Health Care

By most estimates, there are nearly 1 million uninsured Pennsylvanians.

Since the mid-1990s, health care premiums have risen at about 3 times the rate of inflation.  This is devastating for individuals and businesses.  Employers have reacted to this by:

• Diverting their profits from other business activities such as re-investment and expansion.
• Requiring employees to pay for more of the cost of medical insurance
• Terminating medical insurance altogether

One positive sign is that Pennsylvania is a leader in providing health care for children. Children are more likely to have medical insurance in PA than in most other states, and efforts are continuing to lower the number of uninsured children through the Cover All Kids plan.

We can build on this success to provide access to affordable health care for all.  I support the Governor’s Prescription for PA to provide access to affordable health care coverage for nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians paid for through a combination of surpluses in the MCare fund and taxes on tobacco products.  This plan is contained in SB1137. 

There is also a bill, HB1841, to place all public education employees in Pennsylvania under a single health care trust similar to the one currently covering all state employees (the Philadelphia School District would have the option of joining).  This proposal could save school districts, and hence taxpayers, over $500 million.   This approach would only be implemented after careful study of the anticipated savings and the optimal structure of the plan.  I support this proposal as a means to directly save taxpayers money and also as a means to eliminate the most contentious issue, health care costs, from local school district bargaining.  I do not support the reduction or elimination in benefits enjoyed by any current or retired school employees through this plan.  Rather, the savings in this plan will be accomplished through the creation of a greater risk pool for the insurance and the reduction in administrative costs.

In addition, to ensure that health care remains accessible to all, we need to ensure that no genetic discrimination occurs in Pennsylvania where families are dropped from coverage because they have a familial risk for a chronic illness.

Our population is aging rapidly and the long term care system is being placed under increasing strain, especially in our region.  We must consider legislative measures that will allow our community members to age in place and to create a system that will provide for quality care through a career matrix for home health providers and workers. I will also propose legislation that will ensure that any "aging in place" proposals take into account the financial needs of the elderly to maintain their properties.

In order to reduce the costs of insurance to employers, we need to ensure that our hospitals and other health care providers are monitored for quality improvement through report cards based on evidence.

Lastly, to encourage economic growth in our region and district, self-employed individuals and small businesses need to be provided with the means to leverage the State’s purchasing power to purchase insurance for themselves, their families, and employees at a more affordable rate.

Property Taxes

Here in Pennsylvania, the state should be paying at least 50% of the cost of public education.  However, it is only paying about 33%.  When the state does not fulfill its obligation, we pay more in local property taxes.  This serves to drive away businesses and residents and puts a severe strain on those with fixed incomes.

I will push legislation to ensure that the state pays its fair share of education costs and dedicates the money to property tax reduction.

The state can be brought back up to the 50% contribution level through a combination of gaming funds, reducing health care costs, and streamlining state and local government budgets.  At the state level, over $250 million was saved simply by engaging in smart buying techniques.   There are other ways to make government more efficient and less costly.  I will push for these to be adopted in the General Assembly and will also push for more efficiency and cost savings from local governments and school districts.  I support the establishment of a state-wide health care trust for public school employees to reduce health care costs by as much as $500 million (see Health Care issue statement and the discussion of HB1841).

I believe that state legislation that allows local governments to impose WE-HAV home equity insurance, as an additional property tax needs to be repealed. 

K-12 Education

Overseeing our public education system is one of the major functions of state government.  The state must institute more accountability measures with incentives for districts to do well and increased oversight for those that do not.  At the local level, more must be done to engage parents in the education of their children because parents are a child’s first, best teacher.

The state can also help to ensure a better education for our children by encouraging pre-school education, full-day kindergarten, smaller classes and after school tutoring in our schools.  I would support legislation that licenses pre-school and kindergarten programs only if they are pursuing accreditation by the Keystone Stars Program of the Office of Child Development in DPW.

Here in Pennsylvania, the state should be paying at least 50% of the cost of public education.  However, it is only paying about 33%.  When the state does not fulfill its obligation, we pay more in local property taxes.  This serves to drive away businesses and residents and puts a severe strain on those with fixed incomes.

I will push legislation to ensure that the state pays its fair share of education costs and dedicates the money to property tax reduction (see the Property Taxes issue statement for more details on how this can be done).

I will push for more programs in our schools to prepare students to participate in emerging technologies and green industries.  The skilled workers who make our buildings more energy efficient are an example of “green collar” workers whose jobs cannot be sent overseas.

Higher Education

I believe that vocational, technical, building trades schools, community colleges, or 4-year public colleges and universities should be available to all Pennsylvanians at an affordable cost if we are to meet the growing demand for a highly-skilled and educated workforce in today’s knowledge-based economy. 

At our public institutions, funding is provided from local and state sources, and compared to the 12 states with the highest populations, PA is last in spending per student at 2-year and 4-year public schools. To cut costs, many students are attending community colleges, and then transferring to 4-year institutions. This puts pressure on community college budgets at a time when local governments have many other demands on their tax dollars.

We have a large number of highly regarded colleges and universities in the Commonwealth. We need to lower the financial barrier of higher education tuition by increasing student financial aid. We should ensure that a high percentage of the student aid is targeted based on student need, with the rest split between the future needs of the regional economy and merit.

Economic Development

The 27^th District has some very unique advantages that we often overlook and need to start “selling” to the world.  The housing stock in this District is affordable.  All areas within the District are a very manageable commute from Downtown Pittsburgh.  We have good access to major highways and amenities like the Airport and major shopping areas.  We have some of the best views in the area.

With these conditions, we can make our business districts thrive and attract and retain working families in our neighborhoods.  There are many state programs to attract and retain businesses that can be employed to do this.  Our business districts can benefit greatly from resources to help plan and implement revitalization efforts.  There are also state programs to encourage redevelopment of brownfield areas and to encourage new commercial and housing development.

We can create livable communities that offer a mix of housing types, amenities and services.  This will take work.  Governments at all levels must work together.  Zoning and permitting issues must be addressed.  Tax credits and housing finance assistance can be offered.

But government alone cannot revitalize the area.  The private sector must be engaged as well.  I have worked with developers and business people.  I will bring together public/private partnerships to work with our governments and our citizens to revitalize this District.

I will introduce legislation for the sustainable financing  of comprehensive long range community development planning for our region and district.

The Environment