Carroll cites project victories as example of his commitment

Mike Carroll's work in the state Legislature extends beyond Harrisburg, the three-term incumbent Democrat said.

There's a role for a state representative that goes beyond casting votes on bills and amendments, Carroll said. And that is you become an ambassador and an advocate for your communities in substantive ways … the state (representative) certainly is a catch-all for problem solving.

Carroll said that role has been particularly important in Luzerne County, where smaller municipal governments often don't have the resources to answer all the questions and solve all the problems residents approach them with.

Carroll, the Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways, named three projects he has successfully brought to his district through earmarks: the reconstruction of Commerce Road in Pittston Township and Dupont, the planned construction of a new airport access road in Avoca and the repair of a dam on Boy Scout camp property in Tobyhanna Township in the Monroe County portion of his district.

There are a whole series of other victories that somebody like me gets in terms of dealing with the 15 communities (in the 118th district) that are much less noteworthy as far as dollars and cents go that are much more important as far as communities go, he said, naming a Duryea flood wall project as an example of such a smaller project.

Carroll said he would continue to make investing in transportation infrastructure a priority if reelected. He said investment in infrastructure creates construction jobs, and would partially alleviate high unemployment in the region and around Pennsylvania.

Carroll supports the state Transportation Funding Advisory Commission's plan to increase funding for transportation, which recommends increasing vehicle and driver license fees and changing the way fuel is taxed among other measures, even if those recommendations are unpopular.

I know that there will be no pep rallies for Mike Carroll if I cast a vote like that, but it seems to me that we are paying a very high price and we could pay a very high price in the future with respect to our transportation network if we just let it fall apart, Carroll said.

Carroll named increasing state funding for education and the Marcellus Shale as two other key issues for the state and his campaign.

The issues are interrelated, Carroll said, because the state would have more money to invest in education if it had enacted a severance tax on gas extraction on par with the rate charged by other states.

Carroll voted against Act 13, the state natural gas impact fee law, because he felt the revenues fall short of adequately compensating the state and municipalities for the impact of gas drilling and because of restrictions on local zoning authority.

Carroll, a member of the House Education Committee, favors increasing the state's contribution to education funding, and said he voted against the last two Harrisburg budgets because they unfairly targeted those that need a safety net more than others with cuts.

Carroll said he is aware the economic slowdown that started in 2008 has negatively impacted the state's revenue, but said the current administration has shown its priorities in deciding what to cut and what to preserve in light of those budget constraints, naming tax incentives for the ethane cracker Shell is considering building outside Pittsburgh an example.