Issue Position: Good Government

Issue Position

I will always fight for better government to better serve our citizens. I will work to make Pennsylvania government more efficient, transparent, and democratic, and to make our government responsive to the will of the people.

I have endorsed the American Anti-Corruption Act, because Pennsylvania government has a long history of corruption and misconduct. I will fight for social, economic and environmental justice, I will never take contributions from organizations that are working against the public interest, and I will never accept gifts.

Our citizens overwhelmingly support legislative redistricting reform, yet our legislators lack the political courage to enforce the will of the people. We need an independent non-partisan commission to fairly draw our legislative districts. It's high time we have a system in Pennsylvania where voters choose their representatives, rather than the representatives choosing their voters.

I support open primary elections and automatic voter registration. I will fight against voter suppression and will support term limits at all levels of government. I will work for smaller and more efficient government, for cutting wasteful spending, and for state pension reform.

I will work for campaign finance reform that levels the playing field for candidates. I support full disclosure of all contributions to candidates and elected officials. I support banning gifts and corporate contributions and will work to strengthen ethical behavior in government with full transparency and open access to public records.

I will fight for criminal justice reform that ends minimum sentencing guidelines for non-violent offenders. We must stop the practice of privatizing corrections facilities, which inherently leads to private interests influencing legislators to maximize incarceration rates in the interest of profits, and against the best interests of society.

Many of our legislators take their full $179 per diem for daily travel, food and lodging expenses, although they are not required to produce any receipts for their expenses. I have committed to never taking per diems for unvouchered expenses and will always produce receipts for all reimbursed expenses.

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