Issue Position: Working Families

Issue Position

Fighting for Working Families

Phyllis Mundy is fighting to help hard-working, middle class families raise their income and reduce their taxes to help with child care, health care, college costs, long-term care and savings.

A Living Wage for Hardworking Families

Too many families still struggle to pay the bills--too many local workers don't get honest pay for an honest day's work and too many of our young people leave our area for better paying jobs elsewhere.

Phyllis Mundy knows that economic recovery starts with good jobs and good benefits for everyday families. She is currently a cosponsor of legislation to bring Pennsylvania into the company of over a dozen other states to increase the state's minimum wage above the federal level to $6.25 by 2007 and $7.15 by 2008.

Affordable Utility Bills

As an advocate for consumer's rights, Phyllis not only fights for affordable health care but also affordable utility bills. Phyllis is always requesting public input hearings when water, gas and electric companies file rate increase requests with the Public Utility Commission (PUC) that substantially affect the constituents of her legislative district so that the public has an opportunity to comment on rates and quality of service. Her endless efforts brought about a substantial victory against the PPL Corporation in 2004 when the PUC denied PPL's request to add a distribution systems improvement surcharge to customer's bills.

Meaningful Property Tax Relief

Phyllis is also continuing the fight to reduce local school property taxes for hardworking homeowners. She supported the Racehorse Development and Gaming Act (Act 71) and the Homeowner Tax Relief Act (Act 72) in 2004 as a way to replace property tax revenue without increasing other taxes. All four of her school districts opted into Act 72 to receive a portion of the Gaming proceeds once casinos and gaming establishments are up and running.

Safe, Affordable Child Care

Without reliable, affordable child care, many working parents can't keep their jobs. That's why Phyllis led the fight to reduce copayments and maintain eligibility for subsidized child care for working families. Phyllis also strongly supports:

* Tax credits for child care expenses
* Criminal background checks for family day-care providers
* Unannounced inspections of child day care facilities
* Establishment of a Child Care Consumer Guide offering up-to-date information about child care providers

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