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“As a teacher, father, and involved community member, I am intimately familiar with how the decisions made in Harrisburg impact the daily lives and futures of everyone in our Commonwealth. I look forward to bringing my experiences and skill-set to the Capitol to help address many of the issues facing our citizens.” - Vito Malacari

PLATFORM

TAXES

Pennsylvanians are being crushed under a mountain of rising prices. The cost of everything from food to gas has risen, weighing on people all across the Commonwealth.  We need to support the families of Pennsylvania and offset the rising costs of goods. 

 

  • I will work with our federal partners to secure funding to end the unfunded mandate known as The Rain Tax 

  • On Day 1 I will fight to help families by issuing gas tax refunds of $250 to every registered vehicle owner in Pennsylvania, up to 4 per household ($1000) - Signing onto the Shapiro Plan for relief 

  • Vito will fight to eliminate the state’s burdensome cell phone tax of 11%. This will save people money monthly on their cell phone bills

  • Vito will work in a bipartisan manner to find common-sense solutions to reduce the property tax burden on seniors, Veterans, and our most vulnerable populations. WE must immediately expand our Tax Rebate programs to allow more people in our District to find relief. Once we do that, we must work together to find solutions to further reduce the property tax burden on Pennsylvanian families

EDUCATION

Vito believes that high-quality education for every child in Pennsylvania leads to high-quality jobs. On top of fighting for equitable funding for all schools, Vito will fight for:

 

  • Access to high-quality pre-K for all 4 years olds

  • Expansion of the free and reduced lunch program

  • Enabling more career readiness programs through vo-tech and traditional school partnerships

  • A newfound respect for teachers and their profession through loan forgiveness

  • The continuation of reduction of standardized tests in the classroom to allow for more instruction time

  • I want to fight to continue to reduce the standardized tests our kids take each year and give more time to teachers to teach. 

  • Enhance school safety by meeting the needs of local districts to keep teachers and students safe while teaching and learning. 

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure is the backbone of our local economy. It is something we all need and use; therefore we need to invest in it so companies will locate family-sustaining jobs here:

 

  • Make a priority to upgrade existing water lines (especially finding ways to prioritize the removal of lead pipes)

  • Finding ways to hold utilities responsible for repairing and replacing broken and unsightly poles, roads, and mains

  • Replace and upgrade aging sewer lines and find ways to overcome the ‘Rain Tax’ as an unfunded mandate

HEALTHCARE

Vito believes that every person is entitled to access high-quality, affordable healthcare. No person living in Pennsylvania should fear the costs of healthcare when seeking to better their health. We must ensure that all people of the 119th have the right to live a sustainable and gratifying life. That begins with access to affordable and quality healthcare If elected, Vito will fight for:

 

  • Lower prescription drug costs

  • Supporting our frontline healthcare workers and fair contracts

  • Expanded access to mental health services

  • Increased access to prevention and treatment programs for those families struggling with addiction. This especially includes opioids which disproportionately impacts our region

  • Limiting out-of-pocket costs for seniors

JOBS

The small business sector is vital to the success of the 119th District. We need to continue to reinvest in our small businesses and allow them to be successful. We must fight to continue to bring in family-sustaining jobs with wages that are dignified. If I am elected I promise to fight to:

 

  • Support our small businesses and fight for tax credits they deserve

  • Help our Veteran-owned businesses and businesses that hire Veterans

  • Continue to expand the South Cross Valley Industrial Sector and Mountain Top Industrial sector to bring more family-sustaining jobs

  • Connect industry with education and prepare students for the 21st-century workforce understanding, not every student is college-bound

WORKERS RIGHTS

The people of Pennsylvania have a long history of working hard and sacrificing for their families. That history runs deep in our roots from the times on Anthracite mines through today. If I am elected I will protect the workers of today.

 

  • We need to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania

  • We need to protect the rights of workers to organize and make it easier for workers to organize

  • Fight for the dignity and safety of all workers across all industries

  • Support the prevailing wage

COMMUNITY SAFETY

  • We must fight blight and reduce it throughout our communities and ensure there are proper investments to keep our communities safe

  • We have to fight to cut through unfunded mandates that create burdensome policies for local police units that do not allow them to do their job in the local communities

  • We must find and fight for funding for upgraded equipment for our firefighters, police officers, and other first responders so they can keep us all safe

  • We will fight for funding for new police officers, firefighters, and first responders. These men and women are the backbone of our communities and must commit to helping them. 

ABORTION

  • Vito is the only pro-choice candidate in the District. He will vote against SB 106 and believes the government does not belong in doctor's rooms making decisions for women. A women's right to choose is an intimate one between herself and her doctor. 

 

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

  • As the only candidate endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, Vito will work tirelessly to ensure and advocate for equity for members of the LGBTQ+ community. That includes fighting against bills that would stop people from marrying whom they love and any bill that would allow an employer to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation. 

 

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

  • Climate change is real. We must be able to balance the needs of our communities and people by ensuring we are responsible stewards of the environment while using the resources under our feet to heat our homes and power our cars. We have natural resources that we can obtain through responsible means to ensure that we have good union jobs and help to lower energy costs for the people of the Commonwealth. Vito believes in an "all of the above" approach when it comes to energy in that we need fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables to be in our portfolio. 

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