FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. Kenyatta Johnson D-Philadelphia
www.pahouse.com/johnson
Rep. Johnson, health providers speaking Wednesday on restoring funding for innovative gun violence prevention program
HARRISBURG, June 15 – State Rep. Kenyatta Johnson, D-Phila., and health care providers will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. this Wednesday at the state Capitol in support of restoring and expanding funding for the Pennsylvania Injury Reporting and Intervention System (PIRIS) in the 2009-2010 budget.
PIRIS is a unique response to gun violence that combines monitoring and intervention services to reduce the risk of recurring and retaliatory violence. The program’s $1.3 million budget was slashed from Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed 2009-10 state budget and the 2009-2010 Senate Republican budget (S.B. 850), which was rejected by the House Appropriations Committee last week.
The news conference is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 17 in the Main Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg.
Johnson will be joined at the event by representatives from:
* Public Health Management Corporation
* Albert Einstein Medical Center
* The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
* Temple University Hospital
* Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network
* Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation
Media coverage is invited.
CONTACT: Jennifer Battista
House Democratic Communications Office
Phone: 717-787-7895
E-mail: jbattista@pahouse.net
