District 189 candidates share policy wish lists

The residents of Pennsylvania Assembly District 189 will have two candidates to choose from during the general election on November 5: challenger Lisa VanWhy (Republican) and incumbent Tarah Probst (Democratic). The District includes Delaware, Lehman, and Porter townships in Pike County and portions of Monroe County. Each candidate was asked to share their priorities if elected. Their answers are below.

Lisa VanWhy

Detail the first one to three bills you hope to have signed into law once you’re elected:

1) Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights to ensure that the State cannot spend more than it brings in to control State spending and combat inflation.

2) I’d like to see a larger tax rebate for seniors and veterans, so they don’t have to worry about losing their home to high taxes.

3) As always, support school funding to reduce the burden on the taxpayer.

What existing state law would you work to reform and why?

I would work to reform the integrity of our election. So that every voter feels like their vote is safe and secure. For 100+ years we’ve voted one day, in person, with voter ID with no excuse for absentee ballots. I would work to restore pre-pandemic election laws.

How will you increase the quality of life for constituents in your District?

For every bill that crosses my desk, I will ask, does this help the people of my district? If not, I will vote no. I will work for better schools with parent involvement and higher proficiency rates, an economy that works, lower taxes by holding the governor responsible for the overspending, and safer streets by supporting law enforcement, all first responders.

I will always make myself available to help and hear people’s concerns and issues, and do my best to rectify those concerns.

Tarah Probst

Detail the first one to three bills you hope to have signed into law once you’re elected:

There are more than three bills. In my first term, I voted to make sure a woman has a right to reproductive health care; fund our public education (which will lower your school taxes), while making college more affordable; raise the minimum wage, cost of living adjustment for senior citizens; lower the tax rate to bring business into the Commonwealth; and for workplace safety bills, right to organize bills, clean air and water bills, equality bills, safe staffing bills, mental health funding bills, veteran services and tax break bills, affordable housing and consumer protection bills, tax breaks for working families, and so much more.

Please understand that most of these bills have not seen the light of day in nearly two decades, but with a one-person Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, we were able to pass good legislation and these are just some of them. The House passed 399 bills to the Senate’s 99, so we have been working hard. We invested in people, municipalities, schools, and families. Once you do that, it is a domino effect, everything will get better and we are just getting started.

What existing state law would you work to reform and why?

Our flat tax. Four states have a personal income tax enshrined in their constitution — Pennsylvania is one of them. We need a progressive tax — flat personal income tax only hurts the working class, seniors on fixed incomes, and our most vulnerable. Poverty incomes pay over 20% of their income to taxes, the middle class pays roughly 14%, and the wealthy is equivalent to 4%.

I also want open primaries; every citizen should have a right to vote in primaries.

Our natural resources belong to us; however, only corporations are benefitting from them, and our citizens should share in that wealth.

How will you increase the quality of life for constituents in your District?

The 189th District has the longest commute in the nation; people have to leave our state to put food on the table. I want higher pay, better jobs, where people can live, work, and thrive here. In northern Monroe and southern Pike, we need healthcare and transportation services. This will not only create jobs, but is a matter of life and death. We need affordable senior living, so that seniors can live their retirement years and downsize, while opening the real estate market for families to own a home. I have voted for many of these initiatives in the House.