Op-Eds

Absent Significant Tax Increases on Individuals, Basic Education Funding Commission’s $7 Billion Additional Funding Remains a Pipedream
January 19, 2024

Absent Significant Tax Increases on Individuals, Basic Education Funding Commission’s $7 Billion Additional Funding Remains a Pipedream

As a co-chair of the Basic Education Funding Commission, I was proud of the work we – as Republicans and Democrats – were able to accomplish over the better part of a year.  [Read More]

Op-Ed: Fostering Fairness in Pennsylvania’s Election Operations
November 4, 2021

Op-Ed: Fostering Fairness in Pennsylvania’s Election Operations

“Elections shall be free and equal.”  [Read More]

As Pennsylvania Begins its Slow Recovery from COVID-19, Small Businesses Must Be a Top Priority
April 1, 2021

As Pennsylvania Begins its Slow Recovery from COVID-19, Small Businesses Must Be a Top Priority

As restaurants, bars, gyms, entertainment venues and other small employers look forward to higher capacity limits and fewer restrictions starting April 4, there is a sense of optimism that the worst of this year-long COVID-19 nightmare may finally be behind us.  [Read More]

People should have final say in COVID-19 pandemic response, and with Senate Bill 2, they will
February 5, 2021

People should have final say in COVID-19 pandemic response, and with Senate Bill 2, they will

Over the last 10 months, York Countians have inundated our offices with questions and concerns over unilateral decisions set by the governor.   During any crisis, communication, collaboration and transparency are key to provide clarity to avoid confusion.   In the early days of the pandemic, the governor unilaterally shut down many businesses – large […]  [Read More]

Could a 20-year state contract sink efforts to close Pennsylvania’s digital divide?
October 19, 2020

Could a 20-year state contract sink efforts to close Pennsylvania’s digital divide?

In 2019, the Commonwealth entered into a 20-year contract with an Ohio-based company to help expand access to broadband in underserved areas of Pennsylvania. Although this contract was originally billed as a way to help deploy high-speed internet throughout the state, it now appears that this contract is more of an albatross weighing down our […]  [Read More]

State laws and rules should apply to everyone – including the governor
June 16, 2020

State laws and rules should apply to everyone – including the governor

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sense of unity and hope that our state and our country could confront this crisis head-on and come out stronger in the end.  [Read More]

Op-Ed: Governor’s address marks the start of a broken budget process
January 21, 2020

Op-Ed: Governor’s address marks the start of a broken budget process

Throughout my first five years in office – four as a state Representative and one as a state Senator – one thing is as consistent as Punxsutawney Phil coming out of his slumber in Gobbler’s Knob on February 2: there are always budget gimmicks and games played in Harrisburg.  [Read More]

Election issues must be corrected for next year’s critical contests
November 19, 2019

Election issues must be corrected for next year’s critical contests

Following Governor Wolf’s unilateral decision in 2018 to decertify the state’s current voting machines, the legislature had significant concerns about the implementation of this costly unfunded mandate.  [Read More]

Restore PA repeats mistakes of old
September 17, 2019

Restore PA repeats mistakes of old

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  [Read More]

Taxpayers may be on hook with Gov. Wolf’s latest veto of bill to pay for his own unfunded mandate
July 12, 2019

Taxpayers may be on hook with Gov. Wolf’s latest veto of bill to pay for his own unfunded mandate

In April of 2018, Governor Wolf said his administration would move to decertify all existing voting machines following the 2019 election and force counties to purchase new machines in advance of the 2020 Presidential Election.  [Read More]

State’s regulations limiting our economic success
May 6, 2019

State’s regulations limiting our economic success

A few weeks ago, I stood with fellow legislators, local and state business leaders and employee advocates to push for a series of regulatory reforms that will truly help provide the platform for our commonwealth’s economic growth, retain workers, attract new talent and provide a brighter future to all Pennsylvanians.  [Read More]

Bringing the Shadow Budget into Public Light
February 19, 2019

Bringing the Shadow Budget into Public Light

Governor Tom Wolf’s $34.146 billion state budget plan would grow state spending by nearly 3 percent over last year’s total, marking an increase of nearly a billion dollars in new spending. Unfortunately, even that total doesn’t show taxpayers the entire picture.  [Read More]

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