PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP

PennPIRG is working towards an economy that first and foremost values the quality of people's lives. We are working toward a system in which we can eat food and use the products we need without risking our health, and Pennsylvanians can hold big businesses accountable when they break our consumer laws or attempt to hoodwink consumers in the marketplace. We are working toward a transportation system with more and better options, safeguarding our environment, and creating a system that works for everyone. And at the end of the day, we are working to win concrete results on real problems that affect millions of lives.

With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, PennPIRG offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, engage in litigation and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation. Specific strategies include:
1. Educating and mobilizing the public: We know that when the public has the facts about the threats facing our safety and health, they'll demand solutions. Moreover, we know that an educated and informed public quickly turns into a citizenry that's invested in solving these problems. And once the public is informed and invested, PennPIRG can springboard that support into deeper levels of civic engagement that will lead to solutions being implemented by decision makers and others.
2. Building new coalitions to protect the public interest: PennPIRG works with a wide variety of partner organizations and individuals to help protect consumers and public health in Pennsylvania. We bring together consumer organizations, public health professionals, environmental groups, healthcare organizations, farmers, energy experts, and school district staff and community organizations. PennPIRG knows how to build powerful partnerships and is a trusted coalition partner with non-traditional partners.
3. Increasing media attention on our issues: PennPIRG regularly garners news stories in traditional and digital media outlets across Pennsylvania and the nation. This is critical in our effort to inform hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians and educate local leaders who look to their local news outlets for the issues resonating with their constituents. A more informed public will lead to a more engaged public.
4. Delivering public support to elected officials to make policy change: PennPIRG works to educate and engage elected officials on the public health and consumer issues facing Pennsylvanians. We deliver the support from our members, coalition partners, and the public at large to convince legislators to introduce and pass policies that will improve Pennsylanians’ lives. We work with City Councilmembers, state legislators and Congressional leaders to implement solutions at all levels of government.

PennPIRG’s in-state staff is supported by more than 20 national program staff across the PIRG Network who work with researchers to uncover the facts, then bring our findings to the media, public, and decision makers. In addition to senior staff with decades of experience, we hire and train entry-level organizers to be tomorrow's social change leaders.

We also work closely with our 27 state affiliates across the country. By collaborating with advocates at the state level, we can hear about the strategies that are working and the messages are resonating with the public. It also helps guide and amplify our work nationally.

As a grassroots organization, PennPIRG is powered by our network of small donor citizen members across Pennsylvania. These members engage with our social media content, email alerts, and digital and in-person events that PennPIRG uses to educate the public and activate those who want to make change.

PennPIRG and our network have won numerous victories for the public. Recent highlights include:

- PennPIRG helped to lead and win a campaign to get the lead out of Philadelphia schools’ drinking water, helping to draft and pass legislation to protect students from the threat of toxic lead contamination. This proposal is one of the strongest protections from lead in school drinking water in the nation.

- PennPIRG has built a strong coalition of farmers, hospitals and independent repair shops calling on original equipment manufacturers to sell the parts, tools and information manuals needed for consumers and businesses to fix their own devices. We have educated thousands of Pennsylvanians with our reports such as Why Farmers Need Right to Repair, Warranties in the Void and What Are Pennsylvanians Fixing?. We have educated elected officials and recruited bill sponsors to introduce legislation such as SB998 to expand access to repair.

- When the COVID-19 pandemic began, PennPIRG sprung into action with our national network to protect consumers from arising threats, advocate for better resource distribution and promote health-centered protocols. We educated Pennsylvanians with our tip guides, such as How to Spot a Scam During Covid. We worked with our partners across the country to organize 33 Attorneys General led by Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro to crack down on price gouging. Our coalition of state groups also convinced ventilator manufacturers to provide repair manuals to hospitals so they could put more machines into circulation to save COVID patients.

- PennPIRG has helped convince major restaurant chains like McDonald's, KFC, and Subway, to stop purchasing meat products raised with antibiotics.

- In the past 25 years, we have contributed to more than 150 unsafe toy recalls and other enforcement actions on dangerous toys and children’s products. This is a result of our annual Trouble in Toyland Toy Safety report, a survey of toys on the market each year used to warn parents about potential dangers.

- Every year we publish tip guides to help Pennsylvanians navigate consumer challenges and opportunities, such as freezing your credit, protecting yourself from surprise medical bills, and protecting your privacy on your phone.

- We worked with our partner groups across the country to convince multiple major manufacturers, including Unilever USA and Procter & Gamble, to increase their transparency about ingredients in personal care products.

- We regularly publish our Highway Boondoggles report, highlighting proposed highway projects that double down on the failed transportation strategies of the past while causing harm to local communities and using up scarce transportation dollars.