Incumbent faces Democrat challenger
Stephens facing challenge from Rothman Johnson
Incumbent Republican State Rep. Todd Stephens is being challenged by Democrat Sara Johnson Rothman to represent the 151st District in the Pennsylvania House of Representative.
The 151st includes all of Horsham and Montgomery townships and parts of Lower Gwynedd and Upper Dublin townships.
Both candidates were asked the same questions, and below are their answers:
Johnson Rothman DESCRIBE YOUR BACKGROUND, AND WHY YOU ARE RUNNING.
I am running for State Representative to change our political scene. In 2016 election, I supported Hillary Clinton in the general election, but did not believe that the best two candidates were running for the job. So I
asked myself how we got to this place.
Running for office is exhausting. Most people do not want their lives turned upside down while being attacked on social media with lies. Therefore, we get career politicians more interested in making a difference in their own lives and their friends’ lives, rather than serving their constituents at large. In order to take back our country and community, this must change.
I have always tried to do the right things for the right reasons. For over seven years, I served as a Deputy District Attorney where I specialized in prosecuting child abusers. Presently, I practice education law and serve as the Vice President of the Upper Dublin School Board. As the mother of two elementary school children, my priority as a legislator will be improving educational opportunities for all kids in our community.
WHAT MAKES YOUR BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT FROM YOUR OPPONENT?
With my experience as a School Director, I know that education funding is a big problem. Pennsylvania ranks 47th in the nation for state funding of public education, which means local school districts must rely heavily on property taxes for funding. Although the state average for school district funding is 37 percent of a district’s operating budget, the schools in North Penn, Hatboro-Horsham, Upper Dublin, and Wissahickon all receive less than 20 percent of their funding from the state.
Unfortunately, our state legislature has not prioritized investment in our children’s education. Instead, through indifference, inaction and underfunded/ unfunded mandates, local property owners are left to shoulder the burden of financing public education. Until our state adequately invests in our schools, local taxes will continue to rise, home values will suffer, and our kids will not enjoy the educational opportunities that they deserve.
WHICH MAIN ISSUES HAVE BEEN RAISED THE MOST BY RESIDENTS? YOUR POSITION OR VIEWS ON THOSE?
Each area within the 151st Legislative District has unique challenges, but education funding and water quality stand out as urgent concerns.
Everyone wants the best resources for their kids, but not everyone enjoys subsidizing that goal through property taxes. The 151st District encompasses four school districts but none of the districts receives the necessary funding from Harrisburg to have a meaningful impact on local property taxation. Too many residents, and especially our seniors, struggle with a tax burden that state legislators have the power, but not the will, to fix. I will fight for comprehensive tax reform at the state level to adequately fund our schools, while affording relief for property owners.
An issue that warrants the utmost attention is the quality of our constituents’ drinking water. As many people know, there is serious concern about that our water has been contaminated with chemicals from the local military base. I will sponsor legislation to limit perfluorinated compounds to non-detectable levels. I will also work with State and Federal authorities to remediate contaminated soil for all of the affected communities and to hold the federal government accountable for the contamination.
HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE OR ADDRESS THE STATE’S ONGOING BUDGET ISSUES?
An ongoing issue is how Pennsylvania politicians spend our tax dollars, and whom they tax to generate revenue.
Pennsylvania’s current tax laws are unfair and regressive, disparately impacting low and moderate income families. We need comprehensive tax reform without touching pensions and social security benefits.
Corporate welfare has skyrocketed under Republican-controlled State Legislatures. I support a fairer tax system which cuts taxes for the majority of taxpayers, including those in the middle class, while increasing taxes on the wealthiest Pennsylvanians. The average annual income for the top 1 percent in PA is $1.7 million. By taxing such income such as gains derived from estates and trusts, net profits, dividends, and royalties, we can inject fairness into the system. To be clear, this plan does not call for taxing social security or pensions. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center calculates that this type of legislation would add up to $2 billion in new revenues for the Commonwealth annually and cut nearly $600 million in taxes for everyday people.
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE - WHAT NEW APPROACH OR TACTIC WOULD YOU USE TO FUND REPAIRS AND PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED?
Pennsylvania has one of the nation’s largest and oldest infrastructure networks in the United States, with 40,000 state and 76,000 local miles of roads and over 22,000 bridges. Pennsylvanians deserve safer bridges and roads. Our economy depends on a 21st century infrastructure network that helps our state compete in national and international trade and commerce. Without better infrastructure, Pennsylvania’s future will crumble away with our roads and bridges.
A program to improve our State’s infrastructure cannot be fixed with a quick “band-aid” and must instead be part of a comprehensive program. As mentioned above in our answer to “How would you handle or address the state’s ongoing budget issues?”, infrastructure programs can be funded through comprehensive tax reform in Harrisburg.
DO YOU SEE THE NATIONAL POLITICAL CLIMATE IMPACTING YOUR LOCAL RACE? IF SO, WHY OR WHY NOT?
Yes, I see the national political climate impacting local races. Rights such as reproductive freedoms, a healthy environment, protecting our children from gun violence, and strong public education are being eroded by the current administration in Washington. The people of our district have come to realize that the legislature in Harrisburg can enact laws to safeguard our rights and mitigate the adverse affects of the Trump presidency.
I also see the national political climate impacting local races. I have had many conversations within the community about global warming, immigration and local jobs impacted by international tariffs. Residents understand how national and even international events affect their lives right here in Montgomery County.
YOUR CAMPAIGN WEBSITE AND/OR SOCIAL MEDIA:
Website: www.saraforstaterep.com
Facebook:
Twitter: @rep_sara @saraforstaterep
Stephens DESCRIBE YOUR BACKGROUND, AND WHY YOU ARE RUNNING (AGAIN).
Prior to serving as State Representative, I served a prosecutor in the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia. In the ten years I served as a prosecutor, I am proud to say that I had a 99 percent conviction rate with 1,500 convictions and 18 homicide convictions. I’ve used this experience to protect and support children, crime victims, fight gun violence, and combat the opioid epidemic.
I grew up here and am raising my children here. I’m running to make a difference for our community — that’s why I’ve fought to strengthen education, ensure our water is clean and safe, and protect our families with important new child protection bills and ground-breaking legislation to reduce gun violence.
WHAT MAKES YOUR BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT FROM YOUR OPPONENT?
Experience. My background in this race is unmatched. As a State Representative I’ve consistently delivered results for our community. While some may promise to strengthen education, protect our water and stopping gun violence, I’ve not only done those things, but I have led the efforts to accomplish them. As a local and independent legislator, I’ve made the residents of the 151st district my first and only priority. I reject partisan politics, and I work on both sides of the aisle to get things done. It is about putting people before politics, and I have a record of doing just that.
WHICH MAIN ISSUES HAVE BEEN RAISED THE MOST BY RESIDENTS? YOUR POSITION OR VIEWS ON THOSE?
Education Funding: I’m happy to say that we’ve provided the most education funding in state history, $11.86 billion, and this year, we expanded school safety grants by $60 million. And we accomplished this without raising income or sales taxes. That’s why our local teachers and PSEA have backed my reelection.
Gun Violence: I led the successful, recent effort to pass legislation disarming domestic abusers. I’ve also closed loopholes on background checks and ensured mental health records are being reported to NICS — the national background check database. Because of my efforts more than 700,000 people disqualified from buying a gun in Pennsylvania are now in the national background check database as well. Because of my efforts, I’m proud to have earned the support of law enforcement, CeaseFire Pennsylvania and former democratic Congresswoman Gabby Gifford’s organization for my work on the issue.
Water Contamination: I was the first elected official to call for a zero tolerance policy regarding PFAS chemicals. Governor Wolf and I worked together to deliver $10 million to correct the issue in Horsham, and I recently authored legislation that passed the House to eliminate the clean water surcharge and fund clean water projects in our region.
HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE OR ADDRESS THE STATE’S ONGOING BUDGET ISSUES?
I’m proud to say we’ve passed balanced state budgets every year without raising our sales or personal income taxes, and we’ve kept government spending beneath the rate of inflation. We did this while investing record amounts into public education, expanding access to early childhood education, increasing funding for services for those with intellectual disabilities and directing billions of new dollars into transportation infrastructure. We also passed historic pension reforms that were supported by Governor Wolf and will save taxpayers billions of dollars.
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE — WHAT NEW APPROACH OR TACTIC WOULD YOU USE TO FUND REPAIRS AND PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED?
I was a strong supporter of Act 89 — the transportation funding bill providing for historic investments in our infrastructure. As a result, I’ve been able to bring home funding for many projects in our community. The County Line Road project continues moving eastbound as the improvements from Doylestown Road down to Lower State Road are now complete. Additionally, I recently secured funding to improve the intersection of Bethlehem Pike and Norristown Rd in Lower Gwynedd Township. I’ve also been able to fund projects in Horsham on Horsham Road at Limekiln Pike and Easton Rd at Blair Mill Rd along with several projects in the Ft. Washington Office Park in Upper Dublin Township.
As a local legislator, I have the benefit and seeing (and experiencing) firsthand safety and traffic issues on our roadways, and I work closely with our legislature and the Governor to ensure the funding needed to make those repairs and improvements comes back to our district.
DO YOU SEE THE NATIONAL POLITICAL CLIMATE IMPACTING YOUR LOCAL RACE? IF SO, WHY OR WHY NOT?
I’ve knocked on thousands of doors and, sadly, there is a clear divide in our country on many national issues. Fortunately, my constituents are well-educated and well-informed. The residents in the 151st State House District know the difference between federal and state elections, and they know me.
I have a strong, proven record of serving residents as an independent and effective legislator. Whether helping constituents cut through the bureaucratic red tape in Harrisburg or working across the aisle to deliver legislative successes, my constituents know I’m someone they can count on to get things done and deliver results.
YOUR CAMPAIGN WEBSITE AND/OR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS.