Reining In Government Spending

I don’t fall into the trap of thinking that more tax money is always the answer. I believe the taxpayers in the 41st District are looking for someone who's vigilant about finding ways to cut waste and protect tax dollars - not a big spender who treats them like an ATM machine.

In my nine years as a township supervisor, I NEVER voted to raise property taxes.

In my experience developing budgets at the township level, instead of simply raising taxes, we did what every household does – we looked at our expenses and income and then prioritized our spending. With hard work and tenacity, I was privileged to help lead East Hempfield Township to a place of very solid financial footing. It is my firm belief that State government should be operated the same way, and that is the way I have approached the state budget.
 

Ensuring Schools Are Fiscally and Academically Strong

I've spent my professional career helping local students prepare for a bright future.  I have worked with students and teachers and have seen what brings success.  As your Representative, I have and will continue to push for fair funding and will work with anyone — Republican or Democrat — to make Lancaster County's schools stronger, innovative, and even more effective.

Education ranks just behind public welfare as the second largest state budget expenditure. I have served for 26 years as a guidance counselor in Lancaster County's public schools and this experience continues to give me a unique perspective to speak not only to sound education policies that work, but also to effective school funding – and how students can truly benefit the most from dollars spent.

Creating Opportunity For Our Small Businesses

More opportunity can flourish when government gets out of the way. Reducing burdensome regulations for businesses is the absolute key to job growth and a more stable tax base.

I am working hard with my colleagues in Harrisburg to strengthen our small businesses, as they are the engine of job creation and innovation. To restore security and prosperity to Pennsylvania's economy, we must work to reduce burdensome regulations and empower our small business owners so they can hire even more employees.   

Dealing With the Public Pension Unfunded Liability

Pennsylvania continues to face a huge and looming financial problem – the public pension liability. Currently, the combined projected public pension liability of the state’s two pension systems is approximately $61.5 billion. All levels of the system - including pensions for legislators - need reform. The near-term impact on our school districts is addressing the massive annual increases that are required to pay for the obligation. Thankfully, over the last several years, annual increases of record-level pension funding have been allocated by the General Assembly. In 2017, the General Assembly achieved a heavily negotiated bipartisan reform bill which began the process of stabilizing and improving the financial status of our two state pension systems. Though the crushing tax bill is still looming, and though more needs to be done, this reform bill was an important step in the right direction.    

I am also actively involved in additional pension reform measures, one of which is my bill, House Bill 1261. This bill is designed to bring increased transparency to the fees associated with investments made by our state pension funds. It is imperative that taxpayers, pension benefit recipients, and policymakers know the fees that are being paid to ensure excessive fees are not going to pay money managers as opposed to staying in the funds in order to strengthen them. We need to keep our promises to the people who are relying on our pension systems and also protect the taxpayers by making sure the funds are being managed in the most cost effective way.

Pushing for More Reform in State Government

There have been some valuable actions in increasing transparency in state government spending but I believe continued attention to reform is needed.  I have been a part of a bipartisan and bicameral Government Reform Caucus and have worked with my colleagues on finding ways to reform the way Harrisburg operates.  I voted for and supported reducing the size of the House of Representatives.  I also continue to support reforms to spending practices in the Legislature – such as ending automatic pay raises and reforming the per diem reimbursement process in my bill, House Bill 1344.  I don't take the perks and per diems. I am leading by example by paying for my own cell phone and paying for my own mileage as I travel throughout the district.  And you shouldn't have to guess about what I'm spending in my own operation - all of my legislative expenses are posted online at RepMiller.com.  

Continuing The Tradition of Excellent Constituent Service

While many of my responsibilities involve working in Harrisburg, I always get back to the district and keep the interests and needs of the residents of the 41st District as my primary focus.  I always want to go extra mile to ensure that constituents with a state government-related issue get the help that they seek. Constituent service will always remain a top priority at my office.