Issue Position: Protecting the Future and Safety of Rural Pennsylvania

Issue Position

Protect landowners from deceptive practices. Landowners throughout Pennsylvania have benefited from the shale gas boom as income earned through royalty payments has helped many families through tough economic times. Unfortunately, some companies have used unfair and deceptive practices -- like charging undisclosed fees, making improper deductions from royalties or using below-market prices to calculate payments. As Attorney General, Shapiro will protect landowners from unscrupulous companies and will aggressively prosecute companies found to be duping their lessees to protect rural incomes.

Enhance the ACRE program. Pennsylvania's ACRE law has given farmers a more cost-effective mechanism than court challenges to contest municipal laws that infringe on their right to farm. As Attorney General, Shapiro would improve this successful program by making the outcomes of resolved disputes more readily available and easily accessible. Municipalities would then be able to quickly reference this information when considering the legality of proposed or existing ordinances. Likewise, farmers could consult these results when thinking about expansion projects. As Attorney General, Shapiro will uphold the Right to Farm Act while ensuring that the health and safety of all citizens are protected. By doing so, he will secure the positive interface between agriculture and growing communities.

Promote regional problem-solving courts. Problem-solving courts for non-violent offenders have played an important role in diverting people in need of help away from prison, encouraging them to seek the treatment they need and save taxpayer dollars. These specialized courts, focused on veterans, drug and alcohol offenders, and those battling mental health issues, have been proven to reduce costs and reduce recidivism without compromising public safety. For smaller counties it can be difficult to effectively provide this service, and Shapiro will work with counties and Pennsylvania's courts to establish regional problem-solving courts. These courts could both serve and be funded by multiple counties, lowering costs and offering the same system of justice to people no matter they live in our Commonwealth.

Take a comprehensive approach to tackling on Pennsylvania's heroin and opioids crisis. Overdosing is now the number one accidental killer in our Commonwealth. This scourge attacks every kind of community, though its effects have been felt particularly acutely in rural areas. Based on his experience in Montgomery County, Shapiro will take a comprehensive, recovery-based approach to fighting this epidemic. As Attorney General, Shapiro will work to lower the cost of life-saving overdose-reversal medication so all first responders can carry it, a barrier in many small towns strapped for resources. He'll treat addiction as a disease, not a crime and will reduce barriers to drug treatment. He will work with the medical community to stop over-prescription of opioids and prosecute any deliberate over-prescription. And he will aggressively crack down on interstate drug trafficking and focus resources on community policing, taking a smart-on-crime approach to stopping illegal drugs.

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