Two recently announced policies have the potential to impact millions of people across the commonwealth and the country. 

The plans include changes to voter registration and a job initiative designed to help combat climate change.

On Sept. 19, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled changes to the commonwealth’s voter registration process that would make registration automatic whenever residents obtain or renew their licenses and IDs at the DMV. 

The change would have Pennsylvania join a group of 23 states and Washington, D.C., that have automatic registration.

A Cumberland County election official said they hoped the changes would help streamline the process. Voters have been able to update their registration at Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) locations for many years, but intricacies in the process caused some issues. If someone checked the box to update for example, but was not already registered, the official said that application might not get processed.

Because of that sort of complexity, many voters assume that they are registered at one address when in reality, they are either registered somewhere else or not at all. On Election Day, most of the calls the election bureau receives are from precinct officials and voters trying to determine which polling place voters should be at. 

On Sept. 20, President Joe Biden announced the creation of the American Climate Corps, a “workforce training and service initiative” designed to create paid training programs to mobilize young people into fields such as conservation and clean energy. 

The program is modeled after a proposal supported by the Sunrise Movement — a climate change advocacy group — called the “Civilian Climate Corps.” The CCC proposal was designed as an echo of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal-era program that employed over 3 million young men during the height of the Great Depression.

According to a White House press release, the program would provide skills training, coordinate recruitment and streamline civil service pathways. It would also invest in apprenticeship programs, wildfire management and prioritize environmental justice.

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