Public Safety
Education
Casinos
Government Ethics
Property Taxes
Your Quality-of-Life
Economic Growth
Health Care


Public Safety

I Support:

• Providing Philadelphia the power to create its own gun laws.

• Implementing a one-handgun-per-month restriction and extensive background checks for all handgun purchases.

• A mandatory registration requirement of private handgun sales, including those sales at gun shows, to the State and local police.
  

• Mandating the report of lost and stolen handguns to the State and local police to protect against straw-purchasers.
  

• Providing funds for job training programs for recently released felons and tax breaks for businesses that hire recently released felons to encourage former-lawbreakers to stay straight.
  

• Creating taskforces made up of local and state law enforcement officers, elected officials and community members that meet regularly to help identify and resolve problems before they get out of hand.
  

• Increased funding for truant officers, after-school programs and curfew courts to catch kids before they fall through the cracks.
  

• Expanding Pennsylvania’s hate-crime legislation to include the LGBT community.

Education

I Support:

• A uniform state funding formula for schools that helps to guarantee students in Philadelphia receive the same education as students in the suburbs.

• Rep. Payton’s proposal to create a merit-based scholarship program that would provide a full scholarship to any Pennsylvania student with a 3.0 GPA or better to attend any university within the state system.
  

• Increased funding for trade programs within high schools that allow students additional options if they choose not to attend college.
  

• Incentives to recruit qualified teachers to teach in our public schools.
  

• Increased funding for early childhood education and Charter Schools.

I Oppose:

• Governor Rendell’s proposal to create graduation tests that create a state-wide unfunded mandate – similar to “No Child Left Behind” - that would place Philadelphia students at an unfair disadvantage.

Casinos

I Oppose:

• The construction of Foxwoods Casino on our riverfront or close to our homes, schools, playgrounds or religious institutions.

I Support:

• Councilman DiCicco’s efforts to relocate Foxwoods and City Council’s efforts to maintain its power over these developments.

Government Ethics

I Support:

• Philadelphia’s campaign finance law created by Mayor Michael Nutter and enforcing that law on all political organizations equally and fairly.

• Reforming Pennsylvania’s campaign finance system to promote transparency and fairness in the election process.

• Representative Shapiro’s efforts to provide public access to state documents.

Property Taxes

I Support:

• A fair and equitable property tax system that places fair values on all properties.

• Providing Philadelphia the tools it needs to create a better property tax system including the ability to impose caps on tax increases and homestead exemptions.

• Permitting same-sex couples to transfer property to their partner without additional tax penalties.

Your Quality-of-Life

I Support:

• Increased funding for parks, recreation facilities and community centers.

• Working with city officials and communities to solve basement flooding problems in South Philadelphia once and for all.

• Providing incentives to developers to increase open-space, plant trees, use alternative fuels and build green roofs.

• Exploring alternative means to reduce vacant and blighted properties while protecting the individual’s personal property rights.

• Active participation in civic groups. Neighborhood organizations deserve access to their elected officials – I will attend whatever meeting I can whenever I am invited to attend.

• Always considering the impact of my choices on your neighborhood.

Economic Growth

I Support:

• Dredging of the Delaware River to promote an increase in port activity.

• Expanding the Philadelphia port to create more jobs and opportunities.

• Additional business incentives to continue the redevelopment of the Naval Yard.
  

• The implementation of a waterfront plan that balances public access, open space, and retail, industrial and residential development.
  

• Creating a Pennsylvania small business loan program to allow more Philadelphians to realize business ownership.
  

• Advocating for stronger and more vibrant commercial corridors by creating additional business improvement districts.
  

• The creation of a prevailing wage accelerator for employees in the service industry.

Health Care

I Support:

• Expanding the PACE/PACENET prescription drug program to provide benefits to additional seniors and workers.

• Increasing funding for neighborhood clinics to provide better services to those that can not afford health insurance.
  

• Creating a program for small businesses that would permit those businesses to provide basic and affordable healthcare for their employees.
  

• Mandating that medium to large businesses, such as Wal-Mart, that receive tax incentives from the Commonwealth provide healthcare for their employees.