“I haven’t taken any money from the leadership and that’s why I know I will be an independent voice, I won’t have to answer to that,” Leisey said.

Leisey, an honorably discharge soldier who served in Iraq; and Brubaker, current and founding executive director of U.S. Landcare, a non-profit encouraging community conservation activities, are vying to fill the 36th District seat soon to be vacated by Senator Noah Wenger.

“I find that very offensive-I think you either have integrity or not. They offered me a contribution knowing what my position on the pay raise was. I will never vote for a pay raise, I will not vote for pension,” Brubaker said.
Because Wheaton was able to personally finance her own campaign, Brubaker said it was the only way to be able to compete with her.

“The only way to compete was to go into my network of friends and allies and ask them to help contribute to my campaign. To date, I have those approximate numbers, all the details of my financial reports were submitted to Harrisburg on time, every time and a courtesy hard copy downtown to Lancaster,” Brubaker said, adding that if lawmakers do take money, they need to be transparent.

The debate lasted for an hour and a half and was led by a panel of judges, Judy Strausbaugh, political writer for the Lancaster Sunday News; Larry Burkhart, retired Lancaster County School District Superintendent; and Ben Simmoneau, Harrisburg reporter for WGAL-TV.

Property tax relief

Property tax relief, as Brubaker pointed out, is the major issue in the 36th District.

“We got to get our property tax situation under control. But, I don’t know how we can get property taxes under control without controlling spending first.”

He said the blame lies with both Democrats and Republicans as the budget was increased eight percent, or $2 billion in additional spending.

“Step one is to control spending and step two is to take a very close look at the referendum on the May ballot,”
Brubaker said.

Property taxes raise approximately $11 million around the state to fund school districts, he said, but eliminating property taxes is not feasible because it may raise other taxes.

“In 2011, Jack Wagner, auditor general, said that in 2011, our state-he sees a storm coming and it’s going to rain all over the tax payers and its in the form of the pensions that our state employers are getting,” he said, adding later that he doesn’t think lawmakers should receive pensions.

“I thought of proposals and I’m not totally committed to any one thing yet because I’m totaling ideas I’m getting in from people in the district,” Leisey said.

Candidates were asked if they would have voted for the property tax relief bill in June.

“I would have voted for it because there wasn’t anything else put on the table and this is going to help seniors,” Leisey said.

Brubaker said he would have voted against it.

“When you start talking about fixing a problem with gambling- I got to just tell you, it’s incomprehensible to me is what it is,” Brubaker said. “Can we really generate a billion dollars, can we really generate 50 percent profits to go to property tax reduction? Here we are kicking this thing off and we don’t even have gaming revenues identified yet.”

Leisey added that, if elected, he would propose an audit of slots after five years time and put a question on the ballot to see if it should be kept as a solution for property tax reform.

Gun control
With regards to the recent Amish school house shootings, while both candidates agree that it was a terrible tragedy, they both are members of the NRA and will continue to support the rights of responsible gun owners.

“I don’t believe it was a random act of violence,” Leisey said. “I don’t think any gun law could stop something like that from happening.”

Brubaker said he will not change his position based on the incident.

“I believe the individual committed the crime, not the gun and that we need to double our efforts to make sure when crimes are committed at the hand of a gun, to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

Farmland preservation
Preserving farm land and promoting agriculture was something the candidates could agree on.

Leisey said he believes the Blue Ribbon Committee that Brubaker sits on, can help identify the steps to preserving farmland and thinks road projects like Route 23 should improve the existing highway instead of destroying farmland to improve it.

“I don’t think that’s a responsible use of open space,” Leisey said. “The people working land here have been doing so for 300 years and to just take land from them and slap down a highway, that is not a responsible use of the land.”

Brubaker said that of the 50 Senate seats, the 36th District seat is the largest gross revenue, in excess of $500 million.

“Agriculture is no small deal in Lancaster County,” Brubaker said. “Ag is under threat because of land value.”

Farmers are unable to buy corn and soybeans, thus having to rely on animals to pay for the land.

“Pennsylvania is one of the most animal intensive counties in the country,” Brubaker said. “We have real, real issues.
“As we preserve more land in the future, I think we’re going to have a lot more studies on where the best land is to preserve.”

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