Dan Truitt
Editor’s Note: Once again, we posed the same nine questions to our legislative candidates and offered to publish them without edits or modification to allow our readers to get an unfiltered view of their positions on some of the top issues of the day in Pennsylvania. We will run the answers of all of the candidates for a given race at the same time — assuming all have responded.
1. There seems to be universal agreement that the state continues to face lower revenues than expenses. How would you address this issue — by additional cuts in spending (if so, where?), raising taxes or some combination of the two?
Actually, neither is REQUIRED. Closing the structural deficit can be achieved over time by simply slowing the rate of spending INCREASES to less than the rate of inflation. Our last budget increased spending by five times the rate of inflation, this was the second biggest reason why I voted against it. The first reason was the fact that it was out-of-balance, violating the state constitution. No one knew where we would get the money to cover the spending and, in fact, we still don’t know where we will get it all! Increasing spending by more than the rate of inflation increases the structural deficit. Simply keeping spending increases below the rate of inflation would decrease the structural deficit. We can shrink it even faster through targeted cuts to inefficient “corporate welfare” programs which are estimated to total as much as $800 Million per year.
2. School funding continues to be an issue for many folks — and litigation over fair funding is now working its way through the courts. Does Pennsylvania provide enough funding for local public schools and is it fairly distributed? Also, Act 1 of 2006 is beginning to put some school districts in a bind — thanks to a combination of lowered real estate values, skyrocketing pension, health care and special education costs — is it time to revisit the act and rework some aspects of it?
Pennsylvania does not provide enough funding for local public schools in certain areas. In other areas, it does, and some school districts even boast about their huge reserves and how long it has been since they have had a tax increase. The key is in distributing state funds fairly and using them wisely. Fortunately, we did recently pass, with my support, a new bi-partisan basic education funding formula that finally moves us in the direction of truly fair distribution. Unfortunately, it will take time for the new formula to take full effect. In spite of the budgetary pressures caused by pension obligations and Act 1 of 2006, I don’t think any changes are required given that school districts can apply for exemptions and they always have the option to go over the Act 1 index if voters approve.
3. Although Pennsylvania has the highest gas tax in the nation, it continues to struggle to pay for road and bridge maintenance. How would you address this issue?
Move the funding of the state police to the General Fund. This would free up $500 to $700 Million that is already supposed to be used for road maintenance, but is being diverted contrary to the intent of the state constitution.
4. There have been at least five gun-related homicides in the county this year — four in the last few weeks — in addition to a number of non-fatal shootings this year. What would you do to stem gun violence?
It is important to keep guns out of the hands of folks who should not have them. That’s why I co-sponsored HB-1243 of 2014 to require state agencies to share mental health data with the National Instant Check System (NICS) and HB-1020 of 2015 to require the reporting of lost or stolen guns. It’s also why I voted for universal background checks when HB-1010 was offered as an amendment to HB-1243 in 2014. Ironically, my opponent in this election sent me an email thanking me for supporting some of these measures and for standing with my constituents in supporting commonsense gun laws.
5. As the opioid crisis grows, what efforts do you support both to curtail new addictions and help those already in the grip of addiction?
My focus is on education of doctors and patients on the dangers of opioid abuse. Both need to know about alternatives and patients especially need to know the risks of using opioid pain relievers more than absolutely necessary.
6. Land use continues to be front and center in Chester County — from the development of farm lands to housing developments to needed redevelopment in our urban areas. In terms of your district, what should the state being doing now to better preserve open space and target development to areas with existing infrastructure?
These are really local decisions. However, the state should enable local governments to offer the incentives that would encourage the preservation of open space.
7. Do you support efforts by some to take state legislative and congressional redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and put it into the hands of an independent commission? If so, why? If not, why not?
I do support this. However, it is difficult to create a truly unbiased panel to draw these maps. While I would support most of the existing legislative proposals if they were brought up for a vote, I would prefer a solution that takes most of the work out of human hands. Computers CAN draw these maps. Everyone should agree on an algorithm and agree to accept the outcome before the maps are actually drawn by a computer programmed with that algorithm.
8. What issue do you feel that the media/public fails to discuss enough in terms of state government?
The pension crisis. If allowed to continue, pension obligations will make it impossible for us to properly fund many other critical programs.
9. Can you tell us something mildly surprising about yourself (hobbies, unusual past jobs, etc.) that the public might find interesting?
I’m an Eagle Scout, but I can’t swim!
