WASHINGTON - October 16 - With Pennsylvania poised to become the first state to enact single-payer healthcare legislation, PDA national director Tim Carpenter and other members of the national leadership team will travel to the Keystone State to join local activists working to secure the bill's passage.

"From the halls of Congress to the capital rotunda in Harrisburg, it's all about healthcare reform," said Carpenter. "While single-payer advocates are bracing themselves for a hard fight in Washington, we're preparing to win the single-payer fight in Pennsylvania."

A series of grassroots events will culminate on Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a Healthcare4AllPA rally at the capitol building in Harrisburg, beginning at 10 a.m.

The events will start Saturday, Oct. 17, at 1 p.m. with a special Healthcare NOT Warfare rally on the steps of the Beaver County Courthouse. At 6 p.m., everyone will be on hand for the grand opening of the Healthcare4AllPA office in Pittsburgh, followed by a round-table strategy session with Carpenter and PDA Field Director Conor Boylan for PDA members and friends.

On Sunday, Oct. 18, the focus will shift to central PA, with a single-payer planing session in McConnellsburg. That meeting will feature Carpenter, Boylan, Healthcare4AllPA Executive Director Chuck Pennacchio and local Democratic Party leaders. It will begin at 1 p.m. in the Community State Bank building at 425 Fulton Drive.

The team will then travel to Harrisburg for the rally on Tuesday.

"Pennsylvania is just one state where PDA is working to pass single-payer healthcare," Carpenter said. "We will continue with our electoral strategy of electing progressives to Congress who will support Medicare for All when we find ourselves back at the reform table in the not-too-distant future. Until then, we'll also be working at the grassroots to implement single-payer systems state by state."