Putting the middle class first

By Charles G. "Chuck" Hadley

Chuck knows that a strong middle class is the key to sustainable growth and prosperity for Delaware County and Pennsylvania. Chuck will always put the middle class first, and will work tirelessly to reduce the tax burden on the middle class while increasing opportunities for all.

To protect the middle class, we need to invest in education. In addition to reversing the devastating cuts to K-12 education passed under this administration, we must also fight to make community colleges and universities more affordable for everyday hardworking citizens. It's important that people who are willing to work full-time earn a competitive salary, which is why Chuck will work to increase the minimum wage to $10.70 an hour.

The current administration raised taxes on the middle class, hiking the gas taxes we pay at the pump up to the highest levels in America and forcing school districts to raise property taxes + all while protecting big oil and gas drillers from paying their fair share.

Recent Republican budgets cut hundreds of millions in funding for our schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and child abuse centers. Those budgets eliminated healthcare funding for 41,000 middle class Pennsylvanians and caused more than 100,000 children to lose their healthcare coverage. Pennsylvania dithered for years on expanding Medicaid, costing us money and preventing half a million Pennsylvanians, including 19,000 veterans, from getting health care coverage.

Republicans in Harrisburg voted to make it harder to qualify for a property tax rebate, and voted against increasing the rebate for seniors; They diverted one hundred million dollars from the property tax relief fund in order to finance tax breaks for natural gas drillers and other big corporations. That equation just doesn't work for us.