Not enough has been said about Stacy Garrity, Republican gubernatorial candidate. Her impressive military career began in 1986 with the United States Army Reserve, reaching the final rank of Colonel. She was deployed 3 times and was nicknamed “The Angel of the Desert” for her compassion when dealing with the prisoners housed at Camp Bucca. Garrity also earned 2 Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit.

Since 2020, Stacy has served as the PA State Treasurer. She is committed to making PA more affordable, which can be easily done by expanding the Commonwealth’s energy infrastructure, a move her opponent is wholeheartedly against. We are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas, and to date, it remains under our feet. You CAN have great energy resources while protecting the environment.

Stacy has a plan to reduce property taxes called HOPE for PA. It will redirect existing state spending, investment accounts, and interest earnings toward property tax rebates for homeowners. It will reduce the property tax burden by one-third within the first two years and rein in government growth that drives up local property taxes. The plan also supports first-time homebuyers through a new program in which the Commonwealth covers up to 3% of mortgage interest rates.

Another critical area of her focus is our children. PA is at the bottom of the barrel in education. 50% of third graders cannot read at grade level, yet we are spending more than $23,000 per student. As treasurer, she has seen how our money is being spent and what is and what is not working. She plans to provide scholarship programs that will unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to expand access to tutoring, literacy, and STEM programs; help students escape failing schools; and increase opportunity. (Josh Shapiro is against school choice — why? The teachers’ union?)

And she will root out waste and fraud. Josh Shapiro once claimed state government is riddled with $3 billion in fraud. Instead of addressing fraud as attorney general, he focused on increasing state spending as governor — risking even more waste.

Patricia Seyford

Palmerton