Rob Mercuri

Life is sacred and the way we care for the most vulnerable lives among us is a reflection of our society’s compassion and strength. That’s why I’m proud to stand with women, families, and the unborn as a pro-life candidate in the race for State House. With Roe v. Wade (1973) now relegated to the ash heap of American judicial history, the legal concept of prenatal subhuman status joins other flawed Supreme Court decisions representing outdated concepts of human rights, including landmark cases overturned in ages past, such as Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which wrongly declared slaves subhuman and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which wrongly legalized segregation. When it comes to the issue of abortion our main focus needs to be compassion for everyone involved. I am pro-life and I support the heartbeat bill, which protects the beating heart of the most vulnerable citizens, I also understand and would advocate for specific exceptions in cases with extreme circumstances, including when the mother did not have a choice at conception as well as when the life of the mother is at risk. With these decisions now left to the states, I believe we can make meaningful advances to support newly created life, such as funding crisis pregnancy centers, expanding safe haven baby boxes, and reforming paid family leave. I am proud to have helped advance several of these initiatives during my time in the state house and look forward to continuing these efforts to preserve life and support new mothers as they start families in Pennsylvania.

Strongly Agree

Disagree

Our tax code should demonstrate to businesses and citizens considering a move to Pennsylvania that we are open for business. Along with the historic corporate net income tax cut this year, we committed to continuous drawdowns of the corporate income tax rate of .5% per year if we meet certain revenue and growth targets. It’s critical that we meet these targets and continue to draw down our rate so that we have a competitive position compared to surrounding states. We must continue our low flat tax personal income rate and align our state business taxes with federal business taxes when it comes to asset depreciation and net loss deductions that carry forward in the same way as the federal code. This reduces complexity and makes us more competitive drawing in business and jobs to our state.

From my time as a business owner and in the private sector, I know that budgetary expenses have a way of expanding to fill the void. We must be very conscious of this effect in every government agency and every year look to reduce government waste, prevent fraud and encourage and incentivize efficiencies across our bloated administrative state. We have record funding levels in every department and every state program, and we are still told by department heads and administrators that it’s not enough. In the private sector, innovation is the key to solving problems, attracting customers, and delivering services. We must renew our organizational drive towards innovation and efficiency in government and create a lower cost, lower overhead, and better service experience for each citizen.

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Our founders in their wisdom guaranteed the right to free exercise of religion in the first amendment to our Constitution. This right is inviolable and therefore the government should never be allowed to prevent the practice of religious observance or the free exercise of deeply held religious beliefs in our society.

C: Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary.

Public health mandates must come with common sense exceptions and accommodate religious, philosophical, and medical rationale for legally declining a vaccine. The right to decline medical treatment and exercise one’s medical freedom should be enshrined in law. This concept was violated blatantly during the pandemic and many deeply held beliefs were trampled and careers damaged in the process. We can and must do better during any future health crisis.

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, America took bold steps to secure our people at home, in the skies, and abroad. We fought on their turf and in clandestine operations for over two decades with much sacrifice and bloodshed to secure our footing and reduce the threat from Islamic terrorism. We must continue to invest militarily in long-reach capabilities to ensure that our enemies know that we will go to any length to defend our people and our homeland. We also must strengthen our resolve to oppose radical and dangerous regimes around the world, including those of Russia, Iran, and North Korea as well as keeping unfriendly alliances in check through limited trade policies and naval and merchant marine enforcement in the South China Sea, Pacific, and elsewhere. This posture of peace through strength and security through preparedness will serve us well headed into the third decade after 9/11.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

The United States is a beacon of freedom to nations the world over, and we should be welcoming all people who want to come and be contributing members to our society. That said, those allowed to enter our country should only be those people who went through the proper channels and have the correct legal standing to do so.

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

Agree

The reason we traditionally consecrate marriages in places of religious expression is that the union between a man and a woman in marriage is not only part of our natural design but it is essential to our family structure and societal foundation. Balancing the preservation of this deeply held religious belief with alternative belief systems is necessary in a free society and something we can absolutely accomplish with civility and tolerance.

Strongly Disagree

I was raised by loving parents who from an early age instilled in me the values of family and faith. I used that example from my parents and my upbringing as a Christian as a guiding light to walk a path of service dedicated to helping others. It's why I joined the military right after graduating high school, it's how my wife and I are raising our three children, and it's what led me to run for public office. In a time where signs spring up yard to yard trying to draw the ire of "the other side," I believe we as Christians, in the political space especially, have a unique opportunity to hold up and exemplify the tenants of "what it means to be a good neighbor " and "loving our neighbor as we love ourselves" and if we do that our political discourse would improve, our conversations would have more depth, and we would truly understand that we are not enemies.

Disagree

Simply put we need voter ID laws. Polls clearly show that over 2/3 of the public support these policies yet they have not been enacted by the current Governor's administration. The idea of preserving our democratic process should not be controversial and ensuring one person one vote by way of voter ID is the most ironclad way to ensure the security of every election.

All behavior that diminishes the inherent and equal value of every human life in our great country creates opportunities for domestic instability. We must value all life as sacred and equal in order to maximize peace throughout the land. We can do this by caring for our neighbors, helping those in need, and creating policies that provide opportunity pathways throughout the economy and our education system for everyone to have the ability to succeed with the right combination of hard work, mentorship, and encouragement.

Strongly Disagree

A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy.

Strongly Agree

Government should serve the people, not the other way around. Our unrivaled Constitution offers significant protections against government intrusion, a crucial division of powers, and an incomparable system of checks and balances. Such systems put in place by the founders, which I agree with, were aimed at ensuring that legitimate government operates only by the consent of the governed, and under the wise assumption that government is more efficient and less corrupt when it is limited in size and scope.

Conservative

https://triblive.com/local/state-rep-rob-mercuri-of-pine-secures-gop-nomination-in-uncontested-primary-race/

No.

One thing I would like voters to know about me is that I am always available via email, phone, or office inquiry to talk about the issues affecting you and/or your families. Being able to serve the community I grew up in is important to me, so I welcome your thoughts on how we can do that together. In Harrisburg, I plan on continuing to fight for fiscal responsibility, responsible expansion of the energy industry, educational choices for our students, and making sure we do away with burdensome bureaucratic red tape. Moving our community forward will take time, but I believe my legislative priorities provide a good starting framework for how we can improve the lives of not just the people in our region but for us all.

Agree

Strongly Disagree

The second amendment to our Constitution not only provides for the right to bear arms but also requires us inherently to bear them responsibly. We need and in fact already have robust restrictions, background checks, and common sense prohibitions on gun ownership today. The scourge of gun violence in our country is not caused or allowed by these laws. Instead, we must focus on the social dynamics that create instability and encourage our neighbors to reach out to those who are isolated among us. In every community, there are marginalized people who will respond to the outreach of someone who cares. This is the best and only way to eliminate hate and its resulting violence from our communities while preserving our freedoms.

Strongly Disagree