Paul Takac, Democrat, Candidate for PA House, District 82

I understand how difficult it is to survive in this current economy. Global inflation and a recession have deeply impacted our day-to-day lives, and I hear the frustration and worry in every conversation I have with folks across the district. Investments in working families are critical to ensure that our economy works for all of us — not just the wealthy. Focusing on working families, in the 2024-2025 bipartisan budget, we passed a historic expansion of the Property Tax & Rent Rebate program and tripled the PA Child Care Tax Credit — meaning that more money made by working families and seniors stays in their pockets. We also need to hold corporations and corporate billionaires accountable for taking advantage and driving up prices and inflation and close tax loopholes so that our middle- and working-class families aren’t overpaying their fair share.

Housing affordability and attainability is a major issue in Centre County and across the Commonwealth. People are struggling to find homes and apartments within affordable price ranges. And this issue is felt by renters and home buyers alike. Our current housing situation is just untenable – I think most people would agree on that. Many factors have led us to this point, including our aging housing stock, a lack of available units, and increased competition with short-term rentals, especially in and around State College. Some of these issues are best addressed at the local level, others at the state, and some even federally. As a State Representative, I am determined to use every tool in the toolbox to increase our housing stock and provide creative solutions to address the housing crisis proactively. Some specific examples include relaxing zoning codes around land designated for single-family residences. For example, permitting the construction of duplexes, triplexes, or in some cases, fourplexes in areas currently zoned for single-family homes. This would be especially helpful in dense population areas – such as State College. Another example would be re-funding the Whole Home Repairs program to allow constituents across the state to repair their homes and make energy-efficient updates as needed. This also has the added benefit of fighting blight and allowing residents to remain where they live, therefore relieving further pressure on the housing stock. In this past budget, we also strengthened programs to assist first-time home buyers. Lastly, I fully support Governor Shapiro’s PA Housing Action Plan to identify housing needs and guide a statewide response. This Plan will provide data-driven recommendations for policymaking initiatives, and best practices from the public and private sectors to improve housing availability and affordability across the Commonwealth.

In the 82nd House District, we have been — and are still — faced with major accessibility issues in our rural and underserved communities, including maternal healthcare deserts, a lack of resources for mental healthcare and emergency medical services, inability to access dental and vision services, and so much more. While there are many systemic issues to address accessibility issues, we are making progress. Right now, I am the primary sponsor of multiple bills working their way through the General Assembly. The first, co-sponsored with Rep. Lisa Borowski, would address hospital consolidations and closures, granting the Attorney General the ability to review those choices and examine public harm. The second would be to create incentives and stipends for psychology interns who do their residency and training in rural communities. In addition, I have also championed a bill to extend the ability of Physician Assistants (PA) to provide telehealth services for mental healthcare. In my first term, I have also been appointed to Governor Shapiro’s Roundtable on Rural Hospitals and Healthcare to discuss the current limitations and systems through which we can work, including private-public partnerships, budgetary restraints, advocacy efforts, and more. And I have been working alongside Penn State’s Office of Rural Health and the Penn State College of Medicine to bring mobile units to areas like Snow Shoe and other underserved rural communities.

As a state legislator, it is not within my jurisdiction to pass legislation on immigration policy, as that lies solely with the U.S. Constitution and the federal government. As a representative, my duty is to serve all residents of our district — regardless of immigration status. For instance, I support a state DREAM act, which would allow undocumented children brought to the United States as minors to access in-state college tuition rates, as well as granting all state residents who pass the driving test a license regardless of immigration status. And as a father and a staunch believer that America is the land of opportunity, I understand that families are at the heart of immigration policy. I believe that establishing a humane immigration system that increases accessibility for legal pathways to citizenship, protects those who seek asylum, provides public education for children regardless of immigration status, and supports immigrants who live, work, and raise their children in the United States is crucial to the health, well-being, and economies of our communities. I regret that a negotiated bipartisan border bill, crafted by both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress and supported by the Biden Administration - which would have added funding, personnel, and capacity to deal with the influx of both people and illegal drugs such as fentanyl at the southern border - was killed for purely political reasons by our former President who put his own interests above those of the country.

It’s simple: the decision to have an abortion should be strictly between a person and their medical provider. There is no room for politicians, the government, or, frankly, other voters in this personal and necessary healthcare decision. I am the only pro-choice candidate in this race and have been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All. As long as the right to abortion access has been returned to the states and is jeopardized nationally, I will proudly vote to enshrine access to abortion in the Pennsylvania Constitution, protect healthcare providers from prosecution for providing abortion care to those seeking it from states where abortion has been banned, and support a woman’s right to choose. Furthermore, I will always vote to protect access to all reproductive healthcare, including IVF, contraception, and STI testing and treatment. The right to control your own body and make your own healthcare decisions should not be dependent on what state you live in. In states with restrictive abortion policies, women are being harmed and even dying. And healthcare providers are relocating out of state for fear of being prosecuted, which further exacerbates the crisis of healthcare access. Finally, I proudly voted to shield and protect individuals and healthcare providers in PA from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions for providing legal reproductive healthcare, including abortion.

As the son and grandson of police officers, I learned from a young age not only how to use and store weapons responsibly but also how crucial public safety is to the health and well-being of our communities. I also recognize how prominent gun usage is in HD-82 for hunting, recreation, and other legitimate purposes, and I know that there are many responsible gun owners across the district, including myself. I support common-sense gun regulations such as comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and firearm safety training, as well as legislation that holds gun owners responsible for the safe storage of their weapons and keeps guns out of the hands of criminals and those who pose a danger to themselves or others. I also support funding for mental health and violence prevention programs in schools and local communities.

We are not facing a climate crisis — we are in one. It’s far past time for us to address the negative impacts of climate change and accelerate the transition to a more prosperous clean energy economy. There are many different approaches we can take to get there. For example, we can establish cleaner fuel standards and implement biofuels as we transition from natural gas to more renewable energy resources. The Inflation Reduction Act provided a historic investment to combat climate change, and by taking advantage of available federal funding, we can continue to invest in and diversify our energy portfolio. I support Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard and Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act proposals and advocate for solar projects like Solar for Schools, the Solar Power Purchase Agreement across 15 governing bodies in Centre County, community solar projects, and more. As an active member of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, I am focused on developing practical solutions to help address this crisis, including capturing fugitive methane from agricultural and landfill sources and orphaned and abandoned wells, cleaner fuel policies, and more.

Every American deserves equal rights and protections under the law, and Pennsylvania is still one of 29 states that do not provide explicit protections for all those in the LGBTQ+ community. That must change. I was honored to have one of my very first votes in the PA House of Representatives be cast in favor of the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, which would promote equity and comprehensive legal protections against discrimination for LGBTQ+ community members. This bill had previously been hung up in the House for the last twenty years. I have also been an advocate and sponsor of legislation for anti-bullying measures in schools and marriage equality in Pennsylvania, and I will continue to be a champion for all Pennsylvanians to express themselves as their authentic selves, receive the affirming care they need, love who they love, and build the family they deserve.

I believe that we should do everything we can to make the cost of higher education — including career technical and vocational education — as affordable as possible to give people the head-start they need without incurring crippling student debt. I was fortunate to be able to put myself through a state-funded university with Pell grants, affordable housing, and a minimum-wage job. Young people today do not have the same opportunities, and that must be remedied. Currently, Pennsylvania ranks 49 out of 50 in statewide higher education investments. At Penn State, we have seen how historic levels of underfunding and disinvestment have impacted students. Penn State is now the most expensive school in the Big Ten. As the representative in Harrisburg for the students and communities at Penn State’s University Park campus, I am your biggest advocate both in the district and on the House floor. It’s clear that while state funding is earmarked explicitly for tuition reductions for Pennsylvania students and families, in recent years, approval of funding for Penn State and other state-related institutions has been derailed by unrelated political and hot-button issues, including transgender care, fetal tissue research, and more. And unfortunately, my colleagues across the aisle have been the recipients of hyper-partisan backlash from far-right extremists for supporting increased funding. There is much work to be done to make higher education affordable for the current and next generations of learners, but we are taking steps to get there. The 2024-2025 bipartisan budget created a new State Board of Higher Education to help coordinate and support actions for state-supported and related institutions and created a council to help develop a new performance-based metrics system for more equitable funding. We also established a series of new scholarships and incentive programs, including expanded funding for the very popular Student Teacher Support Program. And I will continue to fight for tuition freezes and increased funding, affordable housing, an increased minimum wage, and more to ensure that a student’s time pursuing higher education is well spent, not buried in debt.