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Gerald Mullery looks to keep momentum moving in 119th District

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Happy birthday Sebastien Donald Vosik Pekala!

<p>Justin Behrens canvassed door-to-door at more than 12,000 homes to show the people in the 119th District he would use a state Representative position to lower taxes and bring jobs back to Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;It is common sense that if we have higher taxes, more burdensome and onerous regulations and more hurdles to jump over than other states, companies will take their jobs elsewhere,&#8221; said Behrens, the former Wright Township auditor.</p><p>A Republican and U.S. Army veteran, Behrens is attempting to unseat two-term incumbent Democrat State Rep. Gerald Mullery in lower Luzerne County.</p><p>Currently, Behrens is a director of a social work forensic team. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from Misericordia University and continued to Temple University where he received a master&#8217;s degree in social work.</p><p>During a pre-election interview, Behrens was asked to focus on four issues, two of which were asked of each local candidate &#8212; education funding and online gambling &#8212; and two selected for this particular race &#8212; job reform and environmental issues.</p><p>With his mother and father serving as public school teachers for over 30 years, Behrens is upset over the formula Gov. Tom Wolf uses to distribute funds to school districts. Combining unreasonable taxes, with &#8220;skyrocketing costs of health care,&#8221; Behrens believes taxpayers cannot continue to pay for mistakes in Harrisburg.</p><p>&#8220;The budgets of many school districts are being swamped by the unfunded liabilities being driven by a system that is not sustainable,&#8221; he said.</p><p>He supports giving schools extra funds to help with health care costs, but wants to move future employees to a private sector-like 401K.</p><p>&#8220;This is the only way to insure that additional monies being provided to our schools actually go towards the classroom,&#8221; he said.</p><p>With rising school costs comes more property taxes, something Behrens wants to eliminate if online gambling is funded. He noted local casinos have resulted in &#8220;broken promises to homeowners&#8221; because homeowners were told casino revenue would go toward the reduction of property taxes and it hasn&#8217;t.</p><p>The only thing Behrens thinks the casinos are good for are jobs.</p><p>&#8220;I am for total elimination of property taxes and if this (online gambling) is part of the solution, I will support it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If not, I will not.&#8221;</p><p>Being in a district which includes Newport Township&#8217;s Glen Lyon section, the most distressed town in the state according to an early 2016 report, Behrens recognizes the need for jobs to return, including &#8220;clean, responsible development of our coal and natural gas resources.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We have a work force that is second to none in Luzerne County,&#8221; he noted.</p><p>The issue of jobs, to Behrens, is not a Democrat or Republican issue; he believes it&#8217;s an economic development, good paying jobs, energy-independent and responsible-development driven issue. &#8220;We need to encourage job creators to remain in our region, and new employers to come to our region.&#8221;</p><p>The D&amp;L Trail runs through the 119th District and Behrens does not want to privatize &#8220;state treasures&#8221; such as state parks and trails.</p><p>&#8220;I do not believe that our state parks should be opened up to commercial development,&#8221; he said.</p><p>To learn more about key Election Day races and issues, visit the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/tag/Election2016" target="_blank">Times Leader election page</a></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Behrens </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_behrens_headshot.jpg</photo0><caption0>Behrens </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>JUSTIN BEHRENS</strong></p><p><strong>Political party:</strong> Republican</p><p><strong>Incumbent:</strong> No</p><p><strong>Age:</strong> 38</p><p><strong>Hometown:</strong> Wright Township</p><p><strong>Family:</strong> wife, Liza Behrens; sons, Keegan and Adin</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Republican Justin Behrens looks to unseat Democrat Gerald Mullery in 119th