Candidates for the state House's 76th disagree on major issues

Oct. 17—Republican incumbent Stephanie Borowicz is seeking her third term in office representing the 76th District in the Pennsylvania State House but a third term will mean new constituents if she prevails. Borowicz is pitted against Democrat Denise Maris, seeking her first term in office.

While Borowicz is seeking a third term, it will be her first representing the Valley if she wins. The 76th District now covers all of Clinton County and Buffalo, Hartley, Kelly, Lewis, Limestone and West Buffalo townships and Hartleton, Lewisburg, Mifflinburg and New Berlin in Union County.

Maris and Borowicz are diametrically opposed on most of the key issues that they are likely to confront in upcoming sessions.

Maris and Borowicz have divergent views on the 2020 presidential election.

Democrat Denise Maris, of Renovo, said the 2020 presidential election results were correct and that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in Pennsylvania.

But Borowicz believes that "there are questions that need to be answered as to the unconstitutional actions of the Secretary of State and Supreme Court who added three days to the election, added drop boxes and allowed for the curing of ballots.

"The Legislature should create election laws not the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania or the Secretary of State," Borowicz said.

Minimum wage

About raising the minimum wage, Borowicz said, "I am not for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. I feel it will place a huge burden on our small businesses, who have already struggled because of the Gov. Wolf shutdown of our economy."

Maris thinks it is a good thing to raise the minimum wage.

"It would be important for our families in our district to be able to earn money that would help them afford the cost of living," Maris said. "When we received the stimulus during the pandemic studies showed that much money went back into our economy. So raising the minimum wage would help infuse money into our economy."

About abortion, "I stand for life," Borowicz said firmly, without equivocating. "I believe every life is precious and worth protecting. Every unborn baby has a right to life."

Maris thinks the decision is one that should be made between a woman and her partner. "I will never understand why the need for government interference. It is a woman's decision."

Agreement on education

Education funding is an issue that will likely come before the House. Here, there is some agreement between Maris and Borowicz.

"I believe in education funding," Borowicz said. "It is why we spend almost $20,000 a year per student in Pennsylvania. Our problem is not money; it is a matter of getting back to the basics again in our schools. Education is reading, writing and arithmetic, not indoctrination."

"I think school districts should be funded," Maris said. "An educated workforce helps our district bring new industries into our area. So yeah, we should have funding for our schools. Certainly, our kids will need to be able to compete globally. To cut our funding would be basically like cutting our nose to spite our faces."

With the pandemic, Maris continued, "we now have a teacher shortage. So, if you cut funding the teacher shortage will get worse."

Strong views

Gun reform is often talked about nationally and locally.

Borowicz and Maris both have strong views on the subject.

"Gun reform is an improper way of describing it," Borowicz said emphatically. "It is not gun reform; it is gun control. I do not support gun control. The Second Amendment is clear — it 'Shall not be infringed.'"

Maris has equally strong opinions.

"I am a gun safety advocate," a view shared by the Moms Demand Action group, she said. "I am pretty sure that people who are responsible gun owners do not have issues if there is something that is in our community that makes us safe.

"It is harder to get a job in some cases than it is to buy a gun. How does that work?"

About energy, Borowicz said, "We must be energy independent. Pennsylvania is one of the most important keys to the energy independence for our whole country. Open the pipelines again, drill and quit relying on foreign countries for our energy. God has given us, right here in PA, an abundance of natural resources."

Maris believes the best scenario is to "have a good balance between traditional energy sources and more modern sources.

"Why not use the natural resources that we have currently on our planet to help fuel our homes and our vehicles?"

Maris believes that climate change is here, "and it's getting worse. So we have to be more proactive than reactive in how we deal with that."