 1.
SOUND ECONOMIC POLICIES AND BRINGING FISCAL DISCIPLINE TO GOVERNMENT
In these tough economic times, we need strong fiscal responsibility in
Harrisburg. Since being elected to the State House, Tom Killion has fought to
reduce state spending and make sure our tax dollars are used as efficiently and
effectively as possible. In a recent report, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked
Pennsylvania the 11th highest state for individual tax burden. Pennsylvania
ranked number one in the country for the highest death and gift taxes. We cannot
tax our way out of this current economic downturn. As a member of the House
Appropriations Committee and Deputy Whip, Killion was a vocal opponent to
Democrat proposed tax increases and the Governor’s failure to accept more
reductions in the state budget that would help eliminate bureaucratic waste and
abuse.
Tom Killion is committed to holding the line on new taxes and wasteful spending.
Tom will continue to provide an independent voice that will cut through the
noise of partisan politics in Harrisburg and find common sense solutions for
meaningful tax reform, and will promote the growth and development of the
business community by ensuring the state has more positive and permanent
business friendly government laws and regulations; effective communication with
our business leaders and investment in economic development and job creation .
Businesses within Pennsylvania face numerous obstacles; such as rapidly rising
health-care costs, an overly burdensome tax structure, a costly legal
environment, unfair business practices, and excessively difficult regulations.
A friendlier business environment will lead to job creation, and Tom will
continue to work tirelessly to bring jobs back to Pennsylvania for those facing
unemployment and underemployment.
Pennsylvania residents also need real property tax relief. The time has come to
change the property tax system to make it fair and affordable for all homeowners
– while making sure the local taxes we pay stay right here in our local school
districts. Killion strives to make sure our schools get back more of the tax
dollars we send to Harrisburg– because when the state pays its final share,
property taxpayers pay less.
[back to top]
2. HEALTH CARE WE CAN
ALL AFFORD
We face a healthcare crisis in Pennsylvania. As more and more citizens are
seeking quality and affordable healthcare, doctors are fleeing the Commonwealth
to escape frivolous lawsuits and sky-rocketing malpractice insurance premiums.
Pennsylvanians are being hard hit by the doctor exodus in the form of long
delays to schedule appointments and being shut out by some specialists who are
no longer accepting new patients as they struggle to meet increased demand
caused by the declining number of practicing physicians. We face a crisis in
maternity care. In the last several years over eight OB-GYN units have closed in
Southeastern Pennsylvania.
We have a supply problem as demand for healthcare has risen to historic levels.
There simply are not enough doctors to provide the care that Pennsylvania
families require. This problem is one that can be solved by simplifying
regulations, integrating new technology, implementing legal reforms, and
reauthorizing and fully funding the Commonwealth's Mcare Abatement Program. The
problem is even more serious when you consider that we have one of the oldest
doctor populations in the nation. We are simply not attracting new, younger
doctors needed for a robust health care system.
Access to quality, affordable health care is of vital importance to both
individuals and businesses in our state. To bring costs down and increase
availability, Pennsylvania must reverse the current exodus of medical
professionals by passing real and substantial tort reform legislation. In
addition, the state should provide tax incentives to encourage employers to
provide health care to all employees, and expand Health Savings Accounts.
We need to allow healthcare providers to focus more of their time and resources
on direct patient care. An important step in realizing that goal is to fully
fund the Commonwealth's Mcare Abatement Program. The Mcare Fund is a state-run
medical liability coverage fund that assists Pennsylvania physicians meet their
requirement to carry $1 million in liability coverage. The immediate premium
relief provided by the Mcare Abatement Program is an essential tool that allows
thousands of healthcare providers to continue to practice in Pennsylvania.
We must also increase incentives to new technology to ease regulatory compliance,
improve safety and reduce costs. By doing so, we will encourage a whole new
generation of doctors and nurses to enter the field of medicine to provide care
to Pennsylvanians from all walks of life.
We must support a system that allows healthcare decisions to be made by patients
and doctors, not government. We need a market based system that provides
consumers a wide choice of options, as opposed to having no choice. Killion is
committed to finding solutions that will drive down health care costs by
offering a variety of tax credits, as opposed to plans that increases taxes.
Killion fully support the expansion of the use of community health centers to
create more access to health care services and cutting down the unnecessary use
of emergency rooms.
Killion is committed to bringing a consumer-driven system that will provide
access to the high quality, affordable health care Pennsylvania working families
and seniors need and deserve.
[back to top]
3.
REFORMS TO MAKE GOVERNMENT WORK FOR YOU
Tom Killion supports increasing openness and transparency in government. Only
through the shining light of access to open records, meetings of elected
officials, and other documents can we truly hold our elected officials
accountable.
While Killion was a strong supporter of open records legislation enacted during
the last session of the legislature, Pennsylvania government – particularly
executive branch agencies – need a complete change in culture and their approach
to doing the work of Pennsylvania taxpayers. We cannot tolerate and should not
tolerate a bureaucracy that looks down on or scorns the public that they are
supposed to serve.
Killion will continue to work to bring about a culture change in which government
workers realize that this is a government of the people, for the people. This
will not be an easy task to be sure, and requires changing decades of
institutional thought. But it is necessary to create a government that works for
the public, not against it.
Killion also supports strengthening our Right-to-Know Laws to include provisions
for actively communicating what government does. Killion endorses setting
guidelines for how information is to be made available, for how long, and at a
non-prohibitive cost.
But the answer isn't to hire more bureaucrats to supervise what the current
bureaucrats are doing. There's a simpler, cheaper and more permanent solution:
Allow Pennsylvanians to review how government spends our money. We would do this
by posting all of these records online in an easily browsable and searchable
format.
Killion emphasizes using 21st Century technology to make sure that these records
are kept digitally rather than in a paper copy format, saving the taxpayers of
our state millions of dollars in paperwork and filing costs. This solution
provides a simple, cheap, and permanent solution that lends itself to any easily
accessible and searchable database of public records. This solution keeps
bureaucratic costs down and allows Pennsylvanians the access that we deserve.
[back to top]
|
