Brendan Boyle for State Representative

Background:

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Brendan Boyle grew up in the same rowhome in a blue collar neighborhood of the city. Brendan's father, Francis, immigrated to America at age 19. Both of Brendan's parents are proud union workers; his father works for SEPTA and his mother is a school crossing guard.

Brendan became the first in his family to go to college when he attended the University of Notre Dame. While a student at Notre Dame, Brendan majored in government and was selected for the Hesburgh Program in Public Service. He studied in Notre Dame's Washington Program, A passionate sports fan, Brendan was also a sportscaster on 640 WVFI-AM in South Bend, Indiana. For three years, he broadcasted Notre Dame football and basketball games, making him literally "the voice of the Fighting Irish."

After graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in government, Brendan was hired by American Management Systems (AMS), one of the world's premiere IT consulting firms. He helped bring private sector best practices to federal government agencies, such as the Department of Defense. Brendan's work for public sector clients earned him recognition from AMS and the government.

After working in consulting for more than three years, Brendan left business and returned to academia to further study government and public policy. He attended graduate school at Harvard University. Brendan earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard, he studied public policy under leading academics, former congressmen, and world leaders.

Having studied at Notre Dame and Harvard, and having worked in consulting, Brendan has chosen to pursue a career in public service. He believes Philadelphia deserves better leaders. His passion is to expand opportunities for hard working, middle class Philadelphians, from better access to high quality education to more affordable drugs for seniors. "In this country," said Boyle, "all people, regardless of their income, should be able to pursue their dreams."

Brendan resides in Northeast Philadelphia with his wife, Jennifer, a first grade teacher.

Goals:

The current policies of the Republican controlled state legislature in Pennsylvania are not serving the the best interests of working families. Our Republican opponent (George Kenney) has repeatedly voted against increasing the mininum wage while also voting to raise his pay.

Issues:

1) HIGHER EDUCATION: The price of college has gotten out of hand. The average tuition at a private school costs about as much as the average family makes. In fact, in every single year since 1980, tuition has risen greater than the rate of inflation. For the son or daughter of a middle class family, getting in to college is the easy part. Paying for it is the hard part.

It is time for government to again invest in our young people. It is time to give them hope. This is why we must bring the Hope Scholarship to Pennsylvania.

The Hope Scholarship, started in Georgia in 1992, has helped tens of thousands of middle class kids go to college. It rewards kids who have earned good grades by helping them with the expense of higher education. The Hope Scholarship covers full tuition and includes a book allowance. To qualify, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA for all coursework.

Pennsylvania is currently experiencing a "brain drain." Young people are leaving the state and settling elsewhere. Starting the Hope Scholarship in Pennsylvania would be a bold step to reverse this trend and signal that Pennsylvania is serious about providing opportunities for its young people.

2) RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE The minimum wage in Pennsylvania hasn't been raised in 9 years. While costs go up every year, wages have remained the same for millions of Pennsylvanians. When factoring for inflation, the minimum wage is actually lower today than at any time in the last fifty-eight years. We cannot allow this to continue.

The House Democratic Caucus has introduced a bill that will raise the minimum wage and help working families. Unfortuantely, the Republican-dominated legislature opposes raising the minimum wage and is blocking legislation that will increase it. The only way to get an increase in the minimum wage is change the leadership in Harrisburg.
Government Reform

3) GOVERNMENT REFORM
Almost two years ago, Rep. Greg Vitali came to my district to stand with me and endorse my plan to reform state government and clean up Harrisburg. Unfortunately, in the two years that have passed, things in Harrisburg have only gotten worse, not better.

In the middle of the night and after no public debate, some legislators voted themselves a massive pay raise. For many legislators, the raise was a 29% to 54% increase in pay! As a result, public trust in state government has never been lower.

I renew my call for fundamental reform in the way the state government is run. The public has an absolute right to expect that all significant legislation passing the legislature will merit a fair and comprehensive hearing. Legislative pay raise votes held at 2am and hidden from the public must never be allowed to happen again.

Grassroots Support:

Grassroots campaigning is vital in a state House race. There is not another race that will knock on more doors than our campaign. In 2004, our campaign knocked on over 50,000 doors. We will do this again in 2006.

Through grassroots alone we made George Kenney spend more more on his reelection than any other current State House incumbent in 2004 ($520,000).

DFA Values:

Government has a duty to fight discrimination and inequality on the basis of gender, race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.

As a legislator, Brendan will stand strong against the forces of intolerance. Specifically, Brendan strongly disagrees with our opponent, who who voted against passage of Hate Crimes legislation that is designed to protect those who are physcially harmed because of their race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Economically, we support balancing the budgets of both the Federal and state governments.