Lawrence H. Curry
- Democrat
- 26B East Wing
PO Box 202154
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2154 - P: (717) 783-1079
- F: (717) 787-2713
- Curry's Website
Representative, District 154
| 1 | Peter Buttenwieser | $6,500 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | LAWPAC | $5,500 |
| 3 | Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties | $5,000 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania State Education Association | $4,350 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Federation of Teachers | $2,400 |
About Curry's Top Donors
Peter Buttenwieser
“Peter L. Buttenwieser, an heir to the Lehman Brothers securities fortune, has been among the most generous Democratic donors for nearly a decade,” according to a 4/5/04 article in Mother Jones magazine. In Pennsylvania alone, he gave more than $350,000 between 2001-2008. Buttenwieser previously spent 10 years as a school principal in inner-city Philadelphia and now helps charitable foundations design education reform programs. In 1997, Buttenwieser reported that Clinton-Gore fundraiser Terry McAuliffe tried to solicit a large contribution from him in exchange for lunch with President Clinton. “I wasn't comfortable with the quid pro quo offer; it's not the way I operate,” Buttenwieser said.
LAWPAC
LAWPAC is the PAC of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers’ Association. LAWPAC gave $3.7 million to Pennsylvania candidate from 2001-2008, and many of those giving to LAWPAC were trial lawyers opposed to limits on the right to sue. In a 9/30/01 Inquirer article, the Trial Lawyers’ lobbyist Mark Phenecie claimed that LAWPAC didn’t give to judicial candidates because, "We don't want to look like we are trying to influence a judicial election." Yet when a judicial candidate backed by State Sen. Vince Fumo was running for Superior Court in 1999, LAWPAC shipped a $29,000 contribution to Fumo's Committee for a Democratic Majority on Oct. 19. Then on Oct. 22, the Committee for a Democratic Majority shipped a $30,000 contribution to Schiller's campaign. Tracking these kinds of indirect contributions is especially difficult because contributions made in non-election years often don’t have to be disclosed until February of the following year, under Pennsylvania law. Discovering the Trial Lawyer’s entire legislative agenda, beyond defeating limits on lawsuits, is also difficult because Pennsylvania does not require lobbyists to disclose the exact number of the bills on which they have been lobbying.
Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties
http://www.apscuf.com/
Pennsylvania State Education Association
According to its website, “PSEA includes 1,199 local associations, representing teachers, education support professionals, health care professionals, higher education professionals, retired educators and students. We represent teachers in 483 of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts.” PSEA’s legislative agenda in Harrisburg includes boosting teacher salaries and reserves in their pension fund, boosting school funding, providing for cost-of-living adjustments for PSEA member salaries, expanding opportunities for early retirement, and opposition to a bill that would curtail teachers’ rights to strike. Recent legislation to limit teacher strikes was introduced by State Sen. Robert Mellow after teachers at a school in Lackawanna County struck 4 times in 18 months. If Mellow's bill becomes law, no contract dispute would last into the school year. By the end of summer, teachers and school boards in conflict over contracts would present their cases to a team of arbitrators, who would decide which side's proposal was most fair. The panel's decision would be binding.
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
http://www.pft.org