Eugene DePasquale

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOMS
My record is clear when it comes to reproductive freedom - I believe women should have complete control over the decisions they want to make with their bodies. Roe v Wade’s reversal was a dark day for women and liberty in America - I want to promote freedom, and that includes freedom of choice. As Attorney General, I will stand up to any extreme forces that try to tell people what to do with their own bodies.

VOTING AND DEMOCRACY
As Americans, we all have a civic duty to vote in elections. This valued responsibility is what makes our country a respected democracy. As your Attorney General, I will defend every Pennsylvanian’s right to vote, make sure the vote is counted, and fight against any voter suppression. Voting should be efficient, easy, and accessible and any interference is a true violation of our natural rights.

CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
As Attorney General, I will be your legal advocate against corporate greed. I will crack down on businesses and CEOs taking advantage of consumers and help defend workers from wage theft, stop price gouging, and close tax loopholes.

ECONOMY
I’ll fight so that our economy works for every Pennsylvanian, no matter what they look like, where they live, or whether or not they have a college education. I’ll direct and defend smart investments to local communities, invest in apprenticeships and job training, and keep the top 1% from rigging the rules against us.

UNIONS
Every worker has a right to advocate for better wages, better healthcare and a better future. We need unions because there’s too much corporate power and greed holding employees hostage in the workplace. There are laws in place to protect people’s right to organize and fight for what they deserve. As Attorney General, I will make sure those laws are enforced.

LGBTQ+ PROTECTIONS
Vigilantly prosecuting hate crimes against the LGBT community and enforcing existing laws to create a safer and more inclusive Pennsylvania. Eugene will also champion inclusive policies to safeguard the rights of the LGBT community, promoting equality in law enforcement, healthcare, and education.

STUDENT LOANS
Student loans have continued to soar in price, making it impossible to compare today’s college price to that of 30-40 years ago. Students are graduating with incredible amounts of debt and having to take on unreasonable interest rates and payment plans. We have to hold these student debt companies accountable and make sure that all young adults can pursue higher education and afford their loans once they graduate.

HEALTHCARE
Everyone should have access to affordable and quality healthcare. I will represent Pennsylvanians who are victims of deceptive policies, price gouging, or any other unethical health service practices.

ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE
Every Pennsylvanian deserves clean air and pure water, it is a constitutional right. As Attorney General, I will hold polluters accountable, fight against environmental degradation, and promote sustainable practices to combat climate change.

EDUCATION
I believe everyone deserves a chance to succeed. As your next Attorney General, I will hold the government and our school districts accountable so that every Pennsylvania student gets an equal opportunity at a good education.

CRIME
As Attorney General, I will work with law enforcement to protect our communities by investing in prevention tactics and holding those who threaten our safety accountable. I will work to restore trust between residents and local law enforcement to ensure our police can best serve and protect the Commonwealth.

GUN VIOLENCE
States that have stronger gun laws have less gun violence which is why I support universal background checks. I will work with local and state authorities to get weapons of war off the streets and end cycles of retaliatory violence in Pennsylvanian urban communities.

DEFENDING LIBERTY AND FREEDOM
As the state’s lead prosecutor, I will fight for every Pennsylvanian's rights of liberty and freedom. As your Attorney General, women will have the freedom to choose what they do with their bodies, children are free to go to school without fear, banning books is vehemently opposed, and the right to vote is fully protected.

FIGHTING PUBLIC CORRUPTION
As Attorney General, I will take on corrupt behavior by elected and appointed officials, government employees, and those doing business with city, state, and federal government. In my previous role as Auditor General I uncovered corruption in multiple government agencies, stopping it at the source. I will always stand for what is right and work to preserve government integrity.^[20]

• Health Care

Eugene believes that access to good quality health care is a fundamental human right, and he will work to lower out-of-pocket costs, increase access to care, protect people with pre-existing conditions, and lower the cost of prescription drugs. That is why Eugene signed Health Justice for All’s pledge to reject campaign contributions from Big Pharma.

When Eugene’s youngest brother was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy, health insurance companies declared it a pre-existing condition and denied coverage. Medical bills piled up and nearly bankrupted his family. In Congress, Eugene will reform our health care system to make quality, affordable health care a reality for everyone.

Specifically, Eugene supports a public option that builds on and expands the Affordable Care Act. It would allow those with private insurance to keep it, and provides the option to buy into Medicare at an affordable rate. Eugene also supports automatic enrollment into Medicaid for those who cannot afford insurance.

Eugene knows that too many families are not able to afford the prescription drugs that their families need. As Auditor General, Eugene has worked tirelessly to help lower the cost of prescription drugs and this would be one of his top priorities in Congress.

Specifically, Eugene supports the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act” which is commonsense, bipartisan legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs for all families and seniors. The legislation gives Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare recipients and those on private insurance, saving families thousands of dollars per year.

• Protecting Social Security and Medicare

Eugene knows that hardworking Pennsylvanians have paid into and earned Medicare and Social Security benefits over their whole lives, and that it’s essential to protect these programs.

Eugene opposes the recent proposal to gut these programs because he knows seniors need these programs now more than ever.

In Congress, Eugene will always protect these essential programs from cuts, especially to pay for tax giveaways for the very rich and big corporations.

• Wages and Job Creation

Eugene has a proven record of working to build and create better-paying jobs for all Pennsylvanians. He knows in order to remain competitive in a global economy, we must make sure South Central Pennsylvania offers employers an educated, skilled, and job-ready workforce.

As Auditor General, Eugene conducted an audit of Pennsylvania’s workforce development system that called for a stronger commitment and more effective oversight to ensure Pennsylvania’s vision and goals for workforce development are met.

Eugene will take that same type of leadership to Washington. He supports encouraging greater emphasis on well-paying jobs in skilled trades and he encourages enhancements designed to better help older workers update their skill-sets.

Eugene is advocating for a $15 minimum wage because no one who works full-time should live in poverty because their wages are too low. A family-supporting wage puts more money in our local economy, benefitting local businesses and workers.

• Climate Change and the Environment

Eugene believes that we must take aggressive action to truly tackle the climate change crisis, while creating good clean energy jobs. He knows we must protect our environment and prioritize clean air and water for our children. That’s why he earned the endorsements of the League of Conservation Voters and Clean Water Action Pennsylvania.

Eugene has a long track record of fighting for our environment, including his role as Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, where he was part of the team that helped secure the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act. Later, in the legislature, Eugene sponsored laws to invest in renewable energy projects and tackle climate change. He sponsored and passed with bi-partisan support the Alternative Energy Investment Act.

As Auditor General, Eugene’s first audit was to assess the impact of fracking on the environment and drinking water quality. His audit found that the Department was not prepared to protect drinking water and enforce environmental protections, which led to the Department hiring more inspectors. In November 2019, Eugene released a special report on the fiscal impact of climate change on the state of Pennsylvania. His report found the state is spending millions of dollars annually on climate-related costs and called for an urgent, proactive, and comprehensive strategy to combat climate change.

In Congress, Eugene will focus on investment in alternative energy, including research on smarter energy storage for solar and wind, and a more durable grid. He also supports tax credits to incentivize the use of solar. Ultimately, Eugene’s goal is to have a 100% clean energy economy as quickly as science will allow while ensuring good-paying, family-supporting union jobs.

Eugene is also laser-focused on improving the air and water quality for families in South Central Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River is suffering from over-pollution. Eugene supports improving our stormwater infrastructure and increasing stream buffers to protect our waterways from agricultural runoff to clean it up. Air quality in South Central Pennsylvania is some of the worst in the country and Pennsylvania has the highest premature death rate per capita due to air pollution. If elected, Eugene will demand, regardless of who is in the White House, that the EPA enforce anti-idling regulations along trucking corridors in the district, which are a major contributor to this problem

• Infrastructure

Eugene knows that Pennsylvania’s existing infrastructure is crumbling due to a lack of federal investment, and that we must modernize for the future. Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges are crumbling, rail systems and ports are antiquated and there is a lack of investment in rural broadband, our transit systems and more.

Pennsylvania has extremely high rates of truck traffic as well as extreme weather, which means roads and bridges deteriorate faster than other states. This has led to serious issues in our community, like the poor condition of Route 81 and Route 83.

Eugene supports making long term investments in our public transit systems like rabbittransit in York, Capital Area Transit (CAT) in Cumberland and Dauphin counties, and Amtrak throughout the region.

In Congress, Eugene will fight for a robust, bipartisan infrastructure investment, in order to improve safety and security of our infrastructure and grow our economy. This will include investment in highways, public transit, rural broadband, modernized energy grids, storm resiliency, green energy and more.

Eugene will only support an infrastructure plan that is bought in America and built in America. A strong buy America plan would ensure that steel, concrete and other key components and technology are produced here – ideally in Pennsylvania. And Eugene would only support a plan that is built in America, so that Pennsylvania’s union workers are being put to work with strong wages and strong labor protections throughout.

• Government Reform

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale uncovered more than $1 billion in wasteful government spending by exposing waste, fraud and abuse and by demanding local, county and state governments be more transparent and accountable.

Now he’s dedicated to making reforms in Washington as Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District representative.

Here’s what he intends to do.

End Government Shutdowns

Eugene believes government shutdowns are intolerable and a failure of leadership.

When a government shutdown occurs, not only do citizens lose access to certain government services or programs, but many federal employees and federal contractor employees go without their pay entirely.

Eugene will reach across the aisle to create a bipartisan solution that prevents future government shutdowns. Legislative options to address these issues include:

• End shutdowns all together, by passing legislation that continues appropriations at or near a level—such as 95 percent of current spending—as set in the prior year until a new appropriations measure is enacted by both Chambers
• Enact “No Budget, No Pay” legislation to halt all pay to Members of Congress if they fail to prevent a government shutdown
• Ensure workers deemed to be “essential” during a government shutdown continue receiving their paychecks
• Establish provisions to guarantee that furloughed federal employees and employees of government contractors receive back pay for work that was suspended during a government shutdown

Make Congress More Transparent and Accountable

When Eugene was a state legislator he was the first-ever to publicly post all of his expenses online for citizens to see. As state Auditor General, he was the first statewide public official to do the same. In Congress, Eugene will demand more federal government transparency:

• Require both U.S. Senate and House members to post their expenses quarterly on their official member site to enable the public to more easily scrutinize how their elected officials are managing their offices and staff
• Require members of Congress and the President to annually release their tax returns so that citizens can see the sources of their income, the amount of taxes they paid, the types of deductions or credits they took, and the extent of their charitable contributions
• Eugene will support new federal legislation that establishes stronger standards to address sexual harassment complaints brought against Members of Congress and provides for more appropriate transparency.
• In addition, Eugene will join the Congressional Transparency Caucus, which has been working to improve the American people’s access to government information, including how taxpayers’ funds are spent, government agency actions, and disclosure by regulated entities.

Reform the Influence of Money in Politics

Eugene believes members of Congress are accountable to the citizens that elect them — and not to special interests.

Wealthy special interests have too much power because money in politics is corrupting our system. Eugene believes campaign finance reform is needed to make our system more transparent and fair.

Eugene will support legislation that ends the corrupting influence created by the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” case. Special interests and wealthy donors are currently allowed to spend millions to influence campaigns and public policy without disclosing who is funding their efforts. Eugene believes all campaign finance must be transparent, with all donors disclosed and all disbursements disclosed.

Eugene will seek bipartisan ways to improve accountability in campaign financing. This may include working with officials at both the state and national levels to make incremental campaign financing disclosure changes, as well as working with legal experts to explore how to restore American’s faith in the democratic process at the national level.

Eugene has a proven record of taking on entrenched bureaucrats and the status quo to fight for more government transparency and accountability. He’s running for Congress to continue his fight, to reform Washington so that it works for people here at home, and not for just the wealthy and special interests.

• Law Enforcement Accountability

The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, among others have awoken the nation to the injustices our Black colleagues, neighbors and friends have understood for far too long, especially when it comes to interactions with police Eugene recognizes the systemic racism faced by Black Americans here in PA-10 and across the country, has a long, entrenched history that will require significant reforms to begin to correct.

Throughout his time in public service, Eugene has been guided by the core principle that accountability makes people and institutions better. As Auditor General, Eugene released a slate of suggested reforms that would decrease rates of incarceration in the commonwealth, such as keeping nonviolent drug offenders out of prison, avoiding returning nonviolent parole violators to jail, and reforming the cash bail system that disproportionately keeps low income defendants behind bars. The suggested reforms would save Pennsylvania taxpayers $100 million that can be reinvested into reentry programs that help returning individuals successfully transition and reduce rates of recidivism.

The slate of recommended reforms include:

1. Magisterial district justices should be trained on the current disparities and harmful outcomes of the cash bail system.

2. Any use of a risk-assessment tool to determine pre-trial detention should be balanced by the use of a needs-assessment tool to determine what basic human needs a person has – such as the need for food, shelter or clothing — to be released pre-trial and not reoffend.

3. Court officials must work with police, district attorneys, public defenders, health officials, probation and parole officers and more to create robust systems that identify defendants who need help, not punishment, to prevent recidivism.

4. County courts should implement diversionary courts, especially those for drug treatment, mental health and veterans.

5. County commissioners and prison boards should work together to standardize medical services based on best practices. For example, labor and delivery policies should be standardized so that a consistent level of care and safety is present across the state and so that care is guaranteed in case of complications.

6. At the state and county levels, screenings for mental health histories, substance abuse histories and sexually transmitted diseases should be automatically performed at intake.

7. Congress should expand the Second Chance Pell Program and provide for more federal student aid in prisons.

8. The General Assembly should pass a law ensuring that people with criminal records cannot be automatically disqualified from obtaining professional licenses unless the crime committed relates to the practice of that profession.

9. The General Assembly should reintroduce and pass the Pennsylvania Second Chance Jobs Act so that the Department of Labor and Industry can develop and maintain a website where formerly incarcerated people can search for and apply to jobs.

10. County probation needs to be better funded so that probation officers can better support the people they supervise and help them meet the terms of their supervision. Probation should be about providing people with ways to address mistakes that amount to technical violations.

11. State and county officials should work together to reallocate resources to counties so they can provide support services to people on probation or parole.

12. The state Constitution should be amended so that the Board of Pardons requires, at minimum, a majority vote, not a unanimous vote, to send pardon and clemency recommendations to the governor in cases with sentences of life imprisonment or death.

Eugene has voiced his support for the passage in Congress of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020. A framework of federal reforms to address disparities in policing of minority communities.

The Justice in Policing Act would ban the use of chokeholds by police officers, limit the transfer of military-grade weapons, like tanks, to local police departments, and reform qualified immunity, which shields police officers who engage in misconduct from accountability.

Key provisions of the bill include:

1. Ban the use of chokeholds

2. Ban the use of “no-knock” warrants

3. Requires deadly force be used as a last resort

4. Requires broader use of body cameras and dashboard cameras

5. Reforms qualified immunity that shields bad police officers from accountability

6. Limits the transfer of military-grade weapons to local police departments such as tanks

7. Establishes a national registry of law enforcement misconduct

8. Designates lynching as a federal crime

Eugene also supports the establishment of community review boards, with representatives appointed by local officials such as Mayors and City Councils, in consultation with community leaders. The review board would provide civilian oversight and guidance of law enforcement especially in cases of policing tactics, police brutality and excessive use of force.

• Trade

Eugene believes for far too long, everyday Americans have been screwed by unfair trade deals, where Washington has negotiated out of positions of weakness instead of strength. Trade deals like NAFTA promised to expand economic opportunity for middle class families, but instead left districts like PA-10 behind and gutted American manufacturing that regions like South Central Pennsylvania relied upon.

Eugene supports President Trump’s tougher stance on countries such as China that engage in currency manipulation to artificially cheapen the price of exports, while placing tariffs on imports. These duplicitous practices undercut our industries at home, and weaken their ability to expand their sales abroad. Eugene knows that when American companies and workers compete in a fair environment, they succeed.

Eugene will also advocate for trade deals that give Americans a fair shake. Our domestic market is the envy of the world, and if foreign countries and companies want access, they must give American consumers, and companies, equal value. Such as equal access to their markets for our products, fair evaluation of our currency and theirs, and humane worker protections, that protect the human rights of their domestic workers, and prevent countries like China and Bangladesh from utilizing sweatshop conditions to artificially cheapen the cost of labor and attract U.S. jobs abroad.

Finally, Eugene will fight for “Sell Here, Produce Here” legislation that requires companies that sell substantial amount of goods in our country, to have a certain percentage of their production take place right here in our borders, employing hard working Americans.

As Congressman, Eugene’s number one priority will be the hard working men and women of PA-10.

• COVID-19 Containment and Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most disruptive force to American life in generations, taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, sickening millions of others, causing an economic downturn that surpasses that of the Great Recession of 2008, and stretching our healthcare system to its limit.

Addressing the public health and economic effects of COVID-19 is the single most pressing issue before our country today. Eugene understands that, seeing the devastation the virus has caused across our community. In Congress, Eugene would advocate for policies to:

• Develop, manufacture, and distribute a vaccine.
• Ensure we have American-made Personal Protective Equipment, to keep our first responders and frontline health care workers healthy.
• Provide federal aid to families and small businesses to help them get through the economic fallout from the virus, and thrive again.
• Fight for affordable, accessible health care and to protect people with pre-existing conditions like asthma, cancer and even COVID-19.
• Ensure state and local governments have emergency aid to recover, avoid major tax increases and have the ability to pay workers like first responders.
• Invest in the jobs of our future, like a major infrastructure bill, to put Pennsylvanians back to work and rebuild our roads and bridges, invest in hospitals and internet.
• In Congress, Eugene will fight every day to ensure that America is utilizing all its immunology research and development resources to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Eugene recognizes this as the single most important step to end the threat of COVID-19. :*He will also work to ensure the vaccine continues to be developed in a transparent manner so Americans can have faith in its safety and effectiveness.

Eugene will strongly encourage the President to employ his powers under the Defense Production Act to ensure that Personal Protective Equipment production is sizably increased and distributed to all classifications of healthcare workers, and Americans in the public and private sectors. He will also advocate for more rapid testing and increase the amount of supplies necessary to expand testing capacity. He also will work to support a comprehensive test and contact tracing system that has proven effective in other countries that have been successful in containing the spread of the virus.

Eugene will also fight to maintain protections for pre-existing conditions, so no American is ever denied coverage due to any long-term effects from COVID-19, and expand access to quality, affordable, healthcare to ensure Americans can receive the treatment they need.

Countless families in our community and across the country have also been touched by the economic devastation brought on by COVID-19. Eugene sees it as imperative that our federal government does everything possible to help Americans overcome the hardships they are facing through no fault of their own.

Eugene will advocate for the continuation of stimulus measures such as direct payments to families, an extension of increased unemployment benefits, another round of PPP funds for struggling small businesses, and increased oversight so the money goes where it should, not to corporations or well-connected lobbyists.

Eugene understands how critical the heroism of frontline workers has been to keeping our communities safe and healthy. That is why he will advocate for increased state and local funding in any future economic relief packages to ensure our police officers, firefighters, and other first responders are paid, as they selflessly serve our communities.

Eugene will fight for a large scale infrastructure investment to create well paying, blue-collar jobs, that put PA-10 residents back to work and provide a long-overdue overhaul to our roads and bridges. Eugene knows the road to recovery will be long, and he will always keep the needs of American families, not special interests, at the forefront of his work in Congress.

• Education

Eugene knows that investing in our schools is the most important step we can take to ensure our future prosperity as a country and equip our children with the skills they will need to compete in a 21st century economy.

However, Eugene knows that before we can make schools better, the first step is to get them back open. Eugene has called on Congress to pass legislation that will provide funding to allow schools to open safely, such as money to provide personal protective equipment for teachers, staff, and students; plexiglass dividers between desks; and smaller class sizes to allow for social distancing. Eugene will allow public health experts and educators to lead the process of reopening to ensure it is safe and sustainable for our children, teachers, staff, and community at large.

As Auditor General, Eugene helped lead the fight for a fair funding formula that brought increased funding per pupil for rural and urban school districts. He also audited large charter school management companies and brought attention to tens of millions of unspent public education dollars and state laws that prohibited transparency on whether those dollars are used to pad the salaries of corporate executives, instead of educating our children.

As a strong advocate for public schools, Eugene will take those same fights to Congress, proposing legislation to increase funds for grant programs administered by the Department of Education, leverage those dollars in more creative ways to incentivize further investment of state dollars into schools, and ensure the federal government is fully meeting its commitment to fund special education under the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education) Act.

Eugene has also vowed to hold Education Secretary Betsy Devos accountable, and stand up to her pro-privatization agenda. Eugene will be vocal in his opposition to any attempt to undermine or voucherize our public education system.

Eugene also believes in investing in our teachers, supporting an across-the-board wage increase, along with more support for teachers pursuing advanced degrees in fields related to the subject they teach. Such investments will attract even more talent to a vocation as important as any other: educating our kids.^[20]