Plan 4 PA: Putting Peoplke First

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A Plan for Pennsylvania to Put People First

Pennsylvania needs elected leaders who will put people first and work together to build a strong economy that works for all of us. For too long we’ve seen working families struggle while corporations and wealthy special interests get the breaks.

Tax cuts for the rich do not create jobs or grow the economy – paying workers enough to be customers creates real growth. The middle class is paying their fair share; it’s time the rich do, too.

Extremists in Harrisburg put politics and special interests ahead of the people. They are trying to cut your pay, cancel your benefits, make it impossible to see a doctor when you’re sick and take away any chance you can afford to retire.

It's time for a change.

PA House Democrats have a Plan for Pennsylvania to Put People First. We’re fighting for Good Jobs, Affordable Health Care, Quality Schools, A Fair Economy, A Safe And Healthy Environment, Justice For All, and Secure Elections. By standing together we can change the direction of our state.

Jobs Plan For PA: A New Way Forward

Working hard is at the core of what Pennsylvanians are about. Small-business owners, nurses, teachers – EVERYBODY – deserves leadership in Harrisburg that fights for THEM. While corporate profits and CEO perks are higher than ever, most workers' pay has actually gone down.

We want to grow our economy and create good jobs everywhere – jobs that pay real wages and offer real benefits and a chance to retire – so everyone can have a brighter future.

Here's our plan:
  • Create jobs and invest in modern infrastructure
    Make sure everyone has affordable access to highspeed internet – whether you live on a farm in Greene County or a high-rise in Philadelphia.
  • Create jobs and invest in roads, bridges and transit
    Building better roads, bridges and public transportation creates good jobs now and helps companies build and expand in the future.
  • Help small businesses grow here and end sweetheart handouts and tax breaks giving giant corporations an unfair advantage
    Most jobs in our state are created by small businesses, not mega-corporations with an army of lawyers and lobbyists to take advantage of loopholes.
  • Stand up for Unions!
    Strengthen collective bargaining rights and make sure nurses, teachers, firefighters and other workers have strong unions.
  • Demand paid sick leave for all workers
    Sick workers stay sicker longer and get their co-workers and customers sick. If all workers earned paid sick days, we’d have a stronger economy, and you wouldn’t have to worry about eating a burger cooked by someone with the flu.
  • Demand better pay for everyone – including Equal Pay for Equal Work – and a higher minimum wage
    If you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to support your family and pay your bills. Every surrounding state has raised worker pay. We need to give people a raise and rebuild the middle class, too.
  • Fight for paid family medical leave
    Workers who can recover from illness or care for a family member without losing pay – or their job – have a better shot at the American dream AND save employers and taxpayers money in the long run.
  • Work overtime? Get paid
    Stop big corporations from stealing middle-class salaried worker pay. Everyone should get paid fairly for working extra hours.
Health Care Plan For PA: A New Way Forward

If you get sick, you should be able to see your doctor without going into debt – or bankruptcy. We can’t return to the days when insurance companies could turn you down for having a pre-existing condition. We can’t stand by while drug prices skyrocket, forcing people to choose between their medicine and a roof over their heads.

We want quality health care that people can afford. Better care means healthier families and more jobs – good jobs, with real pay and benefits. Nurses and other health care workers – and the patients they care for – shouldn’t be sacrificed to endless corporate profits.

Here's our plan:
  • Lower the price of prescription medicine
    People should be able to afford the medicine they need to stay healthy – and alive.
  • Preserve the protection that stops insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions
    People should be able to afford to see their doctors and buy their medicine, and our health care industry should be able to keep creating good jobs. We want to defend coverage instead of turning back the clock and forcing people to go broke trying to stay alive.
  • Protect Medicaid expansion
    This saves lives and creates jobs – talk about a win-win.
  • Defend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
    Parents who work but don’t get insurance at work need the peace of mind knowing their kids are getting care.
Education Plan For PA: A New Way Forward

Great schools open the door to a lifetime of success for those who work hard. We are committed to making the investments in public schools that prepare students for the jobs employers need to fill and career and technical education that ensure local workers have the skills for high-paying jobs.

We need to make sure advanced education and technical training are affordable so that Pennsylvanians aren’t saddled with crippling debt.

Here's our plan:
  • Make sure the state is paying our fair share
    Right now the state only kicks in about a third of the cost of public schools, unlike every other state in the country. We need to pay for at least half at the state level. We want to invest in all public schools – from kindergarten to high school.
  • Keep our kids safe while they learn
    Increase safety measures for kids in school and make sure they have access to counseling and the full range of mental health services they need.
  • Make tuition affordable at state colleges, universities, and community colleges.
    Students should be able to earn a degree and graduate without crippling debt.
  • Pay for job training and apprenticeship programs
    Working in the trades pays, and pays well. If you want to learn a new skill – we want to have your back.
Middle Class Plan For PA: A New Way Forward

Pennsylvanians know you can’t get something for nothing. To afford all the things we need -- better schools, career and technical training, drug treatment, better roads and infrastructure, and more affordable health care -- everyone needs to pay their fair share.

Pennsylvania loses millions of dollars to tax breaks that wealthy CEOs and powerful special interests put in the tax code. We have to stop allowing them to write the rules that leave our seniors and working families footing the bill.

House Democrats have a plan to clean up our tax code, end the corporate handouts, and build a fair economy for our seniors, our families and our future.

Here's our plan:
  • Make gas drillers pay their fair share
    Every other gas-producing state in America has a tax on drillers, but corporate special interests are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbyists to deliver special tax breaks to drillers making huge profits.
  • End tax loopholes for billionaires
    Our tax code is broken. You get taxed at the same rate on money you earn working as the affluent do on income that rolls in from inheritances, trust funds and estates. We need to clean up the tax code to reward hard work for a change so families can pay their bills AND small businesses finally get a break.
  • Protect retirement security for everyone
    You shouldn’t have to work until the day you die. When you’re done working, you should enjoy a quality retirement with dignity and financial security. PA Democrats want to protect your right to retirement security.
Middle Class Plan For PA: A New Way Forward

Without clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, little else matters. That’s why the Pennsylvania Constitution guarantees the protection of our public natural resources for us, and for children yet to come. With that guarantee comes the responsibility to stand up and fight against the special interests who would abuse our resources and leave the cleanup for the taxpayers to handle.

This means recognizing climate change is based on real science, and every year we’re breaking records for rising heat and extreme weather – which affects our farms and our communities facing the costs of flooding, droughts and storms. By investing in cleaner energy – and the goodpaying jobs that come with it – and holding companies that cheat and pollute accountable we live up to our promises and build a better future for everyone.

Here's our plan:
  • Promote investment in clean energy production and infrastructure.
  • Address and combat climate change responsibly by opening our economy to higher-paying jobs in renewable energy technologies, offering training and support for workers choosing to move to new careers, and reducing the strain on local communities facing the consequences of extreme weather.
  • Ensure that the Department of Environmental Protection has the tools it needs to promote partnerships with clean industries, while holding companies accountable for cheating the law and polluting.
  • Preserve the public lands that belong to all of us and the generations yet to come.
Middle Class Plan For PA: A New Way Forward

We believe that everyone should be treated equally, no matter who you love, how you worship or who you are.

t’s been 65 years since Pennsylvania’s law protecting people from discrimination was updated, and we’re the only state in the northeast that hasn’t changed our laws. Pennsylvania was founded on the ideals of welcoming all people facing oppression – it’s time we lead once again.

Here's our plan:
  • Pass the PA Fairness Act to protect ALL people regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity and expression, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
  • End the patchwork quilt of local laws written in 2,562 municipalities statewide.
  • Grow our economy by showing companies that Pennsylvania is part of a modern economy thatv benefits us all.

Our criminal justice system should protect the innocent, keep our communities safe and make rehabilitation the goal so people who have made mistakes and served their time can return to the workforce. Long-term prison sentences should be only for the most violent and unrepentant offenders, not for warehousing people with mental illness or addictions. We need to invest in appropriate cost-effective treatments and modernize our criminal justice system.

Here's our plan:
  • Reform the cash bail system that only favors the wealthy and well-connected and is costly to taxpayers.
  • Increase resources for those suffering from addiction and mental health problems.
  • Save tax dollars by getting people out of the system and back into the workforce.
  • Help police and residents work together for safer communities.
Secure Elections

People deserve to know that their vote is secure and they are heard by elected officials. Democracy works when citizens participate, have faith our votes are counted, and trust that we all have an equal voice in governing the direction of our state and our country.

We must do more to ensure that every eligible voter can participate, our elections are secure from interference, and politicians are accountable to the people and not wealthy corporations.

House Democrats have a plan to clean up our tax code, end the corporate handouts, and build a fair economy for our seniors, our families and our future.

Here's our plan:
  • Invest in new election technology and conduct ongoing mandatory audits to protect against hacking and election tampering.
  • Ensure that voter registration is accessible so all eligible voters can exercise their right to vote.
  • Get big money out of politics and rein in the influence of big corporations and their lobbyists.
  • Follow the lead of other states with same-day registration, early voting, and no-questions-asked absentee ballots along with other key reforms.
  • Increase requirements for civics classes in Pennsylvania public schools to ensure young people become engaged and knowledgeable citizens.