Policy Priorities in Harrisburg
Affordability: Healthcare, Utilities, Housing Costs
Reducing Costs and Helping Neighbors
Across the board, life is getting more expensive. Flat wages, inflation, and tariffs are negatively impacting all Americans, and especially harming our most vulnerable. No individual or families should be constantly torn between paying off medical debt, covering housing and transportation costs, paying utility bills, or putting food on the table. There are many approaches to bring down costs and your State Representative should be committed to every smart solution.
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Taking on Bad Actors that Raise Costs
Your State Representative should be your partner in addressing when predatory corporations unfairly raise costs. This includes when profiteers in private equity are shutting down services, including area hospitals, which make our healthcare system more expensive, less accessible, and negatively impacts quality of care. If hospitals are shuttered in Delaware County, healthcare providers in Montgomery County become overloaded and even more strained. We must have more oversight on healthcare, utilities, and commerce to fight back against price gouging that make necessities unaffordable and unattainable.
Backing Vital Services to Help those in Need
We must continue to support service providers and nonprofits helping to save and protect lives through economic hardships. We have incredible local resources like food banks, veterans services, aging services and disability services that must be bolstered to ensure food, healthcare, and basic utilities are attainable to all of our residents in need through challenging times. Whether through the state budget, advocating for government grants, or using the advocacy pulpit of the seat, Jason will fight for services that safeguard our most vulnerable neighbors.
Environmental Protection
Advancing Renewables including Community Solar
Human-induced climate change is negatively impacting our world. We must commit to every action possible to transition from reliance on fossil fuels and dramatically reduce environmental impacts. Keeping energy costs down while empowering citizens to make choices to use renewable energy is a critical step towards a greener planet. We need legislators in Harrisburg to make community solar a top priority. When Pennsylvanians are allowed to pool together members of a community for a renewable energy project, we all win in bringing down costs and reducing pollution.
Transparency in Environmental Harm
As a former career attorney for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Jason personally knows the strengths and challenges of environmental policy in Pennsylvania. There are hundreds of pollution events in our water, air, and land every year of which the general public is unaware. If elected, Jason would champion legislation to require more transparency to hold polluters accountable. Citizens should not have to submit burdensome Right to Know requests to learn about the activities happening in their own neighborhoods. This information should be at the fingertips of the public on an easy to access website which allows people to identify what is really happening in our communities. A Pennsylvania legislature that is passionate about environmental protections can work hand in hand with the DEP in the joint missions of protecting Pennsylvania’s air, land and water.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Legislation
Pennsylvania does not have a uniform statewide laws that meaningfully address reduce, reuse, and recycle strategies. Instead, we currently have a voluntary approach resulting in a local patchwork of municipalities which promote information about ways individuals can take environmentally friendly actions. Jason will support legislation that strengthens and enhances state resources on decreasing the environmental impact from the disposal of material goods. Jason will advocate for a law that requires DEP to have a clearinghouse website updated on an annual basis listing where Pennsylvanians can go to drop off materials to be recycled, safely disposed of, or reused. Only some municipalities have comprehensive information on their websites regarding how to recycle and safely dispose of items from batteries to medicine to glass. Additionally, Jason believes Pennsylvanians deserve expanded opportunities for community and curbside composting. We need to make it easier for citizens who want to reduce their environmental footprint to have the information and services they need accessible in every way.
Education
Ensuring Education Equity
The Lower Merion and Colonial School Districts are among the best performing districts in the entire Commonwealth. Your State Representative must be an active supporter advocating at every opportunity to ensure every single student succeeds. Jason believes that public education equity is essential for a functioning democratic society. All students in Pennsylvania should have access to the high-quality education students receive in our communities. As your State Representative, Jason will fight for a budget that provides the equitable funding levels needed for all public schools to succeed. Jason was proud to march with high school students in 2020 from Lower Merion High School to Overbrook High School in calling for equitable education funding. Jason opposes any expansion of efforts that hollow our public education funding for unaccountable, discriminatory, and for-profit entities.
Providing Safe Schools for All
In 2012, Jason led the drafting of the Pennsylvania Safe Schools (PASS) Act, which was a landmark bill to ensure all students have an accessible way to report incidents of bullying, harassment, and violence and an accountable and transparent process for addressing these issues. Jason worked relentlessly over the next session to secure over 50 Republican co-sponsors and over 50 Democratic co-sponsors on the bill. If elected, Jason would be able to once again champion the PASS Act and fight hard to get it on the Governor’s desk.
Holocaust and Genocide Education
Jason will fight on the front lines to ensure Pennsylvania joins the more than 20 other states in requiring Holocaust and genocide education in public schools. In this moment, Jason believes it is imperative that Pennsylvanians be taught about the realities of the Holocaust and genocide so that they can understand their role in pushing back against hate and oppression in all forms today. While Pennsylvania has a law “encouraging” school districts to teach these topics, it is not required. That vote failed in the Pennsylvania House in a 99-99 vote in 2013. This bill has not even been introduced in the current legislative session. Antisemitism is a rising concern in Pennsylvania and around the world. With new interest by lawmakers in combating antisemitism and hate, Jason looks forward to joining the charge and having Pennsylvania join states like Arkansas and Kentucky in requiring these lessons be taught in public schools.
Reproductive Justice
Anchoring Abortion Protections Under the Law
Abortion must remain legal, accessible, and safe for everyone who needs reproductive healthcare in Pennsylvania. Jason is firmly pro-choice and will fight vigorously and relentlessly against any attempts to infringe on a patient’s healthcare decisions. For Jason, access to IVF, contraception, and all aspects of reproductive justice are human rights. Jason will work with women-led and reproductive justice organizations to push to anchor abortion protections under state law for all.
Strengthening Abortion Funds
It is an unfortunate reality that there are not enough votes in the Pennsylvania’s state Senate at this time to pass more pro-choice legislation. This makes your State Representative even more vital on the front lines for reproductive healthcare in our communities. As a state Representative, Jason will work with abortion funds to raise their profiles and identify funding sources. Patients who are coming in from other states that have viciously eliminated safe abortion access should be welcomed and supported in our communities while they seek affirming healthcare services.
Working with the Administration on Reproductive Healthcare Access
As your state Representative, Jason would work directly with the Governor’s administration and other elected officials to continue fighting for abortion access or reproductive healthcare. Any Pennsylvanian, or someone coming in from out of state, should receive prompt, high-quality, and safe healthcare services. Jason believes there must be real action toward addressing maternal mortality rates, particularly for Black and Brown women. The data is clear that these health disparities persist and it’s time to get to work in addressing access to contraception, ensuring insurance coverage for all reproductive healthcare needs, availability of menstrual products, and combating misinformation about reproductive healthcare options.
Community Safety and Wellbeing
Addressing Mental Healthcare Crises in Our Communities
Our local governments and schools should be supported with the state resources they need to address mental healthcare access for everyone in need. In times of mental health crisis, our first responders are often on the front lines to save lives. As State Representative, Jason will actively back programs and funding that ensure positive outcomes during mental health emergencies. Jason believes that our state government must support first responders, social workers and mental healthcare professionals who are arriving to help someone in a crisis.
Gun Violence
Jason supports strong common-sense gun control laws. In the legislature, Jason will back meaningful efforts to address gun safety and gun violence. Jason will work with community stakeholders to fight any efforts to place gun stores near schools, playgrounds, and other areas where they will negatively impact the safety and character of our community. No student should ever have to live in fear of gun violence in their schools.
Community Policing
Jason understands our government has a vital responsibility to keep us safe from violence and crime. Jason supports community-based partnership approaches to policing. Jason believes in police and first responders receiving the highest quality education on criminal justice, interpersonal communications, de-escalation tactics, and modern continuous training. Jason commends events like National Night Out, a national community building campaign which started in Lower Merion, as a great example of the opportunities that should be expanded upon to build relationships between local law enforcement, first responders, and neighbors.
Addressing Systemic Racism in Government Operations
Racism and bigotry have no place in government operations. Jason supports the strongest efforts possible to eliminate the impacts of anti-Black and Brown racism in our criminal justice system, law enforcement, and government agencies in Pennsylvania. Jason backs advanced and regular training for all those involved in government operations, and swift action once any incident might demonstrate racist conduct across the state. Whether at a store or walking down the street, all people should feel safe in our communities across the commonwealth.
Supporting Efforts to Keep Your Homes Safe
Coordinated home thefts continue to be a serious concern across our communities. When you leave your home — whether for a few hours or for a vacation — you should not have to worry about it being burglarized. Jason will support and work with local and state resources to ensure there are stronger prevention safeguards and monitoring efforts to protect your homes. This includes amplifying existing programs like Lower Merion’s Vacant House Program or Whitemarsh’s Vacant House Notification Form.
Civil Rights Protections
Civil Rights for All
As a longtime champion of civil rights in Pennsylvania, Jason will continue to fight for laws and policies that ensure equity and inclusion for all. As your state Representative, Jason will press on in the fight for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians, and for the CROWN Act. Jason will fight for accessible spaces for those with disabilities, including those who are immunocompromised and should be guaranteed equal access in accordance with the law.