Hendricks, Toepel vie for 147th District seat
This year’s election for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 147th District is between Democrat Rachel Hendricks and incumbent Republican Marcy Toepel, who has held the seat since 2010.
The 147th District includes Douglass, Lower Frederick, Lower Salford, Marlborough, New Hanover, Upper Frederick, Upper Pottsgrove, Upper Salford and West Pottsgrove townships and Green Lane and Schwenksville boroughs.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Rachel Hendricks
Hendricks said she grew up in Gilbertsville and is a compliance coordinator for an environmental company in Harleysville.
While volunteering in last year’s Montgomery County Commissioners election, she said, she noticed a lot of local officials are unopposed on the ballot and decided to run in this year’s election to give voters in the district a choice.
“There’s a number of issues that I’m passionate about. I think the number one thing that I’d like to change in Harrisburg is committing to end the gridlock,” Hendricks said.
“A lot of things aren’t being passed that should be passed. Solutions should be found for things like property taxes increasing and our state pension system,” she said, “and we should be able to pass balanced budgets
on time.”
She also noted her environmental science education and experience.
“I am passionate about making sure we protect our natural resources in this state, that we are regulating correctly and working with the private and public sectors to kind of find middle ground solutions that are good for our environment,” Hendricks said.
Another issue she wants to address is the opioid epidemic, she said.
State legislators have been working on the issue, she noted, but said, “I think there are some angles that are being missed.”
She said she had friends in high school and college who became part of the epidemic and also has friends whose families are affected by regulations created to combat drug abuse.
“I think there needs to be a compromise there to make sure that people can get the medications they need and they can also be kept out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” Hendricks said.
More needs to be done to stop over-prescription of drugs and to provide help for drug users who want to get help, she said.
“Another issue I’m very passionate about is advocating for seniors. We have a very large and growing senior population in Pennsylvania,” Hendricks said.
The issue hits close to home for her because when she was in her early 20s, she took care of her grandmother in the last years of her life, Hendricks said.
“She had a series of small strokes and getting her back to the point where she could go to physical therapy and learn how to do everything from tie her shoes and wash dishes and dress herself again. That was an eyeopening experience, learning how to deal with the insurance companies, health care providers, the physical therapists, all the different specialists she had and the Medicaid and Medicare system,” Hendricks said.
While she was acting as her grandmother’s advocate, she saw many other seniors who didn’t have anyone to advocate for them, she said.
“We need to make sure that we’re taking care of our senior population better than we are now. I’d like to see more information and education for seniors so that they can start that planning way before it’s necessary,” Hendricks said.
She said she would like to see more comprehensive education funding at the state level to try to ease the property tax burden on homeowners and to “make sure that where you live doesn’t determine your educational opportunities, that all of our school districts are made sure that they have funding and the kids are learning appropriately.”
Other countries are doing a better job of teaching math and science than the United States, she said.
“I personally think that we should put less focus on standardized testing and more focus on learning skills and how to continue learning,” Hendricks said. “The world around us has been changing and I think our education system needs to change with that so that we can keep up.”
Information about Hendricks is available at rachelhendricks.com and HendricksPA on Facebook.
Marcy Toepel
Toepel said she is a lifelong resident of the area. Before becoming a state legislator, her jobs included supervisory ones in the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts and Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds offices, she said.
She has also been a PTA president, youth sports coach and referee and has been involved in fundraising for various nonprofits in the area, she said.
She received a Women in Politics Making a Difference Award from the National Conference of State Legislatures for a legislator shadowing program with Montgomery County Community College for female students at Montco, she said.
She currently serves on the House Professional Licensure, Judiciary, Health and Consumer Affairs committees, she said.
The issue she hears the most about is property taxes, she said.
“I do think we have to look at reforming the way that we fund our schools. Right now, there’s an undue burden on property owners,” Toepel said. “Of course, dovetailing on that is our pension issue.”
Increased pension costs are affecting both school district and state budgets, she said.
“We need to find a solution that protects employees as well as taxpayers,” Toepel said.
Another important issue is the state’s business climate, she said.
More needs to be done to reduce onerous regulations on businesses that don’t make sense and to keep Pennsylvania competitive with other states, she said.
“Public safety is also an issue that’s important to me,” Toepel said. “Keeping our communities safe is paramount.”
The Judiciary Committee’s work deals with a lot of public safety issues, including the crimes code, she said.
One of her bills that has been signed into law increased the penalties for people convicted of child pornography charges, she said.
Another of her bills was the Brad Fox Law, which increased the penalties for people involved in the straw purchase of guns, she said.
The bill is named after Plymouth Township police Officer Brad Fox, who was killed in 2012. A straw purchase occurs when someone who is not legally allowed to own a gun gets firearms through someone else who purchases the firearm, then provides it to the person. Fox was killed with a gun acquired through a straw purchase.
Other bills authored by her that have become law include ones involving open space, Toepel said. One gave municipalities with open space taxes more flexibility in how that money could be used, she said. Another preserved fee-in-lieu-of-taxes payments to school districts for state-owned property, such as state parks, in the school district, she said.
Toepel said she also continues to work on proposed legislation to bring casino tax money from the Valley Forge Casino back to Montgomery County. In most cases, the money would go to the county, but in Valley Forge’s case, it goes to the state, she said.
“It’s about $1.5 million a year that’s going to the state that would come back to the county under my bill,” Toepel said.
Under her proposal, 75 percent of the tax would go for Montgomery County parks, trails and historic sites and 25 percent would be split between a child advocacy center and a domestic violence treatment center, she said.
Toepel said she has worked with the Montgomery County Commissioners on the proposal, which has bipartisan support.
Information on Toepel is available at marcytoepel. com or Re-elect Marcy Toepel on Facebook.