And how is a person with a debilitating illness supposed to fulfill the Medicaid work requirements coming in January 2027?

“I certainly oppose the recent cuts to Medicaid that were enacted last year under the federal law that the Republican-led Congress passed. We have to find a way to restore the Medicaid status back to previous levels, but that’s going to be the work that Congress has to do. At the state level, we have to find a way to ensure that we can usher more people into our healthcare system, whether it’s trying to find ways to raise revenue in order to cover the potential coverage that the state will have to provide in order to ensure that more of our Pennsylvanians, our vulnerable, sick, and seniors, and those who access Medicaid can get access to those healthcare services as well. But we also need to make sure that we elect members of Congress who are going to reverse those cuts and ensure that we can expand healthcare and healthcare access to more Pennsylvanians here across the Commonwealth as well.”

Question 2 - Alden Park Tenants Association: What can be done at the state level to lower the cost of housing and enforce laws that hold corporate landlords accountable for unsafe living conditions?

“First, I believe that housing is a right for all Pennsylvanians. It is necessary. It’s a basic need and we need to ensure that more Pennsylvanians can get access to affordable housing. At the state level, in order to ensure that we can lower the cost of housing, we also have to do the work of — in a smart way — increasing the housing supply across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ensure that the demand for housing also meets adequate supply. Also, in order to enforce the laws to hold corporate landlords accountable, we also have to invest in more public housing, whether it’s nonprofit housing, just to make sure that we can spread the access of housing around to more people, but also strengthen landlord-tenant protections to ensure that our tenants, who are just trying to make ends meet, who are just trying to stay within their homes, can feel heard and respected and supported as issues arise at their place of living — and we’re going to do that across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Question 3 - Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education: How will you ensure stable funding for green space in Philadelphia to increase community access and funding to nature?

“This is a really important question because here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is enshrined in our constitution that all Pennsylvanians have a right to clean air, drinkable water, and to protect our natural resources, and as a state lawmaker, I plan to do just that. We’ll do that by supporting, at the state level, the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED)’s Greenways, [Trails], and Recreation Program, by boosting funding to support our natural resources, our public spaces, just like the space that we’re in right now [Mt. Airy Playground], where there’s baseball and recreation happening across our communities, because we believe that all kids, all families, all Pennsylvanians deserve to have access to high-quality green spaces across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Question 4 - Germantown United CDC: What state-level policies and investments would you advance to help neighborhoods like Germantown retain affordable housing, support locally owned small businesses, and improve the neighborhood’s infrastructure while ensuring longtime residents have a meaningful role in the process?

“This is a great question, and I think it’s going to require us working in collaboration with our elected officials at the state, local, and even federal level, as well as key stakeholders like CDC directors, whether at Germantown United CDC or Mt. Airy CDC or OARC [Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation], to ensure that our neighborhoods all across our district, from Germantown Avenue to Wadsworth Avenue to Ogontz Avenue and between, can have the resources to remain healthy, vibrant, and strong. We’ve got to do that by ensuring that we continue to invest in the adequate housing supply to ensure that more residents can get access to affordable housing, while also protecting tenants who are currently in their homes or long-term residents who want to remain in their homes and pass down their homes to their families or to others.

We also have to work with our CDCs to ensure that we can attract locally owned businesses and entrepreneurs who want to look at Germantown Avenue or Wadsworth Avenue as a destination to put their ideas into action by investing in facade improvements, by making sure that our corridors remain safe and clean every single day, but also investing state dollars to support programs that do just these different things. And so I’m committed to doing that, and looking forward to working with our partners and stakeholders to keep our neighborhoods healthy, vibrant, and strong.”

Question 5 - Chestnut Hill Local: Where has your political party fallen short in state/local politics? What would you like to see done differently in the coming years?

“This is a great question. I am a Democrat. I view myself as a progressive Democrat, and I believe for a long time — I’m 33 years old — for many years, we have counted far too many people out. We have not listened to far too many communities, which is why we don’t see a number of people engaging in the process. So many folks are looking at our politics, looking at the state of our government at every level, and are saying we don’t see leaders who are listening to us, who are fighting for us, who are making our lives better, and I believe that government should play a role — and can play a role — in guaranteeing dignity and opportunity for everyone. And we can do that in the years to come by showing up everywhere, listening to everyone — those who engage in the process, but particularly those who have had their hands up and have decided to secede from the process.

We’ve got to make sure that we can show not just by listening, but also by demonstrating through our actions that we can guarantee dignity for people by fighting to ensure that people can access healthcare, by fighting to ensure that people can get access to affordable housing, by finally raising the minimum wage here in Pennsylvania, which is something we have not done since 2009. Also working to ensure that our public goods and services don’t just exist, but are ones that are vibrant, that are fully invested in, and ones that we can be proud of, like our public schools here in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, like our public transit system, SEPTA, making sure that SEPTA continues to be a service that is really valuable to so many young people, to seniors who are trying to get to their appointments, to workers who are just trying to get to and from work. We’ve got to work much harder to support more families, particularly working families, showing up for everyone, and showing a measurable difference in which we can guarantee dignity and opportunity for everyone here in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Closing statement.

“My name is Chris Johnson. I am the proud Democratic nominee for state representative here in the 200th Legislative District. I am from Philadelphia, born and raised here. I’m a proud resident of Mt. Airy, and I’m running to make sure that we can have a government at the state level that is going to guarantee dignity and opportunity for all working families.

Right now, families are struggling with the cost of living. They’re concerned about the quality of education that they’re receiving here in Philadelphia. And I also want to ensure that there is a government that is going to be in place to protect their basic rights and dignity. That’s what I plan to do as the next state representative for the 200th Legislative District, working with our partners to fully fund our public education system, so that their kids can walk into school buildings and learn, and be able to have the tools to live a life of their choosing, to be able to live out their highest potential and reach their highest dreams. Also, I want to make sure that we can provide resources for our teachers who are working really hard every single day to educate our kids, as well as to improve our aging school facilities here in the city of Philadelphia and in school districts across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well.

I look forward to working with our partners to raise the minimum wage, which is something that we need to do here in Pennsylvania, to ensure that all workers can have access to a living wage, so that they can put food on the table for their families and provide for their loved ones. And I’m also looking forward to protecting our basic civil rights here in Pennsylvania, working to ensure that workers’ rights are upheld, voting rights are upheld, women’s rights are upheld, as well as our LGBTQ+ rights are upheld here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and I hope to have your vote on this upcoming election day, Tuesday, November 3rd. Thank you.”