As one of 10 children and the first in her family to attend college, Katie McGinty said she has lived the American Dream and wants others to have that opportunity as well.
“I am in this race really for one critically important reason and that is that the middle class in this country is shrinking down to the point of almost non-existence, and I think the strength of our country depends on us turning that around,” McGinty said Friday during a campaign visit to The Republican-Herald. “For me, it is a basic equation. If you work hard, you should be able to get ahead in this country. Any kid willing to give it their all and try their best, they should be able to achieve their dreams. I don’t think that is just a Hallmark sentiment. I think our economic security and national security are now in the balance until we give hard-working families a shot again.”
McGinty, 52, of Wayne, Chester County, is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the April 26 primary election. The winner will then seek to replace incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey in the Nov. 8 General Election.
“I think we are only strong abroad as we are at home,” McGinty said.
While Toomey has been outspoken against the Obama administration’s plan to lift economic sanctions against Iran if the country reduces its nuclear program, McGinty said the agreement could cripple the country’s nuclear abilities if enforced. Meanwhile, Toomey has claimed that the agreement will free billions of dollars to fund terrorism.
“I think Iran is a country that can not be trusted and can not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons,” McGinty said. “I think the opportunity the nuclear deal brought was to cripple Iran’s nuclear abilities. It is now on us to ensure that the agreement is aggressively enforced and to take immediate and severe action for any infraction that Iran might attempt under that deal.”
McGinty also said she supported the need of sanctions for Iran’s ballistic missiles, which the president has since approved.
“We need to keep in mind what some people, including Sen. Toomey, led us into in supporting the Iraq War,” McGinty said. “The world has been set on fire by a war that was unjustified and we are dealing now with consequences of that, including a strengthened Iran.”
McGinty also supported action to destroy ISIS and said that Republican leaders have refused the authorization of war and actions to track down terroristic financing.
As secretary for the state Department of Environmental Protection during Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration and as chair of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality during President Bill Clinton’s administration, McGinty said she has worked to protect the environment while creating jobs. She said the state has some of the toughest regulations to protect clean air and water and it has become first in the country in wind energy production and third in solar energy while creating 3,000 new clean energy manufacturing jobs.
“I think that we need to have a diverse mix of energy resources if for no other reason than to ensure against being sitting ducks if the price of one energy spiked up,” McGinty said. “We shouldn’t put all our energy resources in any single basket.”
“I think education and jobs are really the two pillars to rebuilding the middle class,” McGinty said.
McGinty said that she would work with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in establishing universal pre-K.
“Every study shows that for every $1 in good, early education, saves $8 later on,” she said.
“Another way I’d love to see us save money when it comes to making education a more quality experience for kids is backing off these excessive number of expensive and anxiety producing mandatory standardized tests,” McGinty said. “This is something that really takes the oxygen out of the room and the real inspiration out of the classroom, plus it costs a lot of money, millions of dollars that would be much better invested in a quality educational experience for kids.”
On Feb. 3, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation providing a two-year delay in using the Keystone Exams as graduation requirements. The exams will still continue to be administered to meet federal accountability rules, however, state officials will use the next six months to research other testing methods and alternative methods for vocational students and report its findings with a recommendation to the Department of Education.
“We need a much more inclusive and holistic way to assess whether or not our schools are doing the job in nurturing the capabilities our kids are going to need to succeed,” McGinty said.
McGinty said she also wants to keep the costs of post-secondary education in check.
“This is an urgent situation,” she said. “We in Pennsylvania are fortunate enough to have some of best colleges and universities, but they also happen to be the third most expensive in the country. Our kids are third highest in debt when they leave the school.”
McGinty said that unlike Toomey, she would vote to allow students to refinance their college debt. She also said she wants to keep the cost of health care down and allow Medicare to negotiate prescription costs with pharmaceutical companies.
“We are the only major country in the world that does not allow our Medicare system to negotiate on the basis of our big purchasing power and therefore we pay costs that are many times greater than any other county for our prescription drugs.”
McGinty said she supported Medicaid expansion and giving clients more home- and community-based care options.
“My focus on rebuilding the middle class is about giving people the tools they need to succeed and then putting people to work,” she said. “Education, health care and social security are tools. We can be the leader in clean, high-tech manufacturing. You give Pennsylvania a decent education and skill development and we will compete and succeed and beat anyone else around the planet in delivering goods and services that are the best in the world.”
McGinty received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Joseph’s University in 1985 and her juris doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1988. She served as Wolf’s chief of staff until announcing her candidacy for Senate in August 2014.
McGinty previously sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2014. She resides in Wayne with her husband, Karl Hausker and their three daughters.