Issue Position: Working Families

Issue Position

In 2010, I stated that efforts to assist working families should focus on private investment in local communities.

I pledged to support community development programs that would efficiently use state gaming revenues to reduce the burden of property taxes as well as support local initiatives to improve citizens' overall quality of life. Specific programs to impact working families that I wanted to support needed to: create affordable housing, provide tax credits to small businesses offering health care insurance, enhance the quality of day care for children, retain CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) and retain/leverage the Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit Program as well as the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program.

I can now share with you the following results of my work to impact positively on the lives of working families in our District:

I have worked diligently to ensure the 22nd District is treated fairly and proportionately in the state's award of gaming funds under the Local Share Assessment grant award programs in Monroe, Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. On average, communities and civic projects or programs in my district, often benefitting working class neighborhoods and families, have received between $1.5 and $2 million per year from these gaming fund programs.

I have co-sponsored legislation introduced by Senator Judy Schwank to offer state tax credits to businesses that provide health insurance to their workers.

I railed against the Corbett administration for its arbitrary elimination of the Adult Basic Health Insurance program -- a program that provided health insurance to 64,000 working Pennsylvanians. I have also advocated for Medicaid Expansion in PA. I have passionately and consistently argued against the Corbett administration's failure to take advantage of significant federal investment which would create jobs in the health care and human service industries, relieve our state budget, and, most importantly, provide affordable health insurance to over 500,000 Pennsylvanians, virtually all of whom are in working class families.

I voted to expand the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and include an annual adjustment (aligned to the Consumer Price Index) which could increase the amount of tax credits available yearly. These tax credits are awarded to businesses that support Educational Improvement Organizations by making contributions which are used to support scholarships for students attending private schools. EITC donations provide a path for working families to send their children to a private school if they so desire.

I have been an effective advocate in bringing state PHFA Low Income Housing Tax Credits and other state funds to the 22nd District. These efforts have funded affordable housing projects such as the North Scranton Junior/Senior High School; Catholic Social Services Veterans' Housing and Shelter in Scranton; Catholic Social Services Affordable Housing in Jessup; United Neighborhood Centers Affordable Housing in South Scranton and others.

I have forcefully spoken against the Corbett Administration and the Department of Public Welfare as it has mishandled the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The federal government charged the Corbett Administration with improperly denying eligibility to PA families under this program.

My vote for tax reform in 2013 included a major tax policy change: "the Pennsylvania inheritance tax will NOT apply to the transfer of a "qualified family business interest" to one or more "qualified transferees". This change makes it easier for businesses to be passed down from generation to generation; the policy change is vitally important for family farms and other small, family-owned businesses in the state. This exemption from inheritance tax is a good tax policy change for working families.

My voting record in the Senate also evidences advocacy for organized labor and this was clear in debates over privatization of the state's liquor control system; the lottery; and in the annual negotiation of the state's public education budget. I believe strongly that I've met the intentions of this element of my 2010 platform and I pledge to continue to work hard to protect the interests of working class families throughout my Senate District.

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