Here are the pillars of Democrats' plan to empower rural Pennsylvania:
We'll rebuild rural infrastructure through a $4.5 billion investment in roads, energy, green spaces, and blight clean-up funded by a tax on natural gas drillers.
We'll extend reliable internet to everyone,closing the opportunity gap in rural communities that lack broadband access.
We'll raise wages for workers and teachersbecause one job should be enough for every person to live well.
We'll train and grow the rural workforceby expanding technical education and apprenticeship programs likePASmart.
We'll defend healthcare rights, workers' rights, and voting rightsfrom GOP attempts to undo decades of progress.
We'll uplift farmersvia the PA Farm Bill, a historic investment in agricultural capabilities, capacity, and business resources.
Our challenge is this: Republicans controlling the legislature don't want to invest in our people.Empowering rural PA starts by kicking the GOP out of power in 2019 and 2020!
If we elect these rural Dems and enact our people-first agenda, our small towns, farm communities, countryside, and wilds will thrive like never before.Please chip in to help make that happen.
Thankful for all you do, Nancy Patton Mills
Chairwoman | PA Democratic Party
By the way, Marc Friedenberg (D. PA-12) supports the Green New Deal:
I believe that clean air and water are a right for all human beings. I accept the scientific consensus that climate change poses a threat to our future on this planet, and that’s something I think about every day when I look at my two little girls.
We don’t have any time to waste in tackling this crisis. We must elect leaders who understand the emergency at hand AND understand that the environmental challenges we face here in our district present us with a great opportunity to join the next energy revolution.
The Green New Deal calls on the United States to move away from fossil fuels and switch to 100% renewable energy sources in order to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, with the ultimate goal of avoiding the worst consequences of climate change.
I am proud to support this bold plan, and I’m ready to get to work in Congress to bring clean energy jobs to PA-12 and ensure our community has clear air to breathe and clean water to drink.
As a technology expert and professor at Penn State, I know that we can overcome this great challenge and make sure Pennsylvania isn’t lagging behind the rest of the country on green jobs. I will put people to work building up our renewable energy infrastructure in wind and solar. If we commit to a future focused on clean energy, we can hire the army of manufacturing professionals, construction workers, and equipment operators we’ll need to maintain it.