Candidate for
State Representative; Pennsylvania State House of Representatives; District 132; Democratic Party

Basic Education & Property Tax Relief

Nothing is more important to me than education. The Allentown area has seen remarkable revitalization over the past decade, but it's really very simple: if we cannot repair the Allentown School District, the city will never truly recover. We have a moral obligation to make sure that the next generation is prepared to enter the workforce and become a contributing member of society. If we fail, we are creating a generation that is less likely to get work and more likely to go to jail and become overly dependent on social welfare programs, becoming a burden to us all.

My number one priority in the legislature is restoring every cent of removed funding, and more, to basic education. Nothing matters more than this. Specifically, I believe that we must increase Pennsylvania's share of educational funding, return to the "costing out" school funding formula and restore the Accountability Block Grant and the Charter School Reimbursement line items. Doing so would ease the burden on local school districts and lower property taxes.

Since Governor Corbett and the Republicans took over the legislature, the Allentown School District has lost 350 teachers, while Parkland has lost 100. The government cut nearly $1 billion from basic education and has barely restored $100 million. This is unacceptable. No investment matters more than our investment in education.

I support charter schools and I believe we absolutely must revamp the way that these schools are funded. Multiple reports have also shown that many of these organizations lack the same transparency and accountability standards that we hold public schools to; this is unacceptable to me.

As State Representative, I worked with my colleagues in the legislature fight for an addition $9.6 million over the Governor's proposed budget. That number restored 25 teaching jobs and cut a proposed tax hike by 1/3.

Furthermore, I support continued and enhanced investments in early childhood education and reduced class-sizes. As a member of the Early Childhood Education Caucus, I fully understand the importance in this investment and will continue to support efforts to increase funding to programs like Head Start. Transportation

As a member of the Transportation Committee, I worked closely with legislative leaders and ultimately supported the recently enacted $2.4 billion transportation package.

In the next five years, the 132nd District will see thousands of jobs and $200 million in infrastructure investments. At the same time, Allentown will get an additional $1.5 million in liquid fuels money, thus creating property tax relief for the people of Allentown.

Pennsylvania currently leads the nation in structurally deficient bridges and is in desperate need of major road repair. At the same time, our mass transit systems across the Commonwealth, and in the Lehigh Valley, lack the capacity that our economy demands. The recently enacted transportation package will create 50,000 - 60,000 jobs and retain thousands more. Every dollar invested in this area will generates $4 in economic returns while simultaneously protecting public safety and ensuring that Pennsylvania's economy is prepared for the 21st century. Locally, the bill will allow for:

Widening of Route 22.

A downtown traffic study to determine what traffic improvements are needed for the new arena and office buildings.

Full replacement of the Gordon Street Bridge over the Jordan.

Safety improvements and milling on Hamilton and Chew Streets.

Restoring the middle class: Jobs & Economic Development

The gap between the richest and middle class in America, and in Pennsylvania, is higher than it has been since just before the Great Depression. The only way we have a thriving economy is with a healthy middle class, and the only way we have that is by giving people the opportunity to get a job and succeed. Under Governor Corbett and the Republican-led legislature, Pennsylvania's unemployment has been higher than the national average, something that didn't happen for almost the entire first decade of the 2000s. Clearly, we must do more in this area. That's why I support:

Enhancing Pennsylvania's manufacturing sector: Manufacturing is one of the biggest contributors to Pennsylvania's economy. At the same time, there aren't enough employees to fill job vacancies in this area, resulting in lowered productivity and a missed opportunity for the unemployed. As such, I fully support growing this sector by increasing funding to Career & Technical schools, increased funding to Ben Franklin Technology Partners and continued private-public partnerships between the manufacturing sector and government.

Continued development of the NIZ: The Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) is a tremendous blessing to Allentown that is helping to turn the City around. As a member of City Council, I fully supported the NIZ and continue to do so. However, I want to work to make sure that its benefits are targeted to Allentown's population and am committed to the employment of Allentown residents in this area.

Increasing Pennsylvania minimum wage: If minimum wage had kept with inflation over the past 40 years, it would be $10.74. Instead, it's $7.25. A family making minimum wage will still be stuck in poverty and unable to purchase their share of the America dream.

Protecting Pennsylvania's Unions: Unions remain the backbone of the middle class, and in my mind, it's no coincidence that declines in the strengths of unions occurred at the same time of the middle class. I will support all efforts to strengthen Pennsylvania's unions and oppose Koch-brother supported legislation like "right to work" and other union-busting measures.

Targeted tax credits towards businesses that hire those who need jobs the most. Many sectors of our population have been hit harder than others in the recent economic turmoil. As such, I would support the creation of a tax credit, available to any and all businesses, that hired Veterans, recent high-school or college graduates and the long-term unemployed.

Enhanced funding to Workforce Investment Boards and Small Business Development Center: These two programs are incredibly helpful at putting people back to work, helping them develop new skills and creating new small businesses; yet, at a time when these services were most needed, funding for both programs was slashed in the first Corbett budgets. I would fight to restore these cuts and ultimately further enhance both of these programs.

Pass legislation making it illegal to discriminate passed on someone's long-term employment status: In Pennsylvania, it is still legal for an employer to choose not to hire someone simply because they have been unemployed for "too long." This is unacceptable, as far too many of our residents have been unemployed for extended periods of time through no fault of their own. As such, I will work towards the passage of legislation that will make it illegal for an employer to choose not to hire someone only because of their unemployment status. Medicaid Expansion

I fully support full Medicaid Expansion and believe that Governor Corbett's proposal is inadequate. According to multiple non-partisan studies, full Medicaid Expansion will.

Cut the number of uninsured Pennsylvanian's in half by 2016.

Provide life-saving medical access to 500,000 additional Pennsylvanians.

Grow PA's Economy by $23.63B through 2020.

Produce an additional 223K new jobs through 2020. By the way, Unemployment is up again to 7.7% and we are down 26,000 jobs since August 2012.

Offset uncompensated care costs shouldered by hospitals by almost $600M.

CorbettCare will result in less invested in hospitals, fewer resources to pay for doctor visits or medical treatments and much higher out of pocket costs to customers. Protecting Women & Women's Rights

I am fully supportive of a woman's right to choose and will fight against any government intrusion into the efforts of a woman to control her own body and life. Indeed, my first speech as a member of the legislature was against a bill that would deny women the ability to purchase insurance on the newly established Health Exchanges that would cover abortion. However, to me, Women's Rights is about more than laws about abortion. Women face special health, economic and legal challenges that men do not; I support efforts to remedy these problems.

I am the proud author of the Rape Victims Protection Act. In Pennsylvania, if a woman is raped, impregnated and has the baby, she can do one of two things: she can sue the rapist for child support, or she can seek to have his child custody rights revoked. She cannot do both. This is an unacceptable loophole, and my bill would allow a woman to seek child support while terminating parental rights. The bill was approved unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee in June, and I am hopeful it will be approved by the full House this year.

I am a proud member of the Women's Health Caucus and have cosponsored a variety of pro-woman and pro-family legislation, including pay equity, increase eligibility for breast and cervical cancer screenings, enhanced protections for domestic violence victims and more. Equal Rights for All

I've spent my career fighting to protect equal rights. As an Allentown City Councilmember, I was proud to co-sponsor legislation that made Allentown the 4th municipality in Pennsylvania to provide domestic partner benefits for city employees. This law makes Allentown competitive in attracting and retaining a top-talented workforce at a next-to-nothing cost. As an employee with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, I worked with my colleagues to support the creation of the organization's LGBT Business Council. As a State Representative, I continue to fight for these vitally important issues.

I am a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus, which fights for protection and equality for LGBT members of our community. I favor full equality and protection under the law for LGBT Pennsylvanians.

I am a cosponsor of every piece of pro-equality legislation, including marriage equality and laws that would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBT Pennsylvanian's.

Working with State Representative Brian Sims, the first ever openly gay member elected to the legislature, I helped establish the first ever LGBT "tweet up," which organized nearly twenty legislatures to answer questions from Pennsylvania residents on LGBT-related issues. Marcellus Shale

Marcellus Shale represents an incredible opportunity for Pennsylvania, particularly in terms of jobs it can create and revenue it can generate. Not taking advantage of either of these opportunities is foolish and unwise, especially when considering that 96% off all natural gas produced in the United States is subjected to some sort of tax.

I will continue to fight for a reasonable extraction tax on Marcellus Shale. I have cosponsored legislation that would enact such a tax. Such a tax can generate hundreds of millions in revenue that can be used to protect the environment, minimize negative local impacts and close a growing budget gap.

Good Government

At a time when the average person's faith in government is at an all-time low, I promise to do everything I can to restore your trust in government. People should expect nothing but the highest standards from their government, and I promise to live up to those standards. I support:

Early Voting: This first piece of legislation I introduced would legalize Early Voting in Pennsylvania. I believe that it is absolutely vital that we make it easier, not harder, for people to vote in the Commonwealth.

Repealing Voter ID: Voter ID is a blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters. I wholeheartedly oppose these new Jim Crow laws and have cosponsored legislation that would remove this blatantly unconstitutional and immoral law.

Non-partisan redistricting: As the most recent redistricting effort has proven, politics can destroy any efforts to create a fair and equitable redistricting map. The 2012 revisions sought only to protect Republican incumbents and maximize Republican electoral gains. This leads to atrocious public policy that does not reflect the will of the voters. As State Representative, I have cosponsored and voted for an independent, non-partisan redistricting commission that creates new districts based on creating compact and similar communities, not election wins for political parties.

Campaign finance reform: Currently, Pennsylvania has an unlimited cap on donations to state and local candidates. I believe this is unacceptable and would favor legislation that tied Individual and PAC donations to the federal limits.