I want to see a legislature that establishes a foundation for long-term living in NWPA. I want a government focused on the people and not on the interests of industry that wants, even needs us to remain trapped in a boom-bust-cycle. I want policies that can help us thrive together, not just hang in there. I want governance that considers our values first, that asks how we can make life better for everyone, instead of tsk tsking and saying, that costs too much. What we choose to afford tells us a lot about what we value.

Education as a priority

  • We need well-funded public K-12 schools with teachers granted the freedom and autonomy to be the professionals they are.
  • We need to rethink the inequity of local property tax based funding for our schools, which will always create educational haves and have-nots.
  • We need to restore robust state support for our PASSHE, which does so much to provide low-cost, high-quality university education for PA residents, and which has a long history of preparing some of the best-trained teachers in the country.

Environmental protection

  • Our environment is the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the farmland that is central to who we are. If we fail to protect our environment, we fail to protect ourselves.
  • For too long, Western Pennsylvanians have suffered from industries that see us and our environment only as commodities to be exploited, and from a definition of economy that needlessly pits jobs against conservation.
  • We need to reimagine our economy, focusing on green development that can offer sustainable, high wage jobs at the same time that we protect our land, air, water, and people.

Healthcare for all

  • Simply, being healthy is a human right. Our health is not a commodity to be bought and sold for financial gain.
  • A shared, public commitment to high-quality healthcare would give individuals a safety net to start new businesses, would let people quit terrible jobs without fear of losing insurance, would make all of our lives better.
  • A single-payer system could reduce both individual and employer costs considerably, while providing for better healthcare to PA residents.
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