Question 1: What talent, experience, and expertise would you bring to the office of Lieutenant Governor?
I’ve spent the last ten years of my career as the tip of the spear and the face of the shield in the Pennsylvania House, advocating for progressive policies to advance women’s and reproductive rights, racial and ethnic justice, LGBTQ+ civil rights, environmental justice, criminal justice reform, and much more. Before that, I worked as a disability and civil rights attorney in Philadelphia. This unique blend of experience has prepared me well to serve the people of the Commonwealth and our next Democratic Governor as the Lieutenant Governor. Having lived under and worked around the rules of Republican leadership in the House for a decade, I’m prepared to return the Republican controlled Senate back to order on day one. I promise to use my legislative experience in that role to clamp down on the violent Republican attacks on our civil rights and voting rights that we’ve witnessed over the last six years. As Lieutenant Governor, I’ll also chair the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons and will be the first civil rights attorney to serve in that position. While our criminal justice system is built upon a base of racism and classism, and is thus beyond true reform, I plan to use my position on the Board of Pardons to advance justice for those who have been wronged by our criminal justice system. The Lieutenant Governor also chairs the Emergency Management Council. In representing the core of our Commonwealth’s biggest city for a decade, I’ve coordinated with agencies at the local, state, and federal level and have served under both Republican and Democratic governors. Given this experience, I’m well prepared to convene the proper experts, officials, and administrators and lead an emergency response that ensures that no community or individual falls through the cracks.
Question 2: What is your plan to win this election with regards to fundraising, field, and votes?
My path to victory lies in engaging Democratic voters in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. I’m the only candidate in the race who’s been running for over a year and I’ve spent that time meeting with, working with, and supporting Democratic groups and voters all across the Commonwealth. I announced far in advance of the election because I believe all Pennsylvanians deserve to hear from you when you run for statewide office. I also announced early on to ensure that my team has the resources necessary to win in May. I’m proud to say that just last year I raised over $670,000, which is more money in the year ahead of the primary than any other Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor in Pennsylvania history. I received over 14,520 donations including donations from all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties and all 50 U.S. states. From now until the election, I’m going to continue to show up and meet with voters to continue the important conversations about criminal justice reform, climate justice, LGBTQ equality, high-quality public education, and so much more.
Question 3: What endorsements are you seeking or do you have to date, if any?
LGBTQ Victory Fund
Question 4: Of the four statutory and two constitutional duties of the Lieutenant Governor, which do you believe is the most important, and why?
While all four of the statutory duties and the two constitutional duties of the Lieutenant Governorship are vitally important, it’s the constitutional duty of serving as Chair of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons that is most important to me. I’ll be the first civil rights attorney to chair the Board of Pardons, and the significance of this is not lost on me. At its deepest levels, the criminal justice system in the United States is racist and needs to be completely overhauled in order to provide unbiased justice, but the Board of Pardons is one of the few places where we can correct a few of the awful wrongs of this system. Pennsylvania has become a leader in clemency reform, and I promise to continue this trend as Lieutenant Governor by further streamlining the pardon application process and increasing accessibility. The law and order approach to criminal justice has proven to be detrimental to black and brown and low income communities across the Commonwealth. I promise to chair the Board of Pardons with an emphasis on rehabilitative and restorative justice in order to bring justice to those wronged and neglected by our criminal justice system.
Question 5: What would be your three highest priorities as Lieutenant Governor?
As Lieutenant Governor, my top priorities will align with the nature of the office. I’m running to be Pennsylvania’s next Lieutenant Governor to bring my 10 years of experience to the helm of the Pennsylvania Senate and to be the progressive voice that our Board of Pardons desperately needs. The Lieutenant Governor serves as the President of the Pennsylvania Senate and at a time when this body has grown more racist, classist, homophobic, and sexist under Republican leadership, it’s clear that what’s necessary is a progressive President of the Senate who knows how to operate in, under, and around Republican rules to stop the onslaught of bigoted and discriminatory legislation from advancing and promote the passage of progressive, equity-focused legislation. The Lieutenant Governor also chairs the Board of Pardons. I will be the first civil rights attorney to serve in this role and will serve with an eye towards decarceration. Our state has unjustly imprisoned far too many individuals, and while the deeply racist and classist roots of our criminal justice system make reforming it impossible, the Board of Pardons is one of the few places where we can bring justice to those that have been falsely imprisoned. Pennsylvanians deserve to have an unabashedly progressive voice in the executive office in order to challenge the status quo and create real, structural change. I’ve spent my ten years in the House fighting for policies that break down historic, structural barriers and working to build a better world for all Pennsylvanians. As Lieutenant Governor, I will continue these fights and will use the platform of the office to build statewide coalitions that advance workers’ rights, racial and ethnic justice, climate justice, criminal justice reform, LGBTQ+ civil rights, and women’s and reproductive rights.
Question 6: Should privately-owned prisons be permitted in Pennsylvania?
Absolutely not. The privatization of our state and federal prison systems has been one of the greatest failures of our criminal justice system over the last fifty years. Across the US, it’s become abundantly clear that privately-owned prisons are less safe than public prisons and are far more costly to taxpayers. Our criminal justice system should seek to be rehabilitative and restorative, not punitive and retributive. Because privately-owned prisons are profit seeking institutions, they have no incentive to rehabilitate people who are incarcerated, and are thus fundamentally opposed to the goals of restorative justice. Their profit seeking motives also lead privately-owned prisons to incarcerate the maximum number of individuals for as long as possible, and in far worse conditions. The US has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. This is a terrible moral failing, made even worse by prison companies that seek to maintain the status quo. If we want to end the era of mass incarceration in the US and in Pennsylvania, we must put an end to privately-owned prisons.
Question 7: What steps would you take in your role with the Board of Pardons to reduce our prison population?
The tough on crime policies of the era of mass incarceration have been nothing but a detriment to our society at large, but specifically for black and brown communities. Because of tough on crime policies, an entire generation of people have been falsely imprisoned and ripped from their families, causing irreparable harm to communities across Pennsylvania and the US.
I will be the first civil rights attorney to chair the Board of Pardons and will make decarceration a guiding principle in my service. As Chair of the Board of Pardons, I will work with the board to further streamline the application process and will work to ensure the pardons process is as accessible as can be so that all who seek clemency have a fair chance.
Historically, the Board of Pardons operated with a restorative justice approach, recommending clemency for applicants at a much higher rate than at present. Because of the tough on crime approach to criminal justice that took root both in Pennsylvania and nationally during the 1980s, the Board of Pardons saw a steep decline in the number of clemency recommendations. While much of this is tied to structural changes to the Board of Pardons made through constitutional amendments, there are steps that the Chair of the Board can take to move the Board further toward a framework of restorative justice, such as ensuring that the incarcerated and returning citizen community have a voice on the Board, and working with district attorneys to ensure that their testimony– which has great influence over the fate of clemency applications– is fair, unbiased, and not prejudicial.
Question 8: When, if ever, should the State legislature expressly preempt and prohibit local regulation by a chartered municipality?
My Republican colleagues in the State Legislature have used preemption far too many times to roll back progressive policies put in place in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. From measures to curb gun violence to bills advancing paid sick leave and equal pay, we’ve seen the State Legislature wade into municipal affairs almost exclusively to roll back the popular policies that Republicans in Harrisburg stand against. The residents of our Commonwealth can’t wait for our gerrymandered Legislature to lead on the key issues facing our municipalities. With a gun violence epidemic affecting families across Pennsylvania and a minimum wage that no working Pennsylvanian can support a family on, it’s clear that preemption only serves to fail our municipalities.
Question 9: What do you believe can and should be done to reduce income and wealth disparity in the Commonwealth?
There are numerous policies that can be enacted at the state level to reduce both income and wealth inequality in Pennsylvania. We can raise millions of families’ incomes immediately by passing a $15 minimum wage indexed to inflation. This would put millions of dollars into the hands of working families overnight and would ensure that workers’ wages rise over time. I’m proud to sponsor legislation to raise the minimum wage in the House and will continue to advocate for it as Lieutenant Governor. We can– and should– also update our outdated equal pay law to ensure that all women are receiving equal pay for their work. This would close many loopholes that create significant income inequality between men and women, and would provide a long overdue raise to millions of underpaid women in our Commonwealth. I’ve been a proud sponsor of this legislation in the House for many years and look forward to continuing its advancement as Lieutenant Governor. In order to ensure that our state’s workers have access to high-quality union jobs, we must also do everything we can to protect and expand the right to organize. Unions helped build the robust middle class that powered Pennsylvania for decades, and are a strong tool in increasing wages and improving working conditions. We can close the income and wealth gap in the Commonwealth by ensuring that our workers have access to strong unions that are able to advocate for good wages and conditions. Finally, we must increase state funding to education at all levels in Pennsylvania. Our state ranks close to the bottom in the amount spent by the state on student education. This lack of funding leaves school districts to make up the difference and often leads to increased property taxes in districts that already struggle to raise the necessary revenues for school funding. Our public schools are one of our best tools in closing the wealth gap and ending cycles of generational poverty. As Lieutenant Governor, I will work closely with the Governor and Democratic leadership in the Senate to ensure that public education is a top priority in every budget.