For far too long, local taxpayers have suffered under ever-increasing property taxes caused by continuing decreases in state funding and more and more unfunded state mandates. It’s time to change this. We have a generational opportunity to help seniors, small businesses, and homeowners get out from under this burden while allowing our public schools to offer high-quality education for future leaders, thinkers, and change-makers. By working together, we can find new revenue streams that will allow public schools to move toward a new funding model that offers tax relief to Pennsylvanians while giving all our children the opportunities they deserve.

In our most challenging moments, we rely on our community’s first responders. In recent years, however, the cost of providing emergency services, even for volunteer organizations, has increased, while training and fundraising have stretched volunteers thin. With decreasing ranks, many organizations struggle to remain in service. We need to ensure someone is able to answer the call when we call 911. By directing insurance payments to fire or ambulance departments, reforming our grant system to make it easier to navigate, and looking at equipment lifespans and organization and community needs, we can ensure a long-term, sustainable future and allow our first responders to focus on responding to emergencies.