Duane Milne
The is The Times’ final installment of paired Q&As with local legislative candidates. Today we present the answers from the candidates in the 167th State House district. They were both supplied with the exact same questions and the answers are unedited.
1. Why are you running?
I am running for re-election on November 4 because I would like the privilege of continuing to be able to work for you, the citizens. Public service can be and must be a type of calling, and good outcomes are possible in politics when good people come together and work for the greater good of all. As your representative in the state capital, I envision my overarching mission as one of protecting and advancing the high quality of life we have achieved together.
Like you, I remain grateful that the community we simply call “home” consistently ranks as one of the best local areas in the entire United States in which to live, work, play and raise a family. We are blessed to benefit from and enjoy highly regarded schools, a strong jobs base and thriving local economy, beautiful neighborhoods, low crime rates, a clean environment and vibrant culture. Please know that you, our community, are what inspire me in this public service position as I make policy votes as well as offer constituent services.
If re-elected, I promise to keep advancing an agenda that upholds our values and interests, and does so in a manner fiscally prudent for the future. A desire to meet your expectations will continue to motivate me to work hard on your behalf for the greater good of you and your families.
2. Our community is looking to elect you as a leader; what would you want our readership and voters to know about how you demonstrate leadership?
Among many other ways, my demonstration of leadership is exemplified by my devotion to our community over many years, and in a variety of leadership roles. I live today in the same neighborhood in which I grew up, and I, along with my wife Jean, am raising our son here. He is currently a third-grader in the Great Valley School District, where I attended from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Because of that personal journey, I have, from the time of high school onward, been in leadership roles in our community.
With respect to the political and governmental aspects of our community, I had, prior to my election as state representative, volunteered for 25 years with campaigns and elections at the local, state and national levels. Additionally, I served as a Chester County committeeman for 20 years and a Pennsylvania state committeeman for 10 years. I worked as well with floor operations at two presidential nominating conventions.
Additional leadership experiences include many leadership roles over the years through church, coaching in youth sports leagues, assisting in Cub Scouts, and contributing as a school PTO volunteer. Further, I have served as an officer in the Army Reserve, including assignment as company commander as well as earning achievement medals.
All of the leadership knowledge and skills gained over time certainly is part of what has allowed me to serve effectively in the legislature. Quite noteworthy: this has including earning appointment to what are considered two of the most important committees in the legislature: Appropriations, which takes the lead on the entire state annual budget of some $29 billion, and Finance, which is the leadership committee for tax issues in Pennsylvania.
3. Please provide an example of a tough decision you’ve had to make. Why was it tough?
Every day in the legislature can be tough at some level, because any given decision we make, every vote we take is bound to upset some citizens. However, trying to make the best decisions possible, in order to do the greatest good for the greatest number, is part and parcel of the challenge, motivation and, most importantly, reward of doing this public service work.
One example of a recent tough decision that had to be made is how the state can and should generate the $2-3 billion a year that will be needed for the foreseeable future in order to address the serious transportation and infrastructure deficiencies facing our Commonwealth. The policy reality was and is that allowing some increased sales tax on gasoline was and is the best path forward to raising the necessary revenue. While no politician wants to be accused of supporting “higher taxes,” sometimes this route is actually the courageous one to take, for the greater good of all, even though some will try to take advantage of it for cynical political purposes.
Here is text of my position paper in transportation, so as a reader you can get a sense of my reasoning approach to tough decisions:
Position Paper: Transportation Policy
OVERVIEW/SUMMARY
This overview/summary section, along with its two subsections, provides you with a synopsis of the state’s fragile situation with respect to current transportation challenges and how the comprehensive transportation bill the legislature passed and Gov. Tom Corbett subsequently signed into law on November 25, 2013, seeks to address the enormous needs of the state. For those who would like even more detail, the sections that follow this summary section delve in to specific aspects of transportation policy and challenges in the state.
The transportation bill that Corbett signed into law culminates a two-year effort to craft a once-in-a-generation comprehensive transportation bill for Pennsylvania. This legislation is meant to put forth a plan to fix and upgrade the extensive degree of crumbling bridges, roads and mass transit systems all over this Commonwealth. Although there will be some short-term fiscal cost, the benefits over the long-term yielded to us as citizens and a Commonwealth will prove valuable and worth this societal investment in our future.
Transportation issues and funding in this state have not been addressed in a comprehensive fashion by the legislature since 1997. Over that time, the infrastructure has continued to crumble, and costs have continued to escalate. Indeed, the longer we as a state refuse to take action, the more expensive the solutions will become. The transportation bill passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor should provide sufficient resources for our transportation needs for at least a generation.
This legislation was passed by a bi-partisan coalition of Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals alike who are weary of the gridlock in our political system and desire that the system function effectively, and to accomplish an agenda for the common good. Government should be limited, but it also should be effective within those limits.
As with any large, complex piece of legislation, this has proved a difficult process to complete and, like any such legislation, it is not “perfect” from every perspective. However, the policy choice comes down to whether to approve a bill acceptable enough to the vast array of viewpoints in a state of some 12 million people, living in 67 different counties and often holding very different opinions across the urban, suburban and rural parts of this state…or to do nothing. At this critical juncture, with the structural safety of our bridges and roads at stake, to do nothing is irresponsible and an abdication of leadership and responsibility.
Out of respect for you, my fellow taxpayers, allow me to provide a summary of the transportation bill, so you can have an accurate understanding of what is incorporated in the legislation, and the thinking behind it.
Depth of the transportation infrastructure crisis
Our state ranks 50th in the nation – literally last – in terms of the condition of states’ bridges. We also drive near the bottom of state rankings with respect to the shape of our roads and highways. Our rail system (including SEPTA) needs significant improvements and modernization. Not only is all of this embarrassing, a hindrance for economic development and jobs creation, it is also downright dangerous for public safety. Analyses have determined that the state in the future will require about $2.5 billion on a regular basis in order to have any hope of catching up on and correcting all the transportation infrastructure deficiencies in the states. It is, quite simply, a daunting policy and political challenge. It also, quite simply, has to be accomplished.
How transportation infrastructure is funded
The recently-passed transportation legislation will over the course of the next five years reach the point of providing about $2.3 billion to begin to remedy the most serious of the transportation problems in the state.
The revenue will be raised in large part by allowing for a transfer of the tax burden to oil companies; this will be accomplished by removing the current cap on the Oil Company Franchise Tax. This law artificially holds down how much oil companies pay in taxes when profiting in Pennsylvania. Right now, oil companies are assessed only on the first $1.25 of a wholesale gallon of gas, regardless of the current wholesale price per gallon (whether current value is $2.00/gallon, $3.00/gallon or what have you). It is a tax break that has been on the books since 1983, and now is being rescinded.
The current transportation law is set up to minimize impact on consumers as oil companies inevitably will pass some costs from their wholesale level to the retail level (i.e., what we all pay at the gas pump). The fees paid at the gas pump will be capped at about nine cents per gallon in the first year, which amounts to about $10-20 per month for the typical family. From there, the assessment will gradually go up some over the next four years so needed transportation funding can stay on pace with inflation, more fuel efficient vehicles being driven and the high population growth rate in certain parts of the state (including us in Chester County).
The overall policy goal is to set up a user fee model in order to directly link costs and benefits. The state gas tax has not been comprehensively adjusted for inflation since 1997. All of us benefitting from the transportation infrastructure will help support the costs of badly-needed upgrades and upkeep. This legislation makes progress in cost-cutting and fiscal reforms as well by raising the prevailing wage threshold for the first time in 50 years and providing better scrutiny of Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission operations. It also will lead to a least a $1 billion worth of operating efficiency improvements within PennDOT.
Along the way, we will improve what is currently a badly deteriorated transportation system in the state, spark $6.5 billion in economic prosperity and 50,000 jobs, secure unsafe bridges, and more than recoup this societal investment because of the additional private sector profit and public sector tax revenue this investment in our state will generate.
DEPTH OF THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS
The overarching policy challenge is that Pennsylvania lags years behind in transportation infrastructure repairs and maintenance. The status quo has plummeted to the point that as a state we have passed a point of just having to defer on projects that would be optimal to do to ones in which deteriorating conditions are undermining public safety itself. The urgency to do so is because the state’s transportation infrastructure is antiquated and years of ignored maintenance needs, because of lack of political will to pass a transportation bill, have caught up with us. As result, the state somehow must generate $2.5 billion a year to rebuild this state and sustain the transportation infrastructure.
Responsible for the safety and maintenance of approximately 25,000 bridges, Pennsylvania ranks near the top of a list of states with the most bridges. Of all these bridges, about 6,000 are characterized as structurally deficient. Our state consistently and shamefully ranks as the worst state in American for the condition of our bridges. Some 2,500 Pennsylvania bridges are already weight-restricted because of structural decay. This figure includes 30 in our home area of Chester County, with more to come. Sans transportation funding, the next step is to start shutting down bridges across the state.
Pennsylvania also maintains some 41,000 miles of road. By way of context about the enormity of this responsibility, consider that this is more roadway than the entire surrounding region of New Jersey, New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts combined. Regrettably, as many know from driving around this state and through other states, an unacceptable level of this road inventory has degenerated over time. In fact, one-third of Pennsylvania’s roadway miles fall into the “poor or mediocre” classification, pushing our state down to the bottom half of state rankings in this regard.
Most fundamentally, all of this is a matter of public safety, let alone embarrassing, and a drag on economic development and jobs for the state.
OUTCOMES OF THE TRANSPORTATION LEGISLATION
The recently-passed transportation bill will ramp up over a five year period and lead up to providing $2.3 billion for transportation infrastructure projects.
The applications of the funding are as follows:
– $1.8 billion for bridges and roads
– $500 million for public transportation, with most going to SEPTA
– $150 million for multi-modal transportation systems including tearing down the hopelessly outdated Paoli train station and replacing with a state-of-the art multi-modal transportation center
– The remainder will flow to a myriad of other types of projects, including airports, ports and pedestrian and biking safety improvements.
HOW TRANSPORTATION IS FUNDED IN PENNSYLVANIA
In Pennsylvania, transportation infrastructure is NOT funded by the general budget, which derives most of its revenue from the state income tax and the sales tax. Transportation infrastructure is financed by the motor license fund, with primary sources of revenue including PennDOT transactions (such as vehicle registration and driver license fees), moving violation fines, and the current state gas tax.
It is good that transportation is funded via this dedicated, stand-alone account for two main reasons. First, by law, any dollars raised through the motor license fund must be devoted to, and only to, transportation infrastructure projects. These dollars cannot be diverted away to other policy areas. Secondly, to try to fund transportation spending out of the general budget would mean hikes in our state income and our state sales tax rates.
The entire general budget of Pennsylvania is essentially $27 billion. This general budget is needed to fund all other policy areas in the state, be it education, the criminal justice system, state health care programs, human services programs, environmental programs, economic development initiatives, just to name a few. Additionally, after a prolonged recession and several years of stagnant growth and tax revenues, the state must confront a budget deficit next year. Even policy areas currently supported by the general budget are going to be reduced next year, let alone even attempting to fund new issues from these already-stretched resources.
The agreed-upon transportation bill funds needed, long-overdue improvements by increasing the transaction fees we pay to register our vehicles in the state and to acquire or renew a driver’s license and lifting the cap on the wholesale gas tax. The registration fees will increase by just $2 by 2017-2018, while the license renewal fee is expected to increase by $1.50 in that same time period.
The rationale for tapping this funding stream is:
– These basic transaction fees have not been raised since 1997
– Adjusting costs for inflation
– The fees still remain relatively low compared to most states; 39 states charge more than Pennsylvania to register a vehicle, and 31 charge more for a driver’s license.
The larger funding share of the transportation package is premised on the user fee concept. It links gasoline purchases at the pump as the way for all of us to pay our share as citizens for using bridges and roads. This is a basic business-model approach to government: all of us paying for a service or a benefit we are using. The Pennsylvania state gas tax has not been comprehensively adjusted for inflation since 1997.
This bill eliminates 12 cents right away off what we pay at the pump right now. It uncaps the oil company franchise tax, which basically means that in the future oil companies will be taxed on the actual market value of a gallon of gas. Since 1983, oil companies have benefitted from an enormous tax break in that these companies at present pay only on the first $1.25 of the value of a gallon of gas. Yes, the oil companies will pass some of this on to consumers, and we need to make sure they do not take excessive advantage of the situation.
Pennsylvania’s gas tax rate compared to other states
Of critical note, please know that comparisons to the level of other states’ gas taxes are inaccurate and even unfair, because the circumstances are not “apples to apples.” Many other states have a lower gas tax, but this is because these states also take money from their state income and/or sales taxes (i.e., their general budgets) to pay for roads, bridges, mass transit, etc. This makes their gas taxes artificially low(er) than what has been the case for Pennsylvania in terms of state-to-state comparisons.
To shield against increases in our state income and sales taxes, our state has long strategized to fund transportation needs primarily through transportation-related fees and the state gas tax as a targeted, user fee approach rather than resorting to raising the broad-based state income or sales taxes. This was the case even predating the current legislation; this legislation has not caused the Pennsylvania gas tax “suddenly” to be high(er) compared to a number of states.
We could lower the gas tax, but the trade-off for arriving at that policy destination is to force upward pressure on the state income and sales taxes, which would be more expensive for most citizens and ultimately a worse outcome people both fiscally and policy-wise.
GOVERNMENT REFORMS AND COST-CUTTING IN THE TRANSPORTATION BILL
This legislation makes progress in cost-cutting and fiscal reforms as well. For the first time in 50 years, the prevailing wage threshold level will be raised. In fact, the triggering level will be quadrupled. Prevailing wage basically means that labor union rates have to be paid by governments when certain construction jobs are performed. This law can artificially increase the costs (i.e., our tax dollars) of public projects 10-20%. This is the first time ever since the law was originally adopted in the early 1960s that the prevailing wage threshold for transportation projects is being raised.
Additionally, better scrutiny of and reforms for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are being put in place through this bill. I believe this will prove helpful in the effort to abolish the Turnpike Commission, which is something I support because of the waste associated with this agency. Its more legitimate functions can and should be handled by PennDOT. For PennDOT’s part, it will be required to implement certain operating efficiency improvements that will result in tax dollar savings of at least a billion dollars.
In the grand scheme, then, all of the foregoing will prove a more effective and efficient use of tax dollars.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED FOR TRANSPORTATION FUNDING
The decision to raise more transportation infrastructure dollars via the already-existing gas tax was not made lightly. It is truly a last-resort option, because as a state our fiscal “backs” are against the wall. Other policy options that have come up are not, unfortunately, capable of raising the level of dollars necessary to handle our need to devise a way to raise $2.5 billion on an annual basis. What follows are explanations of the constraints on using certain other sources about which some citizens have inquired as to whether they were considered before having to go the gas tax route.
Natural Gas Drilling
The amount of revenue the state will gain from this source in times ahead has been unrealistically hyped. Over the next several years, natural gas drilling will at best generate $200 million in direct revenue to the state. Most of this revenue is already committed to good environmental programs that citizens also strongly want (just like they clearly want good transportation programs too). That consideration aside, even if the legislature hypothetically put all such dollars into transportation infrastructure, this amount from Marcellus Shale drilling would account for only 8% of the totals required to build and sustain transportation infrastructure properly. Revenue from natural gas drilling by itself will not provide anywhere near the level the state must generate.
Privatizing the state store (alcohol) system
Being in the alcohol business is not a core function of government, unlike maintaining adequate transportation infrastructure and ensuring fundamental public safety. Projections for exactly how much the state would gain by privatizing the state store system vary widely, but presumably it would be above “zero.” In fairness, although I do not happen to agree with the assessment, I will acknowledge that some opponents of privatization argue the state actually will end up losing money.
As a function of free enterprise, I do support privatizing the state store system, and did in fact vote in favor of HB 790 when a majority of us in the House of Representatives passed a privatization bill back in March of this year. Unfortunately, the state Senate has not joined with the House in passing a privatization bill, and it does not appear likely to do so. Unless and until that body does so, privatization of the state store system is not going to become law, nor will any of the potential revenue from such privatization become available for use. Additionally, even given the variation/disagreement about how much privatization of the state store system would yield the state, no scenarios would provide the state with the level of transportation funding needed year after year.
Personal income tax and state sales tax increases
An alternative to the user-fee approach of the transportation bill passed would be to increase citizens’ state income and/or sales taxes. The constraint here is that this approach moves away from the user-fee based “best practice” approach of funding transportation assets. The fundamental premise of a user-fee practice is to directly link those using a public asset and payment for such asset.
Trying to rely on these broad-based taxes would necessitate exorbitant levels of increases, doubling the state income tax for example, to provide funding comparable to the user-fee approach. This is unreasonably high in my view and would ask too much from citizens. Further, to the extent one or both of these broad-based taxes gets raised in the years ahead, most or all the funds would be slated for off-setting people’s local school property taxes. The upshot is that little to no funds would even be available for transportation infrastructure anyway.
Cuts in the general budget
I was and certainly still am open to prospects in this regard. While hardly perfect in terms of fiscal management, a larger policy reality is that cutting upwards of $2.5 billion a year from a general fund budget of $27 billion means taking it from other policy areas, and these involve many issues which the public also wants properly funded. Plus, the state is already going to face budget deficits in next year’s budget and so to the extent any spending cuts can get made in the general budget, they first will have to be applied to plugging budget deficits.
The state has to keep a balanced budget, and cannot go into debt, fortunately, like the fiscal chaos we have witnessed at the national level. Please review the current state budget and please share with me any ideas you have as to where $2.5 billion a year in cuts could be made in order to free up additional dollars for transportation infrastructure in the state.
4. What make you uniquely qualified to deal with the diverse personalities, priorities and perspectives that you will find in the PA Legislature?
My ability to work well with a wide range of people, from all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives, is well-known. I offer a proven track record of success as a legislator, and a review of my website shows that I have been one of the most productive members of the state legislature. That kind of effort and success would continue in a new term.
5. Why should voters vote for you?
Here is just part of my platform:
A QUALITY OF LIFE PARADIGM BASED ON
FIVE POLICY PILLARS:
Attractive Landscapes and Desirable Neighborhoods
Attractive landscapes and desirable neighborhoods are a function of local areas being able to apply best practice techniques from the “smart growth” model. Part of the strategic value of the smart growth model is its recognition that more residential development is not the best approach to reduce our property taxes. In fact, the average parcel of residential development actually costs a local area more than it generates in new property tax revenue. Land use studies consistently quantify that “smart growth” is less expensive for localities and their citizens than unmanaged growth and unchecked suburban sprawl.
To maintain the beauty of our landscapes and preserve our neighborhoods, I support legislation that will grant townships and boroughs the option to declare a moratorium on development in order to provide these local areas the time and opportunity to update their zoning ordinances and planning models in order to maximize their application of smart growth best practices. Additionally, because of the central importance of open space in the smart growth model, I have authored legislation that will allow landowners to claim state tax credits for certain types of open space preservation. I am proud to report that these will be the first such state tax credits ever in Pennsylvania.
High Performing Schools
Providing for an effective system of education in Pennsylvania is a critical duty of the state legislature achieved through partnership with our local communities. A top rate education system leads to an enlightened citizenry capable of making great advances in every sector of our society, and it produces the kind of educated employees we need to sustain our vibrant local economy. As you will recall from my summer newsletter explaining the state budget, education spending is the largest expenditure of state government. As a member of the Appropriation’s Sub-committee on Education, I want to ensure that these tax dollars are being spent as wisely as possible.
My legislative focus is one of seeking to reinvigorate the traditional liberal arts curriculum in our schools and to better empower our talented teachers. What our local schools do not need is even more emphasis on standardized tests, which is why I fervently opposed the new standardized tests (the Keystone Exams). The state sought to impose these tests on our local schools, mandating that our local taxpayers underwrite the cost to the tune of millions of dollars in additional spending that would do little to improve education. Our focus instead should be on curriculum reform that transforms education delivery to more of a broad-based education that aligns with the liberal arts model, thereby better drawing out and fostering students’ reasoning, analytical, creative, communication, and synthesizing capabilities, among other general skills necessary in the 21st century knowledge-based economy.
I also believe that we must transform the way we fund education in Pennsylvania. Drawing so heavily upon local property taxes as a revenue source is an outdated financing model. I think reducing the traditional reliance on residential property taxes is better both for local taxpayers and the school districts themselves. The reforms can be strategically implemented in ways that do not cause this quality of life pillar to collapse. Among other initiatives, I am calling for dedicating the increased tax revenue the state will gain by growing the bio-technology sector (see below) and reinvesting it into education and property tax relief.
Vibrant Local Economy and Jobs Base
A vibrant local economy and jobs base helps us sustain the standard of living we have achieved in this area and desire, of course, to continue. As a leader in the Bio-Technology Caucus, I am focused on leading Pennsylvania, with our area as the economic anchor, to the status of national leader in this sector, a sector which is truly innovating modern medical miracles that improve the human condition.
So many of the necessary business model variables are in place in our area: creative entrepreneurs, enterprising startup companies, a talented and highly qualified workforce, research labs and universities, and access to venture capital. With just a little more legislative leadership, which I am providing, we can stimulate an economic sector so powerful that bio-technology will become associated with Pennsylvania akin to the manner that Silicon Valley is associated with California or the Research Triangle with North Carolina or even similar to Wall Street for New York. This can be Pennsylvania’s destiny, and our area can light the way.
This sector is a tremendous source of high skill, high wage career opportunities for our citizens where the growth potential is unlimited, the type of industry is non-polluting, facilities can be located on cleaned up “brownfields,” and the tax revenue derived will be a new and significant source for generating new dollars for local school districts (and thereby contributing to property tax relief).
In my judgment, this route offers a much more enlightened path for strategic economic development and sustained prosperity, which will improve the human condition through the medicines and other products being innovated and produced, rather than seeking economic deliverance by building more casinos and expanding gambling.
Low Crime
A well-functioning quality of life model is predicated upon having low crime rates. In the alternative, excessive crime problems can undermine the other quality of life pillars for an area and cause the entire quality of life model to collapse. When crime runs rampant, schools cannot succeed, local economies cannot be vibrant and culture cannot flourish. Unfortunately, we need not gaze far from our beautiful landscapes to see case studies of the devastating effects of criminal activity. A frustrating and tragic reflection on contemporary trends is that “Corrections and Prisons” spending is the fastest growing piece of the state budget pie.
Supporting the quality of life model demands remaining vigilant about pre-empting a spread of crime to even more areas, as well as assisting communities desperately trying to confront their problems. Precisely for this reason, I support legislation which will establish an innovative partnership between state and local areas to deploy more local police officers on the streets. Criminal justice studies do demonstrate a clear correlation between establishing a greater police presence in a given area and reducing crime in that area. I also am supporting a series of bills in the legislature to reform the penal code in Pennsylvania.
This includes ensuring that hardened, repeat criminals serve the full length of their sentences, increasing penalties for violent crimes, and raising the requirements for parole. A criminal justice reality is that the rate of recidivism among criminals is very high; a small percentage of individuals commit most of the crime in this state. Continuing to accept this reality is utterly unfair to the vast, vast majority of citizens who are respecting the law and trying their best to lead productive lives.
Cultural and Community Assets
Cultivating cultural and community assets is an important legislative goal of mine because a top ranked area provides such for the enrichment, enjoyment and education of its citizens. I have been a strong advocate within the legislature for the cause of public libraries. Maintaining a first rate library system is one benchmark of an advanced community. Our public libraries are important repositories of the wealth of knowledge we have accumulated as a society. I also would note that public libraries in many respects are the modern day equivalent of the historical “public square” as a place for individuals and our community groups to meet, dialogue and take action on matters of the day.
Free market forces clearly indicate the degree to which residents value our libraries: in many communities, they are the most frequently used public asset. We must ensure that these centers of information and action for our communities are well-resourced. I supported libraries receiving an historically high level of appropriations this fiscal year, and this fall will be working to protect that investment in our future.
My well-known passion for history and historical preservation has resulted in my recently earning a leadership role in the legislature as a chair of the History Caucus. From this platform, I am proposing legislation that will offer tax credits for certain categories of historical preservation as well as making state grants available to not-for-profit organizations that partner with local schools for the development of historical projects. A great society does not permit its past to disintegrate; rather, a great society protects the landmarks for which it has been entrusted with fiduciary responsibility along the path of history.
The Big Picture
As you have no doubt noticed, these five policy pillars interconnect and support one another as well as the quality of life model itself. No policy pillar can be considered nor treated as an isolated, self-contained issue area; each supports and contributes to the public policy successes attained in the others for our benefit as citizens. The big picture is that the public policy synergies gained from the interconnected pillars build and support the high quality of life we are so very fortunate to enjoy and benefit from in our area. Promoting and protecting this quality of life will continue to be my overall focus as your state representative.
6. Is there anything else you’d like to make sure our readership and voters know about you?
I would like to reinforce how much of a privilege I consider it to be granted this opportunity by my fellow citizens to serve as their eyes and ears in the state capital of Harrisburg. I very much appreciate all the advice and opinions I continue to hear from them via communications to my office, as well as at all the many constituent events I regularly hold throughout the district. If re-elected, I promise to continue pursuing my vision for promoting and protecting the high quality of life that we are so fortunate to enjoy and benefit from in our area, and do so in a manner that is fiscally prudent for the future. In my view, all of this possible through the quality of life model that I detailed in the previous question:
- Attractive landscapes and desirable neighborhood
- High performing schools
- Vibrant local economy and jobs base
- Low crime
- Wonderful cultural assets
Any given area of the state, or even across the country in fact, considers it a success to be doing well in even one or two of these policy pillars, for the benefit of its citizens. What makes our area, the place we proudly call “home,” so special and so unique is that we are doing well with respect to all five of these pillars.
These five policy pillars interconnect and support one another, and it is precisely this interconnectedness across these pillars that makes our area such a one of a kind place to live, work and raise a family. It is certainly one reason that Chester County is regularly ranked in the top 10 best counties in America (of the over 3,000 counties in the United States).
7. How should voters and our readership reach you if they have questions, or would like to get involved?
Always open at FriendsofDuaneMilne.com!
Thank you for consideration on Election Day, Tuesday, November 4th!
