Compare The Candidates

You have a choice this November. Compare the differences between Garret and the other candidates -- who will actually represent your values?

Environment and Climate

Garret: NO Kulik: DOUBLE YES

Kulik voted YES to give petrochemicals a multi-billion dollar bailout with HB 1100, then turned around and did it again with another YES vote on HB 732. Garret opposes subsidies and bailouts to oil, gas, petrochemicals. Public spending should go to a Green New Deal to clean up our environment and address climate change, not bailout toxic industry.

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

Kulik voted YES to roll back important oil and gas regulations that protect our water. Garret opposes this bill's attempt to roll back important regulations that protect our right to clean water. This bill is designed to "revive" the convention oil and gas industry when we should instead be switching to renewable energy to protect our health and the planet.

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

Kulik voted YES to restrict the ability of the Department of Environmental Protection from implementing carbon limits or joining the RGGI on its own. While Garret is skeptical that a market-based proposal like the RGGI will yield the climate results we want, Garret also believes that this bill was largely about restricting DEP's ability to act against fossil fuel emissions in the future more than anything else. As such, Garret would have opposed this bill. Garret prefers the Green New Deal as the best solution to climate emissions by transitioning our economy away from fossil fuels entirely.

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

Kulik is a co-sponsor of this bill. Garret opposes the bill and agrees with a Better Path Coalition analysis that shows Restore PA is a bad idea for our economy, our environment, and our health.

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

Kulik voted YES on this bill that tries to lump polluting activities like burning plastics into a new category called "advanced recycling". Garret opposes the bill and agrees with a report published by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives showing how harmful the bill is. "The Commonwealth is about to set a horrible precedent by defining plastic combustion as recycling," says Stephanie Wein, a conservation advocate with PennEnvironment. "Plastic and fossil fuel companies see the writing on the wall," she says. "We want to move away from [fossil fuels] and the only way they know they’ll survive is if they give their process a fancy name that will delude policymakers and their constituents."

covid Garret: YES Kulik: UNKNOWN

Kulik has not made a statement on this issue, to our knowledge. Garret supports a Gift Ban, although he would like to see even tougher language that bans all lobbyist payments in all circumstances. There's no reason legislators need to take any money from corporations or their lobbyist representatives.

Health and COVID Response

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

Kulik voted YES to end the COVID-19 emergency and voted YES restrict the governor's emergency powers. Garret opposes the bill's attempts to end the emergency declaration and restrict the response to COVID-19 and future pandemics. Garret believes more should have been done for workers and small business, but that's not a problem with the emergency declaration, that's a problem with the legislature's lack of action.

Garret: NO Kulik: NO

This bill would loosen emergency pandemic requirements on businesses by only requiring very simple federal guidelines. Garret believes stronger guidelines and mitigations are necessary until medical professionals tell us otherwise, very likely not until vaccines are widely available.

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

This bill would loosen emergency pandemic requirements on real estate businesses by granting real estate services a waiver from the occupancy limitations from COVID mitigations. Garret believes real estate must follow the same mitigation guidelines as any other business -- namely, limiting in-person services to maintain mask usage and distancing. Garret would have voted NO. Kulik voted YES.

Criminal Justice and Policing

Garret: NO Kulik: YES

Kulik voted YES to allow guards to make arrests and issue citations to students, as well as voted YES to arm the guards. Garret does not believe armed security guards should be arresting students, and especially should not be armed around students. We must break the school-to-prison pipeline and encourage other methods of conflict resolution than simply calling in the police.

Garret: YES Kulik: UNKNOWN

Kulik has not made a statement on this issue, to our knowledge. Garret supports changing use of force.

Garret: NO Kulik: UNKNOWN

Kulik has not made a statement on this issue, to our knowledge. The PA ACLU warns this bill was amended last-minute, and guts the good reforms initially proposed and "goes further by allowing probation officers to conduct searches without even reasonable suspicion, including of a person’s home; by allowing courts to prohibit people on probation from using medical marijuana and other prescription medications; and by keeping people who live in poverty on probation indefinitely for failure to pay fines and fees." Garret agrees with the ACLU PA's assessment that the bill as amended would make Pennsylvania's probation system worse, not better. Garret would not support the supports the original goals of the bill to restrict probation and protect civil rights.