Rick's Platform

An agenda for mass liberation that puts people before profits.

COVID-19 Response

In my first term, I launched a Vaccination Canvassing program to talk to over 2500 neighbors and vaccinate 200 people. I've called on leaders across the city and state to extend the eviction moratorium during this crisis and I've rallied with activists to call for the release of the elderly and vulnerable from prisons.

A Dignified Education For All

I have called on the governor to invest $1 billion in public schools statewide, and spoken out constistently in Harrisburg about the urgent need to remediate our schools of lead and asbestos.

Mass Liberation for Our People

I have brought $4.8 million into our district, investing in the Kingsessing Rec Center and Library, Woodland Cemetery and Mercy Hospital. I have introduced legislation to protect the rights of children and their incarcerated parents, and to advocate for geriatric parole.

Healthy Housing For All

I've worked with my colleagues in the House and the Senate to introduce a Whole Home Repairs Act that calls for $1 billion in funding towards the Basic Systems Repair program. I've held town halls to inform renters and homeowners about their rights, and I've worked with Councilmember Gauthier to fight against the sale of the University City Townhomes.

Care For All

I fought for $2 million to be invested in the Mercy Hospital Public Health Campus, which plans to expand its family welfare services including a youth mentorship program for young people who are survivors of sexual abuse.

Ending The War On Drugs

I was raised in a community that was devastated by the War on Drugs. Seeing the disinvestment and policing of my neighborhood, then learning it was manufactured by Reagan-era tactics of crackdowns on black neighborhoods, solidified my belief that we need to drastically redefine how we address crime and drug use. We must face the opioid crisis we currently face in Philadelphia, and we must hold our government accountable for its failure to acknowledge the human rights crisis the War on Drugs wrought upon black and brown communities for the past 40 years.

Upholding Workers' Rights

We are living in a time of immoral inequality. While many of us struggle to pay our bills, pay for food and housing, pay to live, the wealthy and well-connected continue to make more money than at any time in our nation’s history. It is time for us to build an economy that meets the needs of working people and communities rather than the super rich. We must reclaim our value as workers, and that starts with supporting unions, raising wages, and demanding all workers have the right to organize in their workplace to get what we deserve.

A Green New Deal for Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is suffering from a triple crisis of economic inequality, ecological devastation and climate change, and public disinvestment. Our wages have stagnated, and many communities suffer from deep poverty and despair. The climate crisis threatens the futures of people all over Pennsylvania—none more so than frontline vulnerable communities and young people. On top of that our state government’s dramatic disinvestment in public services has led to toxic schools, unaffordable college, and crumbling physical infrastructure—all while working people across Pennsylvania shoulder the burden.