Aaron and Rachael welcome their first lawmaker to the podcast, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, one of Pennsylvania’s most dynamic voices for working families. Listen as they dig into the ongoing state budget battle, the future of public education funding, and what keeps Rep. Kenyatta hopeful in today’s highly charged political climate.
Aaron and Rachael welcome their first lawmaker to the podcast, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, one of Pennsylvania’s most dynamic voices for working families. Listen as they dig into the ongoing state budget battle, the future of public education funding, and what keeps Rep. Kenyatta hopeful in today’s highly charged political climate.
Do you have some feedback for us? Send an email to podcast@psea.org.
Learn more and watch for upcoming episodes at psea.org/podcast.
Voiceover:
Welcome to Duty Free Lunch, the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to you. From cutting-edge classroom strategies to thought-provoking policy discussions, if it impacts PSEA members, it's on the menu.
Aaron Chapin:
Hello and welcome to Duty Free Lunch. I'm PSEA President Aaron Chapin. I'm here today with PSEA Treasurer Rachael West. How's it going, Rachael?
Rachael West:
Always good here in Harrisburg, Aaron.
Aaron Chapin:
Do you really mean it?
Rachael West:
I always get to hang out with you when I'm here.
Aaron Chapin:
So you're lying today. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Well, we're going to get right to it. It's a pretty exciting episode as we are mentioning to our guests off the air. This is the very first episode and we're over 50 episodes now, Rachael. Over 50. Hard to believe-
Rachael West:
It is hard to believe.
Aaron Chapin:
That they kept us on the air this long. This is the first time in 50 episodes that we actually have a legislator.
Rachael West:
That seems surprising to me, but I'm very excited about our guest today.
Aaron Chapin:
I am too. I'm very excited. Normally we do stories about our members or we have our staff come in here and we're talking about all the things that we're doing at PSEA, but when we are kicking around some ideas about a month or so ago, we were talking about who on the legislative side could we get in here and get excited about elections? And today's guest was like, boom, that was it.
Rachael West:
Absolutely he should be at the top of the list.
Aaron Chapin:
And he's pretty fantastic. And today everybody we're being joined by Pennsylvania state representative Malcolm Kenyatta. He's a leading voice for working families. And if I don't mind saying so, he's one of the rising stars in state politics. He's representing Philadelphia's 181st District and Representative Kenyatta has been outspoken on issues like fair wages, education funding, which we love, and protecting democracy, which we love even more these days.
Rachael West:
Absolutely.
Aaron Chapin:
You got it. As the state is still, once this is released in a couple of weeks, I'm sure we're still going to be in the middle of another, that budget fight that's been going on for over 100 days now. Also though, we've got debates over the court's direction and we're going to be diving into what's at stake and hearing directly from Malcolm about what he's fighting for, what he's hearing from his constituents and what keeps him motivated in this work. So enough of me talking, Rachael, welcome to Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. How's it going, Malcolm?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
It is going fantastic. And I'm sorry, as soon as we start talking, an ambulance is going by.
Aaron Chapin:
That's okay.
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Hopefully they get [inaudible 00:02:42].
Aaron Chapin:
That's all we know. You're an extremely busy individual, not just here in Pennsylvania, but currently you're down in D.C. doing the busy work for national stuff. So we're going to get right to this and let's just talk about the state budget here in Pennsylvania, Malcolm. Because look, the state budget's unresolved as we're recording this right now. In your opinion, Representative, what are the biggest obstacles to get in this budget over the finish line?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Let me say, again, it's perfunctory, but it's really important. Thank you so much, Aaron and Rachael, for having me. I count as an incredibly huge honor to be the first legislator here and thank you for starting with the work that is unfinished in front of us. So let me me preface by saying, as somebody who's involved in politics, I get people's frustration with politics in a pronounced way, and I get that what I'm about to say next could sound like the constant he said, she said, political parties just arguing with each other. "Boy, why can't they just work together?" But when you ask what the obstacle is, it's actually not necessarily a bipartisan issue, it's a bicameral issue.
And I know these incredible educators who are teaching history can help people understand the differences between the two legislative chambers in the House and the Senate. But the major difference here between the two legislative chambers is that one of the chambers is controlled by Democrats and we control the calendar. And what I mean by the calendar, we control what bills come up for a vote. And when we have put up bipartisan bills as we have now three times, we've put up bipartisan bills and gotten bipartisan support for a budget that affect the priorities of members from both parties.
Budgets that do not raise taxes and budgets that make sure we meet our responsibility to thoroughly and efficiently fund education, to do right by our seniors, to do right by our communities in terms of safety, we did that. The Senate on the other hand, which is controlled by Republicans, has not even brought any of these bills up for a vote. And so I hate to say that the only issue between us and a budget is just Republican intransigence, but the only issue between us and a budget is Senate Republican intransigence. It's incredibly frustrating because I'm not even sure what they're fighting for. I don't even know what they want. I really don't even know what they want. I'm not sure they know what they want.
Aaron Chapin:
So do you think that this is just political brinkmanship at this point?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Oh, it absolutely is, and I think it's electoral politics at its worst. I think a big aspect of this frankly, is trying to elevate their preferred candidate for governor and Treasurer Garrity, to be honest. And a part of the reason I say that, again, it's not Malcolm's opinion, but a part of the reason I say that is my Senate Republican colleagues, [inaudible 00:06:13], they have tweeted more about Stacy Garrity than they have about the budget. And so it's very clear where their priorities are and Pennsylvania families are bearing the brunt of this. My frustration is not just that I was a kid who did my homework and I'm like talking with educators, I want to be very clear, I did my homework, we did our homework in the House, we did it multiple times, we've done extra credit. So that is frustrating to me that a government that should be working for working people is not working in the way that it should.
But more to the point, I don't think people really understand the real pain that this is inflicting on the people of Pennsylvania. We just have the largest rape crisis center run by Women Organized Against Rape in Philadelphia that's basically closing their doors, laying off staff. We have county municipal governments that are taking out loans with astronomical interests to try to keep the services that people depend on locally going and obviously what it means for our school districts. And so I'm going to be introducing legislation soon actually that would require the general assembly to reimburse school districts for any interest that they have to pay on loans that they take out during budget impasses. It's horrific that we would pass that on to property tax payers, because we can't get our act together here in Harrisburg. So I know Rachael, you said you like being in Harrisburg. I've been in Harrisburg a lot and I wish my Republican colleagues in the Senate would come to Harrisburg. I mean, there's great restaurants, everything is beautiful.
Rachael West:
They could come across the street and hang out with us.
Malcolm Kenyatta:
They could come across the street. They have an invitation to come across the street. I really wish come to work. I'll make this final point when I say I wish they would come to work, they have been in session since January for 33 days. I mean, just imagine if you're listening to this, what job do you have where between January and October you only have to show up for work 32 days? I mean, there's no other job in the Commonwealth I think that you could get with these types of benefits where you just get to not come to work. I mean, it's absurd to think about.
Rachael West:
Now. I'm like, "Hmm, 33 days." You have mentioned that the Democrats in the house have passed a budget several times. I know that the Democrats in the house have emphasized priorities like fully funding our public schools and supporting working families. What parts of this budget proposal do you feel the lawmakers on your side of the aisle are most proud of?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
I have to say education and not simply because I'm talking to you today. The first time I ever came to Harrisburg was during Governor Corbett, during his governorship. And you remember what Governor Corbett did in terms of hollowing out public education. And I was a student leader at Temple University and he was putting us in a position where we were going to see our tuition go up dramatically and I and hundreds of students came to the capitol. And the first speech I ever gave in Harrisburg was at that rally about public education funding. And that remains one of the galvanizing issues for me and for our caucus. And the caucus, I mean, excuse me, the chamber is led by Democrats. But I want to give credit, I do want to give credit to the Republicans in the House who have joined us multiple times now to pass bipartisan budget.
And so when you ask, "Why isn't this happening?" It's not even the traditional Democrats versus Republicans, we have been able to get Republicans to support these budgets because again, they are works of compromise. And when you have the majority like we do by one seat, and when you have a divided legislature, you have to be willing to not get everything you want, but certainly not leave your values at the door. And we have not left our values at the door when it comes to investing in public education, but we've also not invested in other areas that we should, done other things that I think we could.
But we've put forward a balanced product three different times now and is, I'm running out of words, which is very, anybody who knows me knows that is [inaudible 00:10:52]. But I'm running out of words to communicate my frustration and frankly, my confusion at my Republican Senator colleagues that their refusal to come into this building and pass a budget. I mean, they're not even voting our budget down, Rachael, they're not even saying no. They just refuse to vote. And that is, I think that's not acceptable.
Rachael West:
So you've mentioned a couple of times here what it is that, your priorities, how do you balance that standing firm for the things that are non-negotiable to you and getting something passed?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
One of the things that I've said often since I've been in the legislature is that I think we should work just as hard on the things that we agree on as we fight on the things that we disagree on. And unfortunately the fights get a lot more attention than the things that we work together on. And as a passionate guy and as a progressive, I think sometimes there's this incorrect view that you don't know how to work together. All I want to do is get things done together. And we've been able to do that. And I mean that genuinely. I mean it genuinely because being in this job, I say to my staff constantly, the best I know, every time I raise my hand, sworn in on my family Bible, I have 730 days. That's what the people in my district have given me 730 days not to have an honorific in front of my name, but 730 days to try to make their lives better.
And so when Republicans and Democrats came together to advance the single largest tax cut for seniors in Pennsylvania history, when we expanded the rent and mortgage rebate program and expanded the number of Pennsylvanians that can benefit from that rebate, I wasn't going to vote against it because Republicans agreed with me. I'm happy that they wanted to join me in cutting taxes for our seniors. When we do any number of things that we have been able to do that make life better for people in areas of housing. When we pass the program, and I'm sorry, I keep thinking about what we call it in Philadelphia, the Whole-Home Repair is what it's called statewide, but we call it something different in Philadelphia, but that's a program that helps people stay in their homes, helps them afford repairs that they've been putting off for a long time. Those things are, I'm excited to do. And my approach to this is always pretty simple, you don't leave your values at the door.
And in fact, I think it's easier to negotiate when you know what you want. You don't walk into a negotiation and say, "I want half of whatever you want." You walk in and say, "These are the things that matter to me. What are the things that matter to you?" And then you try to find those concentric circles of things where you can, and I think you prioritize those things, try to get those things accomplished. And what that does is it creates momentum to work together. In this country right now, even though we have to stand firm against creeping authoritarianism and stand firm against people who want to dismantle public education, stand firm against so many other things, we also have to figure out how to be neighbors again. And if elected officials don't model that, we're certainly not going to have it.
Aaron Chapin:
So I was going to touch on that real quick because obviously you're not just seeing this here in Pennsylvania, but you're the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, and so we're having these same struggles across the nation. Is it coming from the same place where everybody's just not able to get on the same page? Is it the same struggle that we're seeing across the country?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Well, unfortunately, I think there are a number of people who run for government offices who actually don't want government to work, which is ironic that you would go through all this trouble to get elected to office and then spend, in my case, 730 days or however long your term is to spend the entire time trying to ensure that government doesn't work. And you hear and you see a consistent pattern from certain people who fall into this bucket of not wanting government to work. They say that government doesn't work, and they run on communicating that government doesn't work and channeling people's rightful frustration about government not working, and then they spend every ounce of their energy making sure government doesn't work. And so it is a very cynical and cyclical situation that we see among a number of elected officials at the local, state, and federal level.
They want to blow it all up. But let me make this point that I make everywhere I go, and I know that sometimes people hear a Black kid from North Philly with locks say what I'm about to say and get a little shocked, but I say it unabashedly everywhere I go, I'm not a Democrat because I hate Republicans. Hear me on this, I'm not a Democrat because I hate Republicans. When I got registered to vote, the only thing I knew about Donald Trump was that he had a cameo in Home Alone 2. I didn't get registered as a Democrat to oppose him. I looked at my life and what I saw was the fingerprints of Democrats who had come before me, who worked their butts off to make life better for families like mine. I didn't have everything I wanted to eat, but my family always had food because of the SNAP program that Democrats fought for.
I lost both of my parents by the time I was 27, and I would watch my mom ration her insulin my entire life. Just over a year and a half ago, Democrats came together at the federal level to cap the cost of insulin to $35. And I think about every other aspect of the social safety net in this country. I think about public education, which has made me being on this podcast with you right now possible. All of those are things that Democrats fought for. And I ran to be vice chair of this party because I think in some ways we've gotten away from that, understanding that our job is to make life better. That to me is the mission, the message of the Democratic Party. And frankly, it should be the governing core of every person who runs for elected office.
Rachael West:
Absolutely. Now, you just mentioned elected office, so I'm going to kind of segue into our next thought here. We have upcoming judicial elections on November 4th, and I think they're kind of flying under the radar a little bit for a lot of voters. And we're seeing at the same time a lot of money going into these judicial races by anti-public education billionaires, basically just trying to defeat our three Supreme Court Justices that are up for retention. So Justices Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht. Do you think Pennsylvania's judiciary can remain independent?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
It has to. It has to. And that's what this election is about. And Rachael, you get me excited because I've been going all across the Commonwealth just I guess a week and a half ago, myself and Rep Smith-Wade-El out in Lancaster did a incredible town hall with Judge Stella Tsai, who's running for the Commonwealth Court by the way. But we were talking about obviously her election, but also spent a lot of time explaining retention. And when you mention those billionaires who spend so much money and time trying to dismantle public education in the Commonwealth and across the country, you look at the ads that they're putting out against our judges, they are not questioning their ethics. They're not questioning their fidelity to the law. They are not questioning their impartiality. In fact, a reporter from Spotlight PA was reporting today that they are spending all of their time and energy trying to confuse voters, trying to muddy the waters about what this race is about. And this race at its core is about what you just said, judicial independence.
About having judges and justices that don't see their job as working for a particular political party, but see their job as standing up for the rule of law, standing up for the Constitution and fairly adjudicating cases, not based on some predetermined ideology, but adjudicating cases based on the facts and the evidence presented in front of them. And so there's an old saying that if you have the facts, you argue the facts. If you have the law, you argue the law. And if you have neither, you just bang on the table. And you have them banging on the table right now trying to make this race about everything, but the incredible qualifications of these three justices.Who by the way, and I say this sometimes, and Judge Dougherty and others who I've known for a long time look at me little bit of a side eye, but they have not always ruled the way I want them to rule. But that's not their job.
Aaron Chapin:
Nope.
Malcolm Kenyatta:
That's not their job of like, "Did you make A or B politician happy today?" No. Their job is to look at the case law, to look at the Constitution and to answer the questions that are brought before them. And I think even their opponents understand that that is exactly what these justices have done and what these judges have done, and they deserve to be retained to their role.
Aaron Chapin:
Well said. So Malcolm, you've been in the spotlight, it seems like it was just yesterday, but it's been a while, you've been in the spotlight. So what keeps you grounded in the middle of all this political chaos going on nationally within our state? What keeps you grounded?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
So two things. I would say. The first is everyday I try to make a mental bucket of what I can control and what I can't control and try to operate with that in mind. Unfortunately, the what I can't control list is usually longer than the I can control list. So when I take a deep and recognize that fact, I just try to move forward while acknowledging that truth. The second thing is I'm really lucky to have a husband that I love and friends that I care about, others who keep me grounded. And I think for all of us in this moment, it's really important to be reminded why we're doing all this in the first place. Politics at its core, you've heard me now say this multiple times, it is about making our lives better, but also when government actually works, when we have a budget that passes, that invests in the things that we needed to invest in when we are safe in our communities, when we're able to buy that home and retire with a level of dignity and decency, you're able to live your life.
You're able to live your life. And that's what's so sad for me in this moment, particularly watching my generation and the Gen Z, Gen Alpha that's coming after. It feels like we've grown up in an age where all politics does is give you gastro intestinal discomfort and that's not the purpose of it. The purpose of it is for free people to find a way to live together as neighbors while using the limited resources we have to invest in things that make all of our lives better. That is the purpose. And so I'm just so lucky to have people in my life who help to remind me why I'm in this work, and that's why I'm there.
Aaron Chapin:
Yes.
Rachael West:
Well, I'm going to take right off of where you just ended there and ask you to, in 10 seconds or less, tell us what's giving you hope right now, given everything that you just said? What is giving you hope to keep moving forward in this political moment?
Malcolm Kenyatta:
The thousands of people who keep showing up. I know that on Saturday we're going to have No King's Day and you're going to have millions of Americans who are going to show up peacefully because this is our government, this is our country. It belongs to all of us, and we shouldn't give away our power or think this is how the story of America ends. This is not the last chapter of the most complicated, the best story that has ever been told, the story of America. It does not end here. It ends with us winning. We're going to win for public education, we're going to win for our families. And I am confident that we're going to elect some people that understand what government is about, making our lives better.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, I couldn't have said it any better.
Rachael West:
Thank you so much.
Aaron Chapin:
Yeah, I mean, look, being a state officer now for the last six years, plus years, and I've been able to be at a lot of events here in Harrisburg, but I watch TV just like everybody else. When I see you and I hear you talking, Representative, I'm always mesmerized because the thing that draws me to politicians is when they're authentic. And I know for a fact because we've talked a lot of times, we've exchanged texts. You are as real as it gets. And I know our team here really appreciates all the hard work that you do.
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Well, I appreciate you all. Thank you so much for having me, for doing this, and God bless all of our educators, support staff for the work that you do. You're making a difference in people's lives in ways that I'm sure you know, but it's important for you to hear.
Aaron Chapin:
Thank you.
Malcolm Kenyatta:
God bless you.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, that does it for all of our time today. We are well over time, but that's okay because it was well worth it. Our guest today has been Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. Again, it was a great pleasure having you on this podcast. Keep doing the great work that you're doing in Pennsylvania, then down there in D.C. and across the nation. Thank you for joining us, Malcolm.
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Thank you, my friend. Take care.
Aaron Chapin:
You got it. And thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. You got some feedback for us? You know what you got to do. You got to share it by sending us an email to podcast@psea.org. I'm Aaron Chapin.
Rachael West:
And I'm Rachael West.
Aaron Chapin:
Easy for you to say. And you have been listening to Duty Free Lunch. Bye for now.
Voiceover:
You've been listening to Duty Free Lunch with the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Visit psea.org/podcast to learn more, and don't forget to subscribe and share. Paid for by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.