By Tom Waring
Wire Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick and Democratic hopefuls Kevin Strouse and Shaughnessy Naughton this week filed nominating petitions to have their names placed on the May 20 primary ballot in the 8th Congressional District.
The district includes all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County.
Fitzpatrick will run unopposed in the Republican primary. He filed about 5,500 signatures by the March 11 deadline.
Strouse delivered about 2,500 signatures of registered Democrats to Harrisburg.
Naughton finished with about 3,125 signatures.
“Voters in Bucks and Montgomery counties deserve a leader who will actually fight to get them back to work,” Naughton said. “Fitzpatrick’s answer to the problems facing middle-class families is to waste time with other House Republicans voting a 50th time to repeal the Affordable Care Act. His constituents are fed up with their do-nothing congressman and are entitled to a leader who isn’t a career politician. I will work tirelessly to provide Eighth District voters real solutions rather than empty rhetoric.”
••
Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley filed for re-election to a second term with signatures from all 67 counties.
Corbett filed with 27,747 signatures, including more than 100 collected in 50 counties. Cawley, a former Bucks County commissioner, filed with 26,680 signatures.
“Over the last three years, we have kept our promises and put Pennsylvania on the path to a brighter future by reforming Harrisburg, keeping taxes low and creating more than 150,000 private sector jobs,” Corbett said. “I am humbled by the tireless commitment of our grassroots supporters who showed their enthusiasm for our campaign and are working to give us four more years to continue fighting for our agenda of ‘More Jobs, Less Taxes.’ It has been an honor to serve the people of Pennsylvania, and I look forward to the bright future that lies just ahead for our commonwealth.”
Cawley added, “Pennsylvania is stronger today because of the tough decisions Gov. Tom Corbett made to put us back on a path toward prosperity, and I look forward to serving with him a second term. Pennsylvanians can’t afford to return to the tax-and-spend policies our opponents support, and I am confident that voters will soundly reject their attempts to bring the Obama-style, big government agenda to Harrisburg.”
••
Fitzpatrick is pleased with the unanimous House passage of the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act.
For tax purposes, volunteer firefighters are considered full-time employees.
Obamacare requires businesses with more than 50 employees to offer health coverage.
Lawmakers were concerned that their fire departments, already facing financial restraints, would have to offer health coverage.
“While the Internal Revenue Service clarified the rule earlier in the year, it was appropriate for the Congress to take action simply because the administration has shown a willingness to make changes on the fly,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick was an original co-sponsor of the legislation and last October petitioned the IRS for a clarification regarding the regulations.
In January, the IRS responded to Fitzpatrick’s letter, assuring him that “[F]inal regulations generally will not require volunteer hours of bona fide volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel at governmental entities or tax-exempt organizations to be counted when determining an employer’s full-time employees or full-time equivalent employees.”
In other news, Fitzpatrick cheered Senate passage of the Gabrielle Miller Kids First Research Act. He co-sponsored the bill in the House.
“This common-sense piece of legislation prioritizes funding for scientific research of pediatric diseases and disorders — from cancer to autism — by eliminating taxpayer funding for the Republican and Democratic national conventions,” he said. “As a cosponsor of this bill — and a member of the Congressional Autism and Rare Disease caucuses — I applaud the Senate’s vote and urge the president to take swift action to ensure we’re putting our children ahead of party politics.”
