Milne faces Howard in race for 167th House
The race for the 167th Pennsylvania State House District seat in Chester County will feature Republican incumbent Duane D. Milne facing off against Democratic challenger Kristine Howard.
Recently Main Line Media News communicated with each of the candidates, asking them questions about their backgrounds, experiences and their opinions on a number of issues.
“I was raised in a New Jersey family that valued service and education,” Howard said. “My father was a probation officer, and my mother worked in the administration at Penn’s Medical School. My background led me to work my way through college at the University of Pennsylvania and law school at Rutgers in Camden. After law school, I planned to pursue a career in
public interest law, but like many women, my career plans took a detour after getting married and having two babies while in law school.
“After law school, I spent five years in New Mexico, where I ran a small legal and social services organization while my family grew,” she said. “When I came back to Pennsylvania, I devoted the next many years focused on raising my three boys and four girls. It was not easy to combine a ‘real’ career with raising a large family, but I always found something to do to stay engaged in civic interests and social activism. I worked for Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and was a child advocate for children in foster care in Philadelphia.
“My keen interest in children and child welfare opened the door to my current position, working for the county investigating child abuse cases,” she added. “As a caseworker, I have come to see a darker side of the wealthy and beautiful Main Line communities where I raised my family. My experiences as a social worker, mother and political activist have come together to give me a fresh and personal understanding of the challenges working people face raising a family and wanting good schools for our children. I know how difficult it can be for a woman to find career equality, even with a first-class education and strong skill sets. And I have been on the front line with kids falling through the cracks in Main Line communities suffering abuse, neglect and missed opportunities in one of the wealthiest counties in the county.”
A member of the Pennsylvania State House since 2007, Milne said, “I have been effective as a legislator in part because of the comprehensive experiences I gained prior to being elected, including military service, private business and educator.
“Some of my initial qualifications for public policy were gained as I earned my Ph.D. in political science. Since then, my knowledge, experience and ability to best serve the residents of the area has only expanded each year during my now 12 years as a representative.”
Along with being asked about their backgrounds and experience, both candidates were asked about some of the issues facing residents today.
What do you see as the most important issue(s) facing Pennsylvania today?
Howard cited three important issues: “Having access to affordable health care and prescription drugs is critical to building a healthy and prosperous Pennsylvania. Expanding both free or low-cost early childhood education and post-secondary education opportunities to relieve families and students of life-altering education debt. Electing a legislature that is actively dedicated to expanding equality of opportunity and not actively engaged in rolling back hard-fought gains won by women, minorities and workers,” she said.
Milne also cited a number of issues.
“Among many important issues, citizens must have confidence in their government itself,” he said. “This can cover many considerations, but chief among them I would note is that redistricting reform must be accomplished. Citizens must believe that the very districts from which legislators even are elected are drawn fairly. Second, if the state is going to call for fiscal conservatism, as we should, then the legislature incurs an obligation to lead by example. To me, this includes shrinking the size of the legislature, for which I have voted, and cutting out state vehicles for those legislators still accepting one (for the record, I have never accepted a state car). Thirdly, those of us in public service must instill a sense of confidence for the citizens that the future of Pennsylvania can be bright and afford excellent opportunities to pursue what I term the Pennsylvania Promise. The Pennsylvania Promise is based on the five policy pillars that comprise my quality of life vision: judicious use of tax dollars, vibrant local economy, top performing schools, safe communities and attractive landscapes.”
Pipelines have been getting a lot of attention lately in Chester County. What are your views on pipelines being built through the state and the issue of taxing of the gas drillers?
“Let me begin by saying that I favor a gas extraction tax and would like to see it dedicated to education spending,” Howard responded. “The Mariner East Pipeline project is the most significant environmentally impacting local issue in my district. It is the result of an antiquated and failed regulatory and permitting process based on outdated laws and regulations governing and issued by the PUC and a failure of adequate local input and control in the process. A moratorium on further expansion of the pipeline is the first step that must be considered. Ultimately, the only long-term solution to the pipeline and dependence on the fossil fuels it transports is the expansion of alternative energy solutions.”
Milne also responded to the question.
“The natural gas sector, of which pipelines support, offers tremendous potential for economic prosperity, jobs and revenue for the state and our residents,” he said. “The laying of pipes needs to proceed in a manner that protects public safety, the environment and water quality. Pipelines should be routed around areas where there are population concentrations and significant development.
“Drillers should pay their fair share. I supported the impact tax on drilling activities, as well as requirements for companies to clean up any damage caused, and will continue to champion that our citizens get a fair deal with respect to natural gas-related activities,” Milne said.
What could the state legislature do to help attract more industry or other jobs to Pennsylvania?
“I believe the most important long-term investment Pennsylvania can make to attract more industry and other jobs to our state is to make significant investments in education,” Howard said. “A well-educated and diversely trained workforce is critical to the expansion of both high-tech and traditional manufacturing jobs. And having good schools from pre-k to postsecondary is a key factor that executives consider when deciding to expand or relocate their companies.”
Milne said, “As I serve on the business development committees of the legislature, I have focused considerable efforts in this direction. The overall answer is to foster an even better business climate in the state, which includes many factors. As a few, I will note first that I have achieved regulatory reforms in order to make the state agencies more ‘customer-friendly’ for businesses.
“Second, I continue to focus on reducing potential excesses with state benefit programs so businesses resources are not unreasonably wasted. Third, I have pushed for workforce training and development initiatives, because companies considering locating in or expanding in Pennsylvania need to know we have a pipeline of human talent ready to go.
“Fourth, the state must fund our state universities better, because our state does face a significant ‘brain drain,’ as younger people gain their education here but then leave to settle in other states. A driving reason for this problem is that tuition at Pennsylvania’s public universities is relatively high compared to other states, and so is corresponding student debt, and too many unfortunately conclude that job prospects in Pennsylvania will not prove prosperous enough to repay loans. To address the matter, I authored the landmark Keystone Scholars legislation to help address tuition challenges in our state.”
There’s been a lot of discussion about fair funding for schools. How can we ensure all school districts have adequate resources?
For Howard, school funding should be about needs.
“School funding needs to be based on each student’s educational needs and not their zip code. Our system today greatly favors students who live in communities with rich property tax bases. We need to keep working on a school funding formula that more fairly distributes education tax dollars. And we need to establish a dedicated revenue source to bolster the state’s obligation to education spending, preferably a gas extraction tax,” Howard said.
Milne said children should have a fair start.
“I work from the policy perspective that every child deserves a fair start in life. This includes what I characterize as the ‘lifetime gift’ of an excellent education during childhood, which then benefits individuals in many respects for the entirety of their lives,” Milne said.
“To ensure adequate resources, I have continued to advocate that robust investments of funds be allocated from the state budget to local school districts, and I have helped deliver. First, state spending for K-12 education has increased during my tenure as representative. In fact, this funding is at a historically high level for Pennsylvania. As an additional perspective, I would point out that educationrelated shares of the state budget make up over 40 percent of the entire budget. Second, Pennsylvania’s education funding formula has been set up so that districts in less affluent areas, and that do not have an adequate local tax base, will receive proportionately higher levels of state support,” he added.
The 167th State House District includes all or portions of Charlestown, East Whiteland, Easttown, West Pikeland, West Whiteland, Willistown townships and Malvern Borough.