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Home | 5-R Plan for Success | Political Philosophy | Will's Bio |Political & Professional Background | Issues | In The News | Photo Gallery | Links & Resources| Donate | Volunteer
Private Property Rights
As we all know, eminent domain abuse has been a concern for most of York County for a number of years now. I do not believe it is the right of government to take property from one private owner to benefit another. It should not be done for economic benefit. When a government must use eminent domain it must be a last resort and closely monitored/supervised.You have heard the famous quote, "a man's home is his castle", but sometimes it causes us to wonder when governments are involved down to telling you what wattage light buld you must have in your outside light. Limit governmet; this is a Republican Platform.
I had helped the Heston family from the early stages in their eminent domain fight by doing some research for them and talking with other Penn Township residents about their plight. I support the right of the Heston family, and other similarly situated families, in their fight to keep their homes.
Illegal Immigration
I am the only candidate for the 193rd district who has actually accomplished something on illegal immigration. I had a resolution passed at the Republican State Committee that would allow local governments to deport any person who is identified in the course of normal law enforcement activity as being an illegal immigrant. Any person picked up by the local police for illegal activity, and suspected as not having legal status, would be taken before the court of common pleas and asked to prove their residency status. If they do not have legal residency, they would be deported. The farming community needs access to law-abiding migrant workers through a uniformly administered program and without unnecessarily burdening individual farmers with cumbersome regulations. Perhaps an organization such as the PA Farm Bureau could act as a resource pool for the farmers, but we need to keep it out of government boards.This really should be a Federal issue.Tax Payer Rights
We need to have some form of Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights before we have another Boston Tea Party! A taxpayer Bill of Rights would go a long way in curbing the excessive spending by our governments. Act 1 is a primary example of the failure of giving taxpayers a break and say in their tax increases.Property Tax Reform
My platform includes removing property tax as the primary source of income for local government. Additionally, any tax reform must be accompanied by a decrease in spending. Although I am open to seeking a workable solution on the property tax issue, I am very leery of sending any more money to Harrisburg – which tends to end up in Philadelphia. We have a net loss of tax dollars in our district. In order to keep our money local, we could consider some formula such as the Earned Income Tax (EIT). Property tax must not be allowed to continue to rise and it needs to be reduced.While We need property tax reform, we first must reduce school district costs, such as by removing the prevailing wage requirement. Since I am not in favor of giving Harrisburg more money to spend recklessly, I oppose a sales tax or income tax solution that gives our money to Harrisburg.
Funding the Highway System
The best means for funding the needs of our state transportation highway system is to keep our governor from sending the highway’s money to Philadelphia again – as with the $400 million already sent out of the highway trust fund. How many of our 3,600+ structurally deficient bridges could that amount of money fixed? I am opposed to tolling I-80 and I am afraid of what will happen to the billions of dollars if the turnpike is leased. Harrisburg has not demonstrated its ability to show fiscal restraint; most likely in five years none of the lease money will be left – then what?Term Limits | Legislature Size | Pay Raises
We need to return to a citizen legislature, where our representatives come from among us with our perspective rather than being professional politicians. They should have held real jobs, dealt with the concrete problems of earning a living, and experienced the pains of making ends meet for their family. We will need to consider how many terms would accomplish this. A smaller House, of perhaps 175 representatives, would save the taxpayers millions of dollars. No one should determine their own pay and benefits, unless they own their own business; an outside panel should perform this function.Table Games in PA Casinos
I do not favor table games at PA’s casinos. We need to focus on solving the numerous major problems of the PA Gaming Control Board rather than compounding them by adding table games. The current board has had many conflicts-of-interest and cannot even adequately screen its own employees. Those who opposed bringing casinos to PA warned us that casinos would attract the wrong kind of people to be involved with gaming management. It appears they were right! Bringing table games to PA would amplify the many problems already associated with gambling.Energy Independence
Energy independence is the optimal goal; however, it will take a while to get there. Until then, we need to take advantage of PA’s natural resources as our immediate shelter from exploitation and for the survival of our family budgets. PA has a wide and plenteous variety of fossil fuel available and we should encourage its use in the cleanest ways possible. This includes helping companies that extract these fuels to be environmentally safe and to leave the smallest footprint possible on our landscape. We should encourage all individuals to use energy efficient appliances, as this is both economically and environmentally sensible. However, I oppose requiring home owners to install smart meters. The monthly energy bill is a better motivation for energy efficiency than another government mandate.Job Experience
I have experience serving in various leadership capacities in the Republican Party, including as a member of the State Committee, President of the Republican Club, and Committee Member for my precinct. I have volunteered in numerous community activities and understand the needs of a community. My experience spans government, law enforcement, school governance, high school sports, youth work, various levels of management in corporate America, church leadership, fire department, and medical care as an EMT. I am a strong fiscal and social conservative activist, understanding our history and its relationship to the issues we face today. I already have successfully had a resolution pass the Republican State Committee.