150 Pennsylvanians to meet with Administration officials to discuss issues

WHAT:          White House Community Leaders Briefing
WHEN:          Friday, March 23, 2012, 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM
WHERE:       The White House, Washington, DC.  (participants will be departing from
points across the state)
WHO:             Keystone Progress leadership, partners and local community leaders,Thomas C Waters

(Pittsburgh PA)—Thomas C Waters, has been invited by the White House to participate in a delegation of Pennsylvanians for a Community Leaders Briefing  (CLB) in the White House this Friday. Waters is a local resident, LGBT blogger, and Advocacy Chair for the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh.

The goals of the White House Community Leaders Briefing Series are:
·         To ensure the public is well-informed about government policies and programs and how they can utilize these resources; and
·         To ensure that the White House is hearing from the public about how government policies and programs can serve them better.
• To brief leaders on the tools and resources available to their communities, so that they can return home better armed to connect individuals to the policies and programs of the federal government.
A major focus of this week’s CLB will be the Affordable Care Act.  THE CLB coincides with the second anniversary of the signing of the landmark healthcare reform legislation.

The delegation will meet with senior officials in the morning, likely including cabinet members and close advisors to President Obama.  A recent CLB included meetings with Lisa Jackson (Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency), David Plouffe and Valerie Jarrett (Senior Advisors and Assistants to the President).  This week’s CLB will include people at that level who will spend the morning listening to concerns and answering questions from the PA delegation.

Keystone Progress is leading the PA delegation of 150 leaders.  Those participating come from 22 counties and represent dozens of KP partner organizations, including United Food and Commercial Workers 1776, Education Voters PA, SEIU Healthcare PA, Know Your Care and Equality PA.