Issues and Policies

Friends of Jay Walker Friends of Jay Walker

Ban Fracking

Looking toward the future by investing in green jobs

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full list of policies.

 

Civic engagement

 

  • Two in-person town halls a month

  • Reachable through whatever medium you prefer (email, facebook, text, twitter, snapchat)

  • Publicize floor and committee votes through my own channels, publicly available calendar

  • Active constituent engagement through multiple avenues (facebook group, email list, nextdoor, subreddit)

 

Corporate Handouts

 
 

​Criminal justice reform

 

  • Legalize Marijuana

  • ​End anti-sanctuary-city policies, they are unconstitutional and a waste of resources to enforce

  • ​End cash bail imprisonment

 

Discrimination

 

  • Completely support the expansion of the definition of a hate crime (HB505)

  • Completely support ending LGBT discrimination in PA (HB1410)

 

Economic inequality

 

  • Support the Pennsylvania Budget Policy Center's Fair Share tax proposal (reduces the tax on income from wages while increasing it for income from wealth to create a progressive tax that skirts the uniformity clause of the Pennsylvania constitution)

  • Our state's minimum wage needs to be raised to $15 an hour. Our current minimum wage is lower than every surrounding state

 

Education

 

  • Expand the use of the Fair Funding Formula passed in 2016 to all state education funding.

  • Improve charter school oversight by tightening up the Charter School Law.

  • Strongly opposed to SB2 to create "education savings accounts" (aka vouchers) which allow state money to be spent on private schools

  • ​End extreme focus on test scores

  • Support State Senator Vincent Hughes call for the Pennsylvania Budget Policy Center's Pennsylvania Promise proposal

  • Encourage CTE (vocational) training

 

Environment

 

  • Ban fracking in Pennsylvania

  • I support state senators Jay Costa and Wayne Fontana's Senate Bill 15 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by 2030 but we need to be a lot more aggressive

  • The DEP needs to be provided with proper funding to protect our environment and regulate polluters

  • Invest state resources in the clean energy economy and stop investing in the petrochemical industry

  • Support the The Pennsylvania Common Conservation Agenda (pdf)

 

Gerrymandering

 

  • ​I fully support Fair District PA's HB722

  • ​I will fight hard to secure the votes needed to pass it and get it on the ballot in time for the 2021 redistricting

  • ​I will make this a campaign issue in other PA house elections

 
 

  • Support a ban on military style assault weapons and large magazines

  • Support universal background checks to cover long guns sold in private sales

  • Most gun deaths occur in low income neighborhoods of colors which require addressing inequality and poverty

 

Healthcare

 

  • Support and protect reproductive justice

  • Single-payer for all

  • Fix caregiver pay

  • Support Representative DeLissio's Pennsylvania Health Care Plan (HB1688)

 

Labor

 

  • Support right to unionize and collectively bargain

  • Oppose right to work

  • Raise the minimum wage to $15/hr (and peg it to inflation)

  • Eliminate the tipped wage

  • Become a "for cause" state

 

Local Rule

 

  • Eliminate state preemption on charging a commuter tax

  • Eliminate state preemption on giving our workers rights like paid sick leave and raising the local minimum wage

  • Promote Pittsburgh to a first class city

 

Opioids

 

  • Focus on harm reduction (in addition to other solutions)

  • Expand naloxone availability

  • Focus support on addicts who need to be revived multiple times

  • Provide mental health counseling for addicts

 

Political reform

 

  • Reduce the size of the legislature (HB 153)

  • Reduce legislator pay

  • End the gridlock, talk to other legislators or their districts if need be

  • Get rid of straight ticket voting

  • Vote by mail

  • Automatic voter registration (HB1465)

  • Campaign Finance reform

  • Ban gifts to public officials/politicians (HB 39)

  • Ranked choice voting to end the two party duopoly.

 

TRANSIT

 

  • Replace Act 89 funding that expires in 2022 (Act 89 provides 60% of the Port Authority's capital and operation budget)

  • ​Increased transit funding could be spent on making bus routes run later, restoring routes that were cut in the major 2011 cuts, improving connect card access, improving frequency, getting bigger buses for our crowded routes

  • We need to be very careful about the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) legislation we create and make sure that we learn from other states

  • AVs should not be a 1:1 transition from private cars

  • Pennsylvania should pass "Idaho Stop" laws for cyclists

 

General stances

 

  • Focus on inequity, raising income, jobs

  • Diversity is extremely important and is the future

  • Pro-choice

  • Pro health care for all

  • Pro LGBT equality

  • Our criminal justice system needs to be reformed

  • Climate change needs to be stopped

  • Pro labor

  • Pro campaign finance reform

  • Inclusive, diverse, affordable neighborhoods

  • Protection for immigrants

  • Internet should be a public good

  • Affordable and accessible workforce development

  • Well-paid jobs, equitable opportunities

  • Investment in public infrastructure (highways, schools, clean energy, transit, internet)

  • Stronger gun background checks

  • Smaller development investments have a much greater effect and are more resilient to failure than fewer larger investment

  • End Citizens United.

  • Anti military industrial complex and American imperialism.

  • Think global, act local

  • Urbanist