#AllEyesOnYass
What does Pennsylvania's richest man have to do with you?
Jeff Yass, PA’s richest man and one of 100 richest people in the world, has spent years trying to rig the rules of PA’s democracy by funding politicians who will do his bidding. Yass wields his $45B in wealth to drown out the voices of everyday Pennsylvanians, undermining the fundamental principle of our democracy: one person, one vote.
Every individual should have an equal voice in government, which is why the All Eyes On Yass coalition is committed to exposing Yass’s influence, mobilizing the public and elected officials to reject his strings-attached donations, and restoring a democracy where politicians answer to the people—not billionaires.
Learn more about Yass & his billionaire agenda below.
Why Yass?
Jeff Yass bankrolls politicians and elections and, in doing so, influences policy that pushes an agenda that harms working Pennsylvanians.
Jeff Yass is PA’s richest man, a Philadelphia-suburbs billionaire and head of investment firm, Susquehanna International Group. Yass, who started his career as a sports gambler, is worth an estimated $45 billion dollars, and is the single largest donor to Pennsylvania's right-wing politicians, causes, and dark money infrastructure — Yass has spent more on elections in Pennsylvania than the top ten corporate PACs combined since 2020.
Yass funds elections through a network of PACs and lobbying groups that influence legislation. In particular, Yass funds politicians who will expand school vouchers, which would funnel public dollars away from public schools to private schools. In Arizona, the state-wide school voucher program caused a budget deficit that required huge cuts to essential public services like community colleges and road and school infrastructure repairs.
Like many billionaires, Yass is out of touch with the reality of how Pennsylvanians are living. In a 2021 interview, Yass asserted “we’re almost at a point in America…[that] everyone has all the stuff they need – no one’s hungry, no one’s cold, no one doesn’t have some basic health insurance.” In reality, more than one in ten (11.8%) Pennsylvanians live below the poverty line and over 15% of Pennsylvania’s children are living with food insecurity.
To Yass, a poker player, our democracy is just another game to gamble on—but for the rest of us, it’s our lives. When Yass’s political power goes unchecked and he pays less than his fair share of taxes, it’s working people like us who pay the price—in underfunded schools, an unhealthy environment, and an economy that fails all but the richest few.
YASS'S AGENDA
Yass bankrolls candidates who will build toward a future in which Pennsylvania’s public schools are closed,
our public services are slashed, our minimum wage remains stagnant at $7.25, and the state’s wealthiest people
and corporations don’t need to pay their fair share in taxes
while the rest of us foot the bill.
DESTROYING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
“As students flee [to schools of their choice], those government schools would have to shut down..and that's a good thing.” - Jeff Yass
Yass and his friends have worked year after year to take money away from our public schools, to instead move public taxpayer dollars to private and religious schools. Yass and his network of PACs and lobbying groups continue to push for an expansion of school vouchers and ‘educational tax credits.' These vouchers take money away from public schools, leaving the majority of Pennsylvania's children in underfunded, inequitable schools. Yass and others have used these tax programs to avoid paying at least $53 million in state taxes, according to ProPublica.
AVOIDING TAXES & SLASHING
PUBLIC SERVICES
Public reports show that Yass has avoided paying $1 billion in federal taxes. The rate at which he and his partners at Susquehanna pay taxes is the lowest of other similar billionaires.
EXPLOITING WORKERS & BUSTING UNIONS
“My interest is where is the most dysfunctional government program in America, and it is the teachers union…" - Jeff Yass
Yass is dead set on fighting unions, especially teachers’ unions, which work to support working people in winning dignity at work and fair wages. He has referred to the minimum wage as “cockamamie.” Yass is also a major investor in TikTok, which has been accused of exploiting Black creators and censoring content related to Black Lives Matter. TikTok has acknowledged their strained relationship with Black creators.
YASS'S CANDIDATES
Since 2020, Yass has spent more in campaign contributions for statewide elections than the top ten corporate PACs combined. Yass often works behind the scenes, distributing funds to candidates and lobbying efforts by contributing to dark money PACs and sustaining networks of non-profit organizations and PACs. In Pennsylvania, these organizations include the Commonwealth Foundation and Commonwealth Partners.
- Jeff Yass, when asked about his candidates’ extremist positions
Yass mostly gives to Republicans all over the state, in both primary and general elections. He has also donated to some Democrats in Philadelphia, like State Senator Anthony Williams, Rep. Jordan Harris, and Rep. Amen Brown. Click here to see who Yass is funding in PA.
In his obsessive pursuit of defunding public schools through school voucher policies, Yass has financed elected officials who support QAnon, have ties to white nationalism, and spew anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hate. He bankrolls elected officials in PA and around the country, who sow hatred and division to distract us, while corporations and billionaires like Yass exploit us and drain needed funds from our communities.
These organizations are headed up by political operatives who openly brag about their ability to manipulate the legislature and the press against the majority of Pennsylvanians. Watch them openly discuss their privatizing agenda here.
Through Commonwealth Partners, Yass funnels money to several other right-wing PACs. Those PACs are run by groups like the fossil fuel-tied Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, the anti-LGBT Pennsylvania Family Council, and others that spend large sums of money to influence elections and legislation. The Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association not only gives tens of thousands of dollars to Republican leadership in Pennsylvania, but also spends hundreds of thousands each year to lobby against climate solutions, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and for lowering corporate taxes.
FIND OUT WHO IN PA TAKES
YASS MONEY HERE
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