To the Editor:

We were shocked and amazed at a recent Daily News editorial which not only gave out clearly wrong information about the elimination of discounts for senior citizens on their gas bill, but attacked as "thuggish" one of our coalition partners for trying to hold a politician accountable. To set the record straight, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission has NOT allowed the Senior Discount to continue as a means tested program as of September 1. It has abolished the program for all seniors not registered as of September 1.

And the implication that somehow single mothers will benefit in any significant way from this change is clearly inaccurate. Those of us who are single mothers now will need the discount when we turn 65! And PGW has no intention of lowering rates to single mothers as a result of doing away with the discount. They will use those savings to pay the interest on a billion dollars of debt accumulated by successive incompetent management teams appointed by previous mayors.

To the Daily News’ concern that the wrong people are getting the discount, we would point out that some 20% of seniors do not get the discount, mainly wealthier seniors who can’t be bothered to physically go down and apply for something they don’t need. On the other hand the vast majority of seniors are low income, mainly women of color who get less in pension and social security after a lifetime of suffering the double discrimination of race and sex. If the program becomes means tested, from experience the participation rate will drop drastically and many more people who deserve and need the discount will just not get it. Is that the Philadelphia we want?

Mayor Street now has the opportunity to sign legislation already passed unanimously by City Council to reinstate the discount as is and stand up to Harrisburg which wrested control of our program from our hands, and show that the City of Philadelphia is united in making sure that all our seniors get heat in cold winters, and that like social security, the senior discount is something that has been earned. We hope he will do the right thing.

Pat Albright, the Every Mother is a Working Mother Network and Crossroads Women’s Center, 215-844-4639 or 215-848-1120 and

Sam Weinstein, UWUA Gas Workers Employees Local 686, 215-272-6035
for the Save Our Services (SOS) Coalition

April 25, 2003

To the Editor:

Victory! Thanks to overwhelming support from the community, and to the consistent coverage of this issue by your paper, Mayor Street has been persuaded not to veto two City Council bills to save PGW’s 20% Senior Citizen Discount. The bills, which will become law without the Mayor’s signature, are an important first step in saving the discount. However, we are not out of the woods yet, and our work is really just begun!

Our attention in the Save Our Services (SOS) Coalition, which has been opposing all PGW cuts, including cuts to the discount and neighborhood customer service offices, now turns to Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC). We’re going after the PUC, which wrested control of PGW from the City, to get it to reverse its decision to allow PGW to end the discount for new seniors. We urge the Mayor to support seniors and seniors-to-be by carrying out the mandate of the laws and doing everything he can to prevent the discount from disappearing for those not registered by September 2003.

We will be announcing our plans for the next phase of our work in the near future – and we remain firm in our resolve to win! SOS can be contacted at the Crossroads Women’s Center, 215-848-1120 or at the Action Alliance of Senior Citizens, 215-557-0751. Thanks to all who have helped with this effort so far, and please get involved if you haven’t already. We have gathered over 12,000 signatures on our petition so far - call us and we can get you copies if you need them.

Pat Albright and Nancy Carroll, the Every Mother is a Working Mother Network and Crossroads Women’s Center

Sam Weinstein, UWUA Gas Workers Employees Local 686
on behalf of the Save Our Services (SOS) Coalition