codeine, and testosterone. The final decision rests with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“We have been in this exact spot before, with science on the side of rescheduling, only to have the DEA and its destructive War on Drugs mindset block reform,” Mr. Fetterman said. “That must not happen again.”
President Joe Biden, the only major Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 who did not favor legalizing cannabis, said in October 2020 that federal agencies should consider rescheduling the drug.
Marijuana currently remains illegal under federal law even as dozens of states, including Pennsylvania, have legalized cannabis for medical use. That has prevented most legal marijuana businesses from opening checking accounts and accepting credit cards because federally chartered banks won’t provide financial services. In addition, they can’t deduct expenses from their federal taxes, unlike other legal businesses.
Even under the proposed rescheduling, marijuana would remain illegal at the federal level. But the lower classification would make it easier to conduct research and allow those state-legal operations to deduct their business expenses.
Mr. Fetterman said Congress should go even further.
“This decision is long overdue and a step in the right direction, but it cannot be the last action we take on marijuana policy,” Mr. Fetterman said. “In the Senate, I will keep fighting to go further, to legalize marijuana and restore the lives of the countless people across this country who have lost their futures from the use of a plant and the failed War on Drugs.”
Deluzio presses feds to investigate incident at Greater Dominion Church
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio asked the Justice Department to open a civil rights investigation into the man accused of threatening two women with a rifle and trying to enter a predominantly Black church in Ambridge.
Jeffrey Harris, 38, faces charges of aggravated assault, attempted burglary and other offenses after police said he made threats near Greater Dominion Church last month and sparked concerns that he planned to commit a hate crime.
“With hate crimes on the rise across the country, including against Black Americans, it is understandable that any community would be concerned by an armed individual terrorizing a place of worship,” Mr. Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, wrote to U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan, the top federal prosecutor for Western Pennsylvania. “A community not too far away from the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Greater Dominion congregation knows too well the harm that an armed individual filled with hate can do.”
Thompson proposes expanding career counseling for adults
Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Centre, is the lead sponsor of legislation to increase career counseling for older workers.
The measure, which has bipartisan support, would allow public funds to be spent on public service announcements, social media campaigns, job fairs, and other efforts to let older residents know about workforce development programs.
“We must be able to tell the public about the resources available to them,” said Mr. Thompson, who co-chairs the House Career and Technical Education Caucus. “This bill allows for public service announcements and other advertisements to inform adult learners about workforce development programs and high-quality career counseling. Increased awareness into career choices and programs will lead individuals down the pathway of success and into high-quality, family-sustaining jobs.”
Jonathan D. Salant: jsalant@post-gazette.com, @JDSalant; Benjamin Kail: bkail@post-gazette.com, @BenKail
First Published: September 7, 2023, 2:04 p.m.
Updated: September 8, 2023, 8:04 a.m.