I got it straight from PA State Senator Sharif Street just a few days ago during a one-on-one interview, that in the next number of days, he intends to launch an exploratory committee for the United States Senate. Senator Street stated, “This exploratory committee will be looking at how we can engage the people of the Commonwealth to make sure that we have a process where ordinary citizens can talk about what their ideas are, and how they can share their ideas with me. We will have a major roll-out of a hundred leaders from across the state working with us. We want to make sure we have a robust conversation with the people of Pennsylvania. Republican Senator Pat Toomey announced in 2020 that he would not run for reelection again, which opens the door of opportunity. I will be exploring a run for Toomey’s seat.”
Sharif Street was elected a PA State Senator in 2016 after State Senator Shirley M. Kitchen retired. Once elected, he hit the ground running.
When asked what he has been doing thus far this legislative session, he responded, “I am Co-Prime Sponsor of the Adult Use of Marijuana Legalization Bill. This bill would be for the adult use of cannabis and would completely expunge the records of everyone who has ever suffered a cannabis conviction. Also, thousands of people would have their records cleared, their lives would be restored, and they would have better employment opportunities. If this bill gets enacted, many young people will no longer be subject to law enforcement encounters. Usage of cannabis amongst Blacks, Whites, and Latinos are all roughly the same. While this is something we all know, Black and brown folks are four to five times more likely to have a law enforcement encounter because of cannabis than White folks even though usage levels are similar. We also looked at cannabis to create social equity licenses, so that folks who have been locked out can get involved and to make sure our small farmers can be invested as well.”
Senator Street continued, “We have also reintroduced legislation to create parole eligibility for Lifers. That is not to say we think everyone should be set free. But we want to create parole eligibility for people who have turned their lives around and will have a chance, possibly, to come home. We actually have some instances in PA where inmates are doing more time for second-degree murder convictions, but they did not kill anyone and, they are doing life without parole. While there is a person who did shoot or kill someone and, they have already been set free. We want the Parole Board to review these cases. We look at the Meek Mill situation, wherein people have been sentenced and are doing more time on probation and parole than they ever were given on their original sentence. These same people are sometimes sent back to prison for a period that will exceed their original sentence on technical violations.”
In the first months of this new session in the state senate, Senator Street authored Pennsylvania’s first-ever Agriculture Grant. Governor Wolf’s Inaugural Pennsylvania Farm Bill will ensure that our neighborhood gardeners and urban pioneers can get subsidies and support for their agricultural products. He supports Governor Tom Wolf’s request for additional money to fix up our school buildings and to ensure that operationally our schools have the money they need.
That is just a snapshot of some of Senator Street’s legislative priorities. He says that he will continue to advance many pieces of legislation around healthcare and health services, including presumptive eligibility for home care, and will continue to work with the Administration to ensure that more of our senior citizens can stay home instead of going into nursing homes.
As many of our SCOOP Readers may recall, 2021 in Harrisburg started tumultuously for lawmakers, as Republicans refused to seat a Democratic Lawmaker whom they felt did not win his seat. Their refusals initiated a whole new debate in the keystone state about voting, how votes get counted and questioned if there was any wrongdoing in the November 2020 General Election. It seems that if some Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania could have their way, they would pass some new laws making it harder for citizens to vote.
To that notion, Senator Street commented, “It is disturbing! There have been many bills introduced by Republicans that would restrict voter access. I am pleased that as Chair of State Government, I am in a position to work with the Governor’s office and with my Democratic colleagues to make sure that we continue to protect democracy. “I also chair the Election Reform Commission. We can always improve upon our system, but I do not want to advance this idea that in the 2020 election, there was a problem. The 2020 election was one of the best elections we have ever had because we had more participation than usual. We had more paper ballots and back-ups, more transparency, and we had more days of voting. We had more ways people could vote, and we had greater participation.
“Some Republicans in the House and Senate are trying to roll back things like eliminating drop boxes, eliminating the early vote, eliminating vote by mail, creating laws to make it easier to prevent people from voting. Those kinds of laws which some are calling the attempt at the new Jim Crow will fail. We are pushing back and fighting against those kinds of actions.” Sharif Street wants to see everyone have the right to vote. He believes elected officials should win because they convince voters to support and believe in the strength of their ideas; not because they restrict people on their ability to vote.
The next election in Pennsylvania is the Primary Election, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. As a State Senator, Sharif Street is not up for reelection this year. However, he is encouraging every eligible voter to participate in the political process.
Should Senator Street decide to officially announce a run for U.S. Senate, that election will take place in 2022. Senator Sharif Street is Senator of the 3rd Senatorial District and represents constituents in North Philadelphia, Nicetown, Roxborough, Lower Germantown, Logan, Olney, Fern Rock, Crescentville, East Oak Lane, East Wyoming, East Hunting Park, and Melrose Park Garden areas of Philadelphia.
Sharif is a father of five children and lives in North Philadelphia with his wife, April.
