Written by Antonio Pellulo
Policy matters for 33-year-old Devin Doctor and 34 -year-old Samuel Doctor who were able to spend a few moments with Governor Tim Walz as he was leaving a Butler County Cafe Tuesday.
Samuel and Devin relate to the governor, for several reasons. They are both from a small town, engaged politically with the democratic party, but most important to the Doctor’s they have an autistic child.
“He has an autistic son, we have an autistic daughter,” said Samuel. “That was neat to know that somebody who might become a Vice President sort of gets that part of our life and understands what it’s like to have somebody in their family who’s neurodivergent.”
Samuel works for Cleveland Cliffs, Devin works for Butler Memorial Hospital, two of the biggest employers in Butler County. They both said their plan is to spend the rest of their lives in Butler as long as their daughter has access to great healthcare and education.
On Tuesday the Democratic nominee for Vice President Tim Walz proposed several policies intended to improve healthcare, retain teachers, and more career opportunities.
During his first stop of three across Western Pennsylvania, Governor Walz made his pitch to supporters on the Telesz farm in Volant, Lawrence County. Walz talked about the Harris-Walz plan to continue investments in federal programs to recruit 10,000 rural healthcare professionals.
But, potentially the biggest healthcare investment will involve never leaving your home. The campaign has proposed doubling the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program for rural communities to $120 million, make a pandemic policy Medicare telehealth coverage permanent, and allowing Medicare to cover in-home care for seniors.
Ambulance Deserts like Butler County were also a big part of the recent policy release by the potential Vice President.
“There are large places in America right now, if you dial 911 it’s very difficult to get you in the ambulance right in time our EMTs are in short supply, we want to make sure we are cutting that in half,” Walz said to a large gathering of supporters.
Other large intended investments include partnering with community colleges to double the number of apprenticeships during the first Harris-Walz term. Continuing another Pandemic era policy, the Affordable Connectivity program, which offers $30 off people’s monthly internet bill and a one time discount of $100 off to buy a computer. Finally, offering one million forgivable loans to go to beginning farmers who have historically lacked the credit necessary as a low to zero-interest loan.
After giving a stump speech on the ground of a third-generation farm, Walz took a trip to Butler County to The Bloom Cafe in Valencia, where he met with not only his supporters but former President Trump supporters protesting outside the event.
“There are folks that this is some combative game to yell and give people the finger,” said Walz. “That’s not what this is doing right by our neighbors.”
The Doctor family don’t see the protesters as combative, they don’t see Democrats making appearances in Rural counties as pandering, they see it both as fighting to have their voices heard.
After his stop in Butler, Walz traveled to Acrisure Stadium for another rally with supporters where he pushed voters to vote early. After that Walz delivers remarks on behalf of the Harris Victory Fund where he will thank attendees for their continued support.
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