ISSUES

 

Real Change for Pennsylvania

The misplaced priorities of Harrisburg politicians are hurting our families here at home.  Their acceptance of a status quo of failure has made it more difficult than ever for our families to realize their dreams.

Last year, the politicians increased spending by a staggering $1.4 billion over the previous year, increased the state’s annual debt to $1 billion and borrowed more money than ever before.

They again made welfare spending the number one item in the state budget instead of education funding as in past years.  They failed to give us meaningful tax reform, health care reform, energy reform and government reform.  Suburban sprawl is still threatening our quality of life.

As State Representative, Shannon Royer will fight for common sense changes to help families in the West Chester area.

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Lower Taxes, Less Spending

As a local elected official, Shannon fought for taxpayers, balancing eight consecutive budgets without ever raising property taxes. He will take his fight for local taxpayers to Harrisburg as our State Representative.

Shannon supports meaningful property tax reform that will bring much-needed relief to taxpayers. He will strongly push for legislation that will eliminate or freeze property taxes for seniors. Shannon believes we need to cut the state income tax so that hard working families can keep more of what they earn. He will also fight to cap state spending each year to slow the rate of growth in government, and Shannon supports requiring a super majority in the legislature for tax increases.

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Affordable, Quality Health Care

Shannon will make common sense health care reform a top priority as our State Representative. He believes that while there has been much talk in Harrisburg about this critical issue, very little has been done to make health care more accessible and affordable for our families.

Shannon will help expand health care coverage in Pennsylvania by pushing to lower costs while increasing our families’ ability to make health care decisions that are best for them.

He will work to implement health care reforms that will provide tax credits to employers and employees for Health Savings Accounts, reduce hospital acquired infections, and ensure true transparency in the health care system.

Shannon also supports raising the income eligibility limit for the state’s successful prescription drug program so that more seniors have access to prescription drugs.

As well, Shannon will fight to keep our trusted family physicians here in our community by putting in place common sense legal reforms such as requiring mediation to help reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuits.

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Quality Education, Quality Schools

Shannon is a product of Pennsylvania’s public schools, and his three children attend schools in the West Chester Area School District. He understands that Pennsylvania needs to do more to help our children get the education they deserve.

Shannon believes that Pennsylvania needs to make education funding the number one item its annual budget. Sadly, that is not the case today as welfare spending has replaced education funding as the top expenditure in Pennsylvania’s budget. Shannon also believes that Pennsylvania should be a better partner in funding our local schools. Our state once funded 50% of school districts’ costs. We need to once again work toward that goal with a reformed funding formula for our schools, while reducing the financial burden levied on taxpayers.

Shannon will also work to eliminate costly, unnecessary state mandates to give a stronger voice to parents, teachers and administrators instead of Harrisburg bureaucrats when it comes to the educational needs of our children.

In addition, Shannon will work to consolidate state education funding programs into one large block grant to local schools, giving those directly responsible for educating our children the ability to allocate these dollars where they are needed the most.

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More Open Space, Less Sprawl and Traffic Congestion

As a local official, Shannon helped implement Landscapes, Chester County’s plan to revitalize older urban areas and preserve open spaces. He served as Chairman of our local Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Committee, and he worked to convert brownfields into community assets such as a local park. As State Representative, Shannon will fight to save our remaining open spaces while reducing suburban sprawl and traffic congestion.

Shannon believes we need to revise the state’s Municipal Planning Code to give more power to local officials so they can better control development. He also believes that we can enhance Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program so that more land preservation funding can be directed to Chester County. He will fight for more state grants for older communities such as the Borough of West Chester, helping residents in these communities while lessening the demand for new construction projects elsewhere. Shannon will also promote Smart Growth and regional planning, and will work to secure funding for congested highways in our area such as Route 202.

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Real Government Reform

Shannon was a supporter of reforms in West Chester such as term limits for local elected officials, and he voted against pay raises for politicians while serving as a Councilman. Shannon thinks we need to restore the public’s trust in state government by making fundamental changes in the way our state operates.

He believes that elected officials should lead by example. As State Representative, he will not support pay raises, will not use tax money for trips around the country and will stop the per diem abuse. He believes lawmakers should be required to contribute to the cost of their own health care. Shannon strongly supports a Constitutional Convention comprised of regular Pennsylvanians so that we can fundamentally change state government. He will also fight for meaningful reforms such as term limits for legislators and a smaller legislature to save taxpayers money.

Shannon also knows that real reform doesn’t stop at the state legislature. He will work to implement comprehensive reform of all of state government to curb wasteful spending and ensure that every working family tax dollar is used to effectively help our families or be given back to the people.

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Real Energy Independence

Like all of us, Shannon believes we must do more to reduce energy costs while promoting the use of renewable energy in our state. Rising prices for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas are hurting Pennsylvania’s families. As State Representative, Shannon will work to lower these costs and to make our state energy independent.

Increased competition in any market lowers costs and increases options for consumers. Shannon will lead the fight to reduce bureaucratic strangleholds that have prevented many environmentally friendly innovative energy production technologies from ever reaching the consumer.

From investments in wind, solar and geothermal technologies to more forward looking technologies such as the hydrogen fuel cell, in concert with conservation, Shannon will work to encourage competition among producers and deliver a lower cost cleaner product to the families of Pennsylvania.

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A Stronger Economy, More Jobs

Shannon worked to revitalize West Chester as a leader in the local Business Improvement District and as a Councilman. His efforts helped foster a stronger local economy for small businesses and residents. He will work to achieve real economic growth in our state for our families and businesses as our State Representative.

With slow economic growth, it is more important now more than ever to boost the state’s economy with real, meaningful and lasting tax cuts that will increase the buying power of our families and create quality jobs.

Shannon will strongly push for tax cuts to jump start the state’s ailing economy. This includes more than $1 billion directly to the working families of Pennsylvanians in the form of a state income tax cut. As well, Shannon will work to eliminate the state death tax and make targeted business tax cuts to promote both job creation and encourage employers to provide quality health insurance to their employees.

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