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Lebanon commissioner seeks governorship

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by peter e. bortner

Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz said Tuesday she believes this is the right time for her to step up to the state's highest office to serve all Pennsylvanians.

"My father always told me that if you felt something isn't right, you go out and do what you can to make it better and not expect someone else to do it," Litz said during an interview at The Republican-Herald office. "I realize I might be considered an underdog."

In her fourth term as a commissioner, Litz, 61, of West Lebanon, is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor to run in 2014 against incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.

Litz also owned and operated an auto body shop and served as president of the Swatara Creek Watershed Association.

She said she can do better than Corbett in running the state, especially with respect to the issue of a tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas producers, a levy the governor and the GOP-controlled Legislature have declined to enact.

"They should be paying their fair share," she said, emphasizing that the impact fee the state now has is not enough. "It's foolish that we don't have one."

Litz said another area where Corbett has fallen short is in transportation.

"I think the roads and bridges are unsafe," she said. "I don't understand why we don't have a transportation bill."

Such a measure would both make traveling easier and create lots of high-paying jobs, according to Litz.

Although she wants to impose a tax on Marcellus Shale producers, Litz said she would like to eliminate residential property taxes. She said she would allow both counties and the state to replace them with a mixture of sales and income taxes, but any changes would have to be revenue-neutral, meaning the amount of money raised would not be higher than that produced by real estate taxes.

"There has to be a little bit of flexibility for the counties" on the types and amount of taxes that would replace residential property taxes, Litz said.

She said businesses would continue to pay property taxes under her plan.

State unfunded mandates, programs that Pennsylvania's government does not fund but requires counties, municipalities and school districts to implement, should be eliminated to the greatest extent possible, Litz said. Those mandates include courts, nursing homes, prisons and property reassessments, she said.

If the voter identification law, which is currently being challenged in court, is upheld, Litz would support its repeal. She said her work chairing her county's election board convinces her the law is unnecessary.

"Somebody knows everybody that walks in that door" at most polling places, she said. "Why must I see that ID? I don't understand that You're penalizing all the honest people."

While she acknowledges she is not the favorite in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor, Litz said that does not mean voters should not choose her.

I'm down-to-earth," she said. "I try to use common sense, try to do the right thing."Candidate: Jo Ellen Litz

Age: 61

Residence: West Lebanon, Lebanon County

Office sought: Governor

Party: Democratic

Experience: Lebanon County commissioner, four terms; president, Swatara Creek Watershed Association

Family: Husband, John; two children; two grandchildren


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