| CAMPAIGN PLATFORM
A Prescription for Ohio
ECONOMY AND JOB CREATION: Too many good jobs are moving out of state or overseas. Ohio needs pro-growth policies and lower taxes that give our businesses a competitive edge in the global market place. Dave will fight to protect our manufacturing and agricultural tradition, while providing businesses with the resources they need to succeed. As a small business owner, Dave understands the challenges Ohio businesses are facing.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following actions to improve Ohio’s economy:
· Leveling the playing field for our manufacturers by reducing government regulation, healthcare cost, and taxes.
· Providing all Ohioans the chance at a good paying job through workforce redevelopment programs.
· Improving our aging infrastructure to allow for faster and safer transportation of goods.
· Expand our use of ethanol, bio-diesel, natural gas and clean coal technology to ensure Ohio manufacturers have a reliable and affordable source of energy.
· Introduce a job retention program that keeps Ohio’s jobs in Ohio. Many states are already doing this.
· Introduce an Economic Development Training Program for all new elected officials in Ohio. This program would help our leadership better understand how Ohio can compete with our neighboring states and global competition. Many states have similar programs.
· Ensure state grants are distributed fairly throughout Ohio’s counties.
· Create incentives and assistance programs that help our low-tech manufacturing companies to convert to high tech manufacturing.
HEALTHCARE: One of the largest expenses in our state budget is the cost of healthcare.
As a healthcare professional, Dave knows how our State can save money, increase the quality of care, and ensure the financial stability of our healthcare system.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Support and expand adult passport programs and senior in-home care.
· Place more emphasis on preventative care that saves money. Investing in programs from infant to the senior years saves money and adds to the quality of life. Encouraging healthy lifestyles in individuals will have a positive effect on healthcare costs.
· Allow healthcare professionals the right to treat the patient as they see appropriate.
· Encourage evidence based medicine and positive cost outcomes if at all possible.
· State assistance to people in need should be run and administered by the state. The more direct the healthcare chain, the less it will cost.
· Implement therapeutic drug categories for competitive bidding that will create more consumer value and less cost for state programs.
· Emergency rooms should be preserved for severe health risks. Assigning a primary care physician and emergency room co-pay to Medicaid recipients will decrease costs and improve the quality of care for all Ohioans
EDUCATION: Education funding continues to remain one of the top challenges for our state government. Dave will work to develop innovative solutions that distribute education dollars fairly and increase the quality of education for all students. Dave also believes in reaching out to the business community to ensure our education curriculum meets the needs of the 21st century workforce.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Develop a fair system for the funding of our schools. Our current property tax based system is unfair to both homeowners and students. We need a system that ensures all students receive a quality education regardless of which neighborhood they live.
· Bring more career classes back to the high schools and expand vocational school opportunities for students.
· Support charter schools and education choice for parents.
· Work with business owners and corporations to ensure our school curriculum meets the workforce needs of tomorrow’s marketplace.
· Encourage 529 savings plans by allowing direct contributions through the Ohio income tax form.
· Reinforce moving people off government assistance by supporting programs that teach trades and skills that lead to employment. Building self-reliance should be the goal of government programs.
AGRICULTURE: Ohio has always been and still is one of the great agriculture states in our union. Agriculture is a vital part of the Ohio economy, contributing over 73 billion a year and one in six jobs. Supporting our agricultural industry is a key step in moving our state forward.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· A fair and stable tax system that allows farmers to accurately project their future tax liabilities.
· Slowing urban sprawl and re-develop abandoned brown fields.
· Creating protected areas for agricultural land.
· Recognize farming as a goods producing industry. Polymers, bio-diesel, and ethanol are all new profitable directions for farming that should be supported with 3rd Frontier Funding. With proper research and development funding, farming will continue to expand beyond a food producing industry.
· Country of origin labeling that allows our farmers to compete on a level field.
IMMIGRATION: One of the greatest challenges facing our nation is what to do about the out-of-control immigration at our porous borders. Dave does not support amnesty for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in America. Like most Americans, he believes it would be difficult for the government to locate and deport all the illegal aliens. Most importantly, he believes the first step we need to take is securing our borders.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Support a path to citizenship through an earned legalization process of registration, working, paying taxes, and learning English. This process should include the legal entry into the U.S., a legal work status prior to employment and the enforcement of existing law.
· Securing our borders.
· Supporting changes in the United States Constitution to prevent illegal aliens from being counted for the purpose of apportioning Congressional Districts. This will help us maintain the representation we have and possibly prevent the further loss of congressional seats. The illegal alien population in California provides for six congressional seats. That’s more seats in Congress than 20 states in the union have. Dave believes this is fundamentally wrong and would vote to ratify a change in the constitution.
REDUCING TAXES AND GOVERNMENT SPENDING: While on City Council, Dave maintained one of the lowest city tax rates in Ohio and balanced the budget every year. As a business owner, he knows you have to live within your means and develop cost effective solutions. By consolidating government services and eliminating wasteful spending, we can help Ohioans keep more of their money.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Help Ohioans keep more of their hard earned income by reducing taxes. The first step in this process is opening a discussion on the number of taxing authorities in Ohio. We are taxed at the Federal, State, County, City, Township, and Education level. All of these taxes combined are why Ohio ranks as one of the worst states in the nation for taxes.
· Consolidate government services to reduce wasteful spending.
· Eliminate unnecessary programs that provide little or no value.
TORT REFORM: Torts are civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. These wrongs result in an injury or harm constituting the basis for a financial claim by the injured party. The cost of the U.S. tort system for 2003 was $246 billion. That breaks down to $845 per citizen, or $3,380 for a family of four. This cost is being paid by every American in the cost of goods and services we purchase. The Republican Party has made great progress at the National and State level in recent years. Dave is committed to reforming the tort system.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Secure the ability of injured patients to get quick, unlimited compensation for their "economic losses," including the loss of ability to provide unpaid services like care for children or parents.
· Ensure recoveries for non-economic damages do not exceed a reasonable amount ($250,000).
· Reserve punitive damages for egregious cases where they are justified and limit damages to reasonable amounts.
· Provide for payments of judgments over time rather than in a single lump sum, to ensure that appropriate payments are made when patients need them.
· Ensure that old cases cannot be brought to court years after an event.
· Defendants pay judgments in proportion to their fault.
GUN RIGHTS: Dave is an avid hunter and member of the NRA. He will defend the 2nd Amendment and the right of all Americans to own guns.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Continue the Ohio Concealed Carry Program.
· Oppose any laws that restrict gun ownership or diminish the rights of gun owners.
· Oppose any class action law suits that attempt to blame gun manufacturers for crimes their products are involved in.
· Increase firearm and hunting safety programs.
· Preserve public hunting and fishing lands.
ABORTION: Dave is pro-life and believes all life is a gift. Sometimes, this gift is given in conditions that we may feel is not the best. Being adopted, Dave knows that good people are born in less than ideal situations. These same people can become our community leaders of tomorrow. Supporting mothers through this difficult journey should be paramount. Some parents in our state wait with open arms for these children no matter what the mothers’ personal situation may be. Dave will do his best to bring these mothers and parents together in finding loving homes for children. He will always fight for the life of a child, the support of the mother in her life choice, and the ability of loving families to adopt children.
ENERGY: Providing reliable and clean energy is key to our state’s future success. Our manufacturers and business need to know that power will always be available. It is also critically important that we identify and develop new sources of energy that reduce our dependence on Mideast oil.
As your State Representative, Dave Burke will support the following:
· Increased funding for research and development of alternative fuels that are clean, reduce dependence on oil, and create Ohio jobs.
· The further development of clean coal technology to fulfill Ohio’s electrical needs.
· Increased funding to make ethanol and bio-diesel more available to the public.
ETHICAL and INNOVATIVE LEADERSHIP: The challenges that Ohio faces cannot be solved with short term bandages. It is time we put our political differences aside and focus on developing achievable solutions. Thousands of people trust Dave each week with their healthcare needs. Sometimes, that means opening the store in the middle of the night to fill a necessary prescription. Dave will bring this same commitment and trust to the Statehouse.
Posted 12/10/2007
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