ISSUES

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Pennsylvania ranks 44th in the nation in state share of funding for K-12 schools. 

Pennsylvania also has the most inequitable school funding system in the nation because of our state’s heavy reliance on property taxes to fund education. 

   I support increasing the state share of funding for public education.  We must adequately fund Pre K and K-12 public education in Pennsylvania.

We must give our students the best education and the best opportunities to develop into thriving and successful community members.     

I also support state funded universal Pre-K for our children and families.             

 I support reducing the focus on standardized tests as a primary source of student evaluation.   I believe we need to make our schools safe by maintaining funding for school security improvements and training & prevention programs. 

I support increasing funding and access to school-based mental health and trauma-informed services, including specialized instructional support staff (i.e., certified school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses).

  I believe we need to provide dedicated funding for school facility improvements including air quality and ventilation, as well as remediation of environmental hazards like mold, lead, and asbestos.

  I support keeping the requirement that school districts only hire certified nurses

to provide health care services to students in public schools.  I support staffing ratios that would grant greater access for students to school counselors and other specialized staff.                  I believe that teachers deserve fair and equitable salaries, safe and healthy working conditions, and a right to retire with dignity.   I support the right to strike and believe that the collective bargaining process must be protected for all school employees.

I support making Pre Kindergarten and early childhood education available and affordable to all PA families.  

 A healthy and successful democracy depends on our right to vote. 

  I support modernizing Pennsylvania's elections to make voting in PA easy, secure, and accessible to everyone.   I support making voter registration easier in an effort to increase voter turnout and improve political participation.      

  To make it easier for everyday citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, I support offering voter registration through more state and local government agencies, instituting automatic voter registration, and extending the time to register to vote.   Easy access to voting and increased voter turnout is crucial to true representation in our democracy.   

Voters need to choose their legislators, not the other way around.  Gerrymandering in PA must come to an end.  Politicians need to get out of the redistricting process in PA.  I support the right to fair and competitive elections. 

 I support the creation of an independent, impartial, and transparent commission to redraw district lines.  

I support a constitutional amendment to form an independent commission to redraw district lines.   A functional, effective, and efficient government must place people before politics. Elected leaders must put the welfare of our Commonwealth and its citizens first.   They should not be in office just for their own personal gains and interests.  We need to get money out of politics and elect leaders who will truly represent the people they serve, not big financial donors.  

 I believe that all women’s legal rights and freedoms must be protected.

  A woman’s healthcare, which includes reproductive health, is personal and should be private.  Any decision that she needs to make about her body should be her own.

A woman’s right to make decisions about her own body and her own future have now been wiped away with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade.  Private decisions about when to have children or whether to have children are now being decided by state legislators and governors across the country.  

     Women’s healthcare, including family planning, must be accessible.   Women need to be able to have access to preventative care, birth control, health education, and cancer screenings.  These services should be funded and expanded throughout our communities.  

   I support Planned Parenthood healthcare centers because they provide vital women’s health services in local communities.  

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is higher than that of all other developed countries and each year the rate continues to rise.   

Many deaths could be prevented with access to affordable women’s healthcare.  Banning abortion will only increase the maternal mortality rate in the U.S.

 If elected Senator to the Pennsylvania legislature, I would take the necessary steps to codify the protections of the 1973 Roe v Wade’s ruling into PA law.  I would defend and protect a woman’s right to make her own decisions regarding her own personal reproductive healthcare, including the choice to a safe and legal abortion.  

 It is not right that the Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg who continually use their own personal religious beliefs to promote their own political power and personal gain are pushing their agenda on the women of Pennsylvania.  It is wrong for the government to interfere with a woman’s right to private reproductive healthcare choices and decisions. The Pennsylvania state legislature must step up and protect a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, and if elected, that’s what I intend to do. 

Women should be paid equally and fairly, and at the same rate, as men, for the same work. Women should not face pregnancy discrimination at work. 

We must ensure that working women and mothers receive accommodations during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.  

Our state and nation are facing a climate crisis, and Pennsylvania must support efforts to protect our land and water from the disastrous effects of climate change on our communities.

Our Right to Clean Air and Clean Drinking Water

**Article I Section 27 of the Pennsylvania constitution states: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. 

 According to the U.S. News & World Report’s Annual Ranking of the Most Livable States, Pennsylvania ranked 38 out of 50 states in the area of Natural Environment. 

And even though we have a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water, Pennsylvania has the 3rd worst drinking water in the country and the 3rd worst air quality, as well.  According to a 2022 PA Integrated Water Quality Report, one-third of Pennsylvania waterways are too polluted for swimming or eating fish caught in the waters.

 Pennsylvania is experiencing higher temperature, more precipitation, and larger, more frequent storms.  These factors not only affect our lives, but have affected the plant and wildlife here in Pennsylvania.  Our state government has a responsibility to reduce the harmful effects of climate change in our commonwealth and to take action now to make PA more resilient to the impacts of climate change.  We must work to conserve our farms, forests, and public lands.  We should help private landowners and communities make adaptations to prepare for and mitigate the dangers and vulnerabilities that can result from climate change.  

 We must act now to save our natural resources from the devastation of pollution. Critical investments in conservation programs are vitally important in maintaining our state parks, preserving farmland, improving PA’s rivers quality, combatting flooding, and cleaning up abandoned mines.  

As your senator, I will take bold action to protect our air and water by updating laws to meet the current challenges we face.  I will pass legislation that addresses the problem of lead and other contaminants in our water. I believe in investing in green infrastructure to upgrade our water and sewer systems– creating good jobs and saving our taxpayers money.

Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates air pollution. Similarly, the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act ensure that states properly dispose of pollutants at treatment plants and that public drinking water meets federal standards.  These laws not only help preserve the nation's natural resources, but they protect the public from harmful toxins and resulting health concerns.  

I support the Growing Greener Program — investments for Pennsylvanians that would create green jobs, stimulate local economies, and reduce the risk of flooding in local communities.  

Over 70% of large corporations and businesses that operate in Pennsylvania pay nothing in corporate income tax.  Pennsylvania is one of the “terrible ten” states identified by the Institute on Economic Policy with the most unfair tax systems.  The upside-down tax system in PA taxes low-income people, middle-income people, and small businesses too much while allowing the richest people and largest corporations to get away without paying their fair share.  This has led to less and less revenue for the state to use for important things like education, healthcare, infrastructure, the environment, and services that people and local communities need.

 I support closing the ‘Delaware Loophole’, and reforming the corporate tax system that allows 74% of corporations -including out-of-state companies–to avoid paying any PA taxes. This tax loophole costs Pennsylvania significant tax revenue and forces the smaller, Pennsylvania businesses to pay a relatively high 9.99% corporate tax.   Using Pennsylvania’s separate tax reporting, corporations only pay taxes on the profit that they have reportedly made in PA, but under separate reporting, they can shift profit recordings to states with little to no corporate tax.

 In order to raise state revenue, I support a ‘Fair Share Tax’ that requires large corporations to pay their fair share in state taxes. Increasing taxes on dividends, capital gains, and the profits of big businesses’ profits would reduce taxes on wages and profits of small businesses. In addition, it would cut income taxes for 60% of Pennsylvanians.

  Large corporations that benefit from the state’s investments in education, infrastructure, and our workers, should help pay for that investment.  The amount of taxes being contributed to the General Fund have decreased over the years and now corporate taxes provide about only 10% of PA’s General Fund Revenue.

I believe that all Pennsylvanians deserve the right to live their lives as their authentic, true selves and that each and every individual in our commonwealth shall be free to live, learn, work, and love, free of discrimination.

I believe in the Democratic values of equality and inclusion.

I believe in protecting the civil rights that we are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution & making sure that those rights apply to every one of us. 

PA legislators have not passed any laws to protect our LGBTQ+ community members from discrimination.  I will pass anti-discrimination laws that would prohibit discrimination in housing or employment based on sexual orientation or gender.  I will make sure that local, safe, & equitable healthcare is accessible for LGBTQ+ people.

Every person has a right to live freely and without fear.

All people deserve to be treated with respect & dignity no matter their race, religion, age, gender, or sexual orientation.

I support requiring post-secondary institutions to offer online and anonymous reporting options for students and staff to report possible hate crimes and to give a victim the information needed for filing a formal complaint.

I support fair & equal rights for all and when elected your state senator, I will take bold action to end this discrimination and inequality. 

I will stand up for injustice and be your champion in Harrisburg. 

A growing economy, thriving businesses, and a safe & healthy population depends on a first-class infrastructure.  For too long now, Pennsylvania lawmakers have not invested enough money into our roads, bridges, or public transportation.  Pennsylvania is ranked #2 for having the most structurally deficient bridges in the U.S.  As your state senator, I will invest in updating PA’s infrastructure and creating accessible public transportation for all.

Pennsylvania has 41,00 miles of state highways, 78,000 miles of local roads, and 30,000 highway bridges. PA has the nation’s 3rd highest number of state-maintained highway bridges over 20 feet.  Drivers travel about 100 billion miles on PA roads each year and truck traffic (34% of travel on interstate roads) is more than double the national average. Pennsylvania relies heavily on roads and bridges to move people and goods to places all over the U.S.   This is what drives our economy forward. However, maintaining PA’s infrastructure requires significant and ongoing funding.  

Hard-working families in Pennsylvania deserve quality medical care that  is easily accessible and affordable, especially for those on a fixed income.

I will work to save rural hospitals and to expand medical centers for physical health and mental health services.  I will defend PA’s families from the greedy pharmaceutical companies who are making profits from life-saving medicine.  No Pennsylvanian should be left to choose between life-saving medicine or groceries, but unfortunately, that’s exactly what too many Pennsylvanians are facing.

Healthcare is a human right. As a country and as a state, we have a moral & ethical obligation to provide people with equitable access to quality healthcare, both physical & mental.

We must protect the Affordable Care Act that has helped millions of people get the medical care they need.  

We must continue to fund CHIP- the Children’s Health Insurance Program that covers 180,000 kids in PA & 9 million nationally.

Let’s ensure that additional funding goes into Human Service Block Grants that will provide counties with the much needed flexibility to address specific concerns in their communities such as mental health, drug & alcohol treatment, child welfare services, homelessness, & intellectual disabilities.

We must also focus on the issues of women’s health and their reproductive healthcare;  including a woman’s right to abortion, ending violence against women, and providing family leave. 

Let’s help our LGBTQ+ community by providing local, safe, & equitable health care that meets their needs.

Let’s make sure our veterans get the best care. We must make public transportation readily accessible to our veterans so that they can get to and from their medical appointments.

Healthcare must be made more affordable, equitable, and accessible to all Pennsylvanians.

Nursing Homes Improvements

1) Safe Staffing Ratios for CNAs & LPNs. 2) Full Funding: $300 million in permanent, recurring investment into care.  3) Real Accountability for our tax dollars: 70 cents of every dollar that nursing homes spend must be spent on resident care.

Every worker has a right to have a voice at work.  Advancing workers’ rights must include strengthening and expanding access to collective bargaining.  I support strengthening collective bargaining rights for workers.

 I support a worker’s right to be treated with respect, free of discrimination and harassment by their employers, to be safe on the job, to be fairly compensated for their work with good wages and benefits, paid time off, flexible scheduling, and the ability to securely retire. 

  I support programs that give women and racial/ethnic minorities more opportunities in the workplace and I support legislation that provides equal pay and equal opportunities for women in the workplace.  

  As a Pennsylvania lawmaker in Harrisburg, I would support raising wages in order to keep our valuable workforce here in PA. Pennsylvania is falling behind our neighboring states in workers’ wages and minimum wage.  We must increase our wages so that Pennsylvania can be competitive with all of our neighboring states.  Pennsylvania has not increased the minimum wage since the federal government set it at $7.25 in 2008.

An increase in wages helps better the economy and helps our hard-working families.

As a state legislator, I will improve accessibility for people with disabilities.  I believe that we can help thousands of children and adults with disabilities across the Commonwealth by supporting, funding, and providing access to quality education programs and services, including easily accessing healthcare and mental healthcare, preparing young people with disabilities to transition from secondary education to adult life, assisting adults with disabilities prepare, obtain, and maintain employment, improving access to reliable transportation to get to work, and expanding housing options and choices for people with disabilities.  We must ensure that all Pennsylvanians are treated with respect and dignity, and have a chance to prosper.

The U.S. Department of Health (HHS) considers child care “affordable” if it costs up to 10% of a family’s income.  Given this standard, infant care is only affordable for 28% of PA families.  Workers making $15/hour are likely to pay ⅓ of their income on child care.  That’s 3 times what HHS considers affordable.   Many parents need help with child care.  Pennsylvania needs to invest in our workers and children by investing in child care.  

    Families in rural areas have a difficult time finding child care providers as 73% of parents live in “child care deserts”.  This usually translates into less mothers being able to join the workforce.  Across PA, 59% of families live in “child care deserts”.  

  Child care workers need higher wages and better benefits.  The median wage for child care workers in PA was $9.71/hour in 2017.  That means that 50% of child care workers in PA rely on one or more public assistance programs, like food stamps and Medicaid.  These important jobs do not pay a livable wage and therefore, it is difficult to find high-quality child care providers in PA.  

  I support investments in the expansion of child care services across the commonwealth and increases in the wages for the child care workers.

U.S. News and World Report ranks Pennsylvania 50th out of all 50 states for the cost of higher education and because PA college students are faced with the highest amount of debt in the nation.  PA ranks 3rd highest for in-state tuition and fees at public colleges and universities, having gone up by 66% in the last 15 years.  Pennsylvania college graduates leave school with an average of $35,000 in debt.  Median student loan debt is up an average of 27% in the last 15 years.  The high cost of college in PA has reduced the number of working-class students to attend college.  No access to community colleges across rural PA is also a problem. 

 Pennsylvania’s high tuition problem is a result of the decrease in funding in education.  State funding for higher education has been falling for decades.  Relative to the State Gross Product, state funding has fallen to about 50% of where it was 30 years ago. It is now at about 38% of the 1983 funding level.  

  Studies show that higher educational attainments result in higher wages for workers and higher economic growth for communities.

  I support increasing the state’s share of funding for higher education in Pennsylvania, lowering the cost for students to attend college, and decreasing student debt.

Drug overdoses from opioids continue to rise in Pennsylvania, affecting too many families across our commonwealth.  Pennsylvania can take steps to help alleviate the disastrous effects of the opioid crisis on our families and communities.  The state should make it easier to access Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and encourage doctors to obtain the licensing required to prescribe these proven and effective treatments for substance use disorder.  PA can expand the use and training for Naloxone, the life-saving medicine that can reverse overdoses. Medicaid must be supported and fully funded to close the “treatment gap”, giving access to people who need care through a publicly funded treatment program.  

Pennsylvania must strengthen and expand its safety net to ensure all residents can afford the necessities of life.

HELPING THOSE IN NEED

 An economy that does not work for everyone leaves many Pennsylvanian families vulnerable to poverty. I believe we are a society that should care about helping our citizens in their times of need and preventing families from falling into poverty.  We must better serve our low-income Pennsylvanians.  I support protecting and expanding General Assistance, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and improving TANF Employment and Training Programs to help individuals receive quality education and training that can be helpful in acquiring employment and success.  We must ensure that recipients can access quality high school equivalency classes, English as a Second Language classes, literacy programs, and other job skill training and classes.

Many Pennsylvanians are facing food insecurity and are going hungry. This is a direct result of low wages and poverty in our state.  Another problem many community members face is living in a “food desert”.  Neighborhoods across the commonwealth lack grocery stores that sell fruit, vegetables, and other healthy foods.  We must target spending on public transit for individuals living in these “food deserts”.   

 I will support programs that help our most vulnerable community members. Programs like SNAP need to be funded and expanded to help people in need.  PA should protect and expand SNAP benefits, expand the number of children benefiting from free and reduced lunch, breakfast, and summer meals programs, and increase the SNAP income threshold to 200% of the federal poverty line, as many other states have already done.  Efforts made to kick people off the program because of administrative red tape and burdensome requirements should be opposed and rejected.

We must ensure that every Pennsylvanian has access to affordable housing.  Most residents of PA struggle to pay their rent or mortgage since wages have stayed the same and housing costs have continued to increase.  We must end homelessness in PA by helping counties address the needs of their homeless populations.  The state can increase funding into its Homeless Assistance Program (HAP) to help people find affordable housing, emergency housing, supportive housing, and rental assistance. 

High speed internet is a necessity for families and businesses, as it plays an important role in many aspects of our lives.  From work to school, Pennsylvanians are reliant on access to quality, affordable broadband.  Internet service is critical for accessing information and applying for job training opportunities, as well as, for finding a job.  Students with internet access have more educational opportunities than students without internet service.  Local businesses and farms rely on fast, reliable internet service to do business.  

  Fast broadband and reliable high-speed internet services are a vital tool in growing Pennsylvania’s economy and expanding educational opportunities for our residents.   I support closing the digital divide by expanding broadband services to every home and business across the commonwealth.  I support a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to expand broadband in unserved or under-served communities. 

Access to healthcare, better broadband and cell phone service, access to public transportation, protection and support for the growth of our family farms and local businesses, good paying jobs, fixing our roads and bridges and getting a quality education are some of the top issues that our rural citizens need action on in Harrisburg now.  

I was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania. I know first hand what our small towns, small businesses, local farmers, schools, and families need in order to succeed and prosper in our rural areas.

 “Rural people are often forgotten in Harrisburg.  
I know the difficulties people can face in our rural areas and we deserve better.”

Unconventional gas drilling was introduced to Pennsylvania in 2004.  Since 2005, almost 20,000 unconventional wells  (hydraulic fracking) have been drilled in PA.  Pennsylvania is the 2nd largest gas producing state in the U.S. (only behind Texas).  PA produces 20% of the nation’s natural gas. Pennsylvania’s role in the fossil fuel industry has contributed to its being the 5th largest carbon emitting state in the U.S.  

  As a commonwealth, the natural resources of Pennsylvania belong to all of us, the people.  We are the only state in the nation where extracted gas is not taxed with a severance tax.  I support imposing a state severance tax on the value and/or volume of extracted non-renewable natural resources, like natural gas.  A severance tax would allow all of the people living in PA to benefit from the state’s natural resources and would compensate for the loss of those natural resources.  Severance taxes would contribute to the state’s General Fund, an investment which would benefit extraction companies by providing for safe infrastructure and a skilled and educated workforce.  The revenue created could help offset the immediate or extending environmental hazards or damage done from the process of fracking.  A severance tax also benefits the citizens of our commonwealth since most of the state’s natural resources are sold outside of PA.  

  Revenues raised from the Impact Fee have averaged about $200 million/year.

According to the Independent Fiscal Office, Pennsylvania’s impact fee has a lifetime effective tax rate of 1.6%, much lower than many other gas producing states with a severance tax.

 Pennsylvania must provide our veterans and their families quality service, support, and assistance.  

    I support and honor all of our veterans. I am grateful for their service to this country. They deserve all of our respect each and every day.  They deserve the best care possible.  No veteran should be homeless, hungry, or in need of health care.  PA must support and help any veteran in need, making access to assistance as easy as possible.

I support the legalization of recreational cannabis for adults; legalizing the possession of marijuana for adults ages 21 and over.    I support allowing for the cultivation and sale of marijuana and to permit residents to grow marijuana plants at home.

Marijuana and hemp could bring new industries into PA, creating more jobs and increasing the revenue. 

PA has fallen behind our neighboring states, like New York and New Jersey, who have already legalized the adult use of marijuana.  

We must be sure to expunge the records of those who served time for non-violent marijuana offenses.