BENSALEM — Ahead of the Nov. 3 election, Pennsylvania voters have identified the economy as a top issue, driven by concerns about the cost of living, unemployment, and utility prices.
It’s a key focus in the 1st Congressional District race between Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
, a former FBI agent seeking his sixth term, and Democratic candidateBob Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner and former public school teacher.Located outside Philadelphia, in the southeastern corner of the commonwealth, the purple district covers all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed its rating of the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” in early October.
U.S. representatives, elected
for two-year terms, vote on legislation that affects the economy, including changes to federal taxes and budgets, as well as government spending. They can also secure federal funding and advocate for the district they represent through shaping and voting for legislation.
Neither campaign responded to Spotlight PA’s requests for comment about the candidates’ positions on key economic issues.
But a review of publicly available information shows Harvie opposes both President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran, which have contributed to increases in the prices of groceries and gas. Fitzpatrick has tried to walk a fine line on both issues: He voted against Trump’s Canada tariffs but only after voting several times to prevent such a vote from happening; he also voted to end the war in Iran after rejecting previous efforts for being too broad and early.
The economic issues they most align on are healthcare reform and increasing the minimum wage. Below, we break down the candidates’ public positions on tax policies, affordability, and jobs.
Tax policies
On his campaign website, Fitzpatrick says he has supported a “simpler, fairer tax code” during his tenure in Congress, adding that “small businesses are already hiring more while their workers receive bonuses and higher take-home pay.”
Fitzpatrick was one of only two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the OBBBA made permanent most of the individual and business tax cuts from 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including reducing the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, doubling the standard deduction, and expanding the Child Tax Credit. It also created federal income tax deductions for tips, overtime pay, and taxpayers 65 and older through 2028.
While the OBBBA is expected to boost the economy in the short term, researchers at Brookings, a nonpartisan think tank, said in a preliminary analysis released in March that it will raise federal deficits by between $3.7 trillion and $5.1 trillion over the next decade. High-income households are expected to see the largest benefits, with many of the spending cuts, particularly to Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP, falling on low-income and immigrant families.
Fitzpatrick initially voted in favor of the bill, but said he changed his position after the Senate incorporated deeper cuts to Medicaid.
The OBBBA included nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade, as well as imposed work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks, and higher cost-sharing, among other provisions.
Harvie supports a tax cut for the middle class, saying on his campaign website that “Working families shouldn’t pay a higher effective tax rate than multinational corporations. We need a tax system that is built on fairness.”
Fitzpatrick has expressed opposition to “blanket and indiscriminate” tariffs. He cast several votes that prevented the issue from coming up before the House, but later voted against Trump’s Canada tariffs.
In March 2025, he voted in favor of a procedural measure that effectively took away House members’ power to bring up resolutions to end the emergency declaration Trump used to levy tariffs. ABC News described the vote, tied to a funding bill, as a “sneaky legislative maneuver” designed to prevent Republican members from having to directly vote on ending the tariffs.
Fitzpatrick voted “yes” on similar procedural measures as recently as Feb. 10 of this year.
On that day, the procedural measure failed, and House members were forced to vote on whether to disapprove of the national emergency. Fitzpatrick was one of six House Republicans who joined Democrats to vote yes.
He did so shortly before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the president lacked the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs.
“Congressman Fitzpatrick applauds today’s Supreme’s Court decision, which validates the Congressman’s opposition to blanket and indiscriminate tarriffs that are not narrowly tailored, and that do not lower costs for the American consumer,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Harvie has criticized the tariffs, saying he’s not going to “roll over for Donald Trump the way Brian Fitzpatrick and Republican leadership do,” adding tariffs “really aren’t doing anything to help anybody. All they’re doing is costing the average consumer more money and they’re hurting small businesses.”
He says on his campaign website he “will fight to roll back Trump’s tariffs,” saying they “unnecessarily increase the cost of food and household essentials for American consumers while supporting smart trade policies that strengthen American manufacturing and agriculture.”
Affordability
Healthcare, grocery, and gas prices are key affordability issues as the cost of living continues to squeeze voters’ budgets.
On his campaign website, Fitzpatrick says, “Every man, woman, and child should have affordable health insurance but skyrocketing costs are forcing thousands in Pennsylvania to be uninsured. This is unacceptable. In Congress, I’m fighting for a health care system that works for everyone and lowers the cost of prescription drugs.”
The Affordable Care Act included premium tax credits to help make health insurance less costly. Those credits were enhanced in 2021 when the American Rescue Plan Act passed, and extended in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act. However, they expired at the end of last year.
In December, Fitzpatrick introduced the Bipartisan Health Insurance Affordability Act, which would extend enhanced premium tax credits through 2027, in addition to other healthcare reforms.
“From the outset, I committed to delivering a bipartisan solution to prevent devastating premium spikes — today, we are doing exactly that. Our bill keeps the ACA’s premium tax credits in place, so families are not blindsided with unaffordable increases in the care they depend on,” Fitzpatrick said in a news release announcing the legislation. “This is a practical, people-first fix that protects families now, while preserving the space to keep working toward a stronger, smarter, more affordable healthcare system.”
Fitzpatrick was one of 17 House Republicans to vote in January in favor of the Breaking the Gridlock Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D., Massachusetts) and aimed at reinstating enhanced ACA health insurance subsidies for three years. The legislation has not yet seen a vote in the Senate.
Since those tax credits expired at the end of 2025, nearly 202,000 enrollees on Pennie, Pennsylvania’s state health insurance exchange, have dropped their coverage.
If elected, Harvie says he’ll “fight to permanently restore and expand those [ACA] tax credits so families don’t wake up to hundreds of dollars in higher monthly premiums simply because Congress failed to act.”
During an interview with WHYY, Harvie did not directly answer a reader question about whether he supports “universal healthcare,” either through a federal Medicare for All bill or local legislation.
“We absolutely have to expand access to affordable healthcare in this country. I believe that we need to do things like allow people who are 55 [to] buy into Medicare. I believe we need to have more transparent pricing,” he said. “Our healthcare system in this country is way too complex and way too difficult to solve, I think, with one bill that’s going to come along and make everything better.”
The cost of groceries, which has risen due to compounding factors including inflation and tariffs, has also been a key issue for voters.
Harvie says he will “ban AI-driven surveillance pricing on essential goods like groceries and strengthen federal enforcement against corporate price gouging so families know they’re paying a fair price,” arguing that “corporations are using artificial intelligence and personal data to adjust prices and maximize profits.”
Through personalized pricing, also called surveillance pricing, retailers can offer customers different charges and discounts based on their locations, incomes, and web-browsing habits, among other variables. So far, legislators in at least 30 states, including Pennsylvania, have introduced legislation to ban surveillance pricing.
Fitzpatrick does not include affordability or groceries as an issue on his platform, and his campaign did not respond to an inquiry about the representative’s position.
Fitzpatrick currently co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Earlier this year, the caucus released its Affordability Agenda, which included several proposals aimed at lowering grocery prices and modernizing nutrition programs.
They include the Lower Grocery Prices Act and the Hot Foods Act, both co-sponsored by Fitzpatrick. The former would require the Government Accountability Office to study U.S. grocery costs and recommend ways prices could be lowered. The latter would allow people to use SNAP benefits to buy hot, ready-to-eat food.
In addition, Fitzpatrick introduced the MODERN WIC Act, which would allow certifications and recertifications for the federal program via phone or video teleconference. It would also permit state agencies to grant temporary, income-based interim eligibility so participants can receive immediate support without waiting for a full risk assessment.
All three were introduced in early 2025, and none has seen a vote.
“Half the country, perhaps more, live paycheck to paycheck,” Fitzpatrick said during a July discussion at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C. “And they are sitting down at the kitchen table every week, sometimes more often than that, figuring out how to make their budgets work. And those are the people that we really need to be mindful of when we're making policy decisions.”
Residents are also feeling pressure at the pump, as oil and gas prices have risen nationwide since the start of the Iran war in late February.
As of Oct. 21, the average price of a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania was $4.49, according to AAA, higher than the $4.26 national average. This time last year, the average price of a gallon of gas was $3.18 in Philadelphia.
Fitzpatrick, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, appears to support military action against Iran, saying in a May statement, “The world is a safer place after Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been degraded.” But he’s also stressed that Trump must follow the law and seek congressional approval after 60 days under the War Powers Act of 1973.
In March and April, he voted against war powers resolutions that would have forced Trump to seek congressional approval to continue military actions against Iran. But in May — shortly after the 60-day deadline — Fitzpatrick was one of three Republicans to vote yes on such a measure. He voted yes again in June and September.
“The War Powers Act of 1973 has two essential requirements: 48-hour notification in advance and within 60 days of hostilities commencing approval by Congress,” Fitzpatrick told PBS NewsHour in June. “So, as soon as we hit that 60-day mark, every resolution that's been brought to the floor, I have supported. It's just a simple, basic matter of following the law.”
(Critics, including fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, say the president can only invoke the War Powers Act under certain conditions that have not been met.)
Harvie opposes the war, promising “I will vote on day one of taking that oath of office in January to end this war in Iran,” adding that it is “a war that Donald Trump got into and doesn’t know how to get out of.”
Jobs
During his tenure, Fitzpatrick has co-sponsored legislation to support apprenticeship programs and workforce training and development. On his campaign website, Fitzpatrick says, “We need to focus on enhancing America’s workforce and bring good-paying jobs to Bucks and Montgomery Counties.”
In 2017, he co-sponsored the 529 OPTIONS Act. Introduced by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.), it would allow distributions from qualified tuition programs, also known as 529 plans, to be used for certain expenses associated with registered apprenticeship programs.
In 2019, he co-sponsored the Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D., California), it would create a $5,000 tax credit for the training of a qualified individual in an apprenticeship program or multi-employer apprenticeship program.
The next year, he co-sponsored the Student Apprenticeship Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., California), it would require the Department of Education to award grants to certain partnerships to enable the development and implementation of a postsecondary apprenticeship program.
None of them saw a vote.
He co-sponsored the National Apprenticeship Act in 2021. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Robert “Bobby” C. Scott (D., Virginia), it would invest nearly $3.5 billion over five years to scale up apprenticeship opportunities, streamline access to these types of positions for workers and employers, and expand them into new in-demand industry sectors and occupations.
“Apprenticeship programs grow our economy by fostering training programs that will prepare workers for in-demand careers while addressing our nation’s current shortage of trained workers,” Fitzpatrick said in a news release at the time.
While the legislation passed the House with a 247-173 vote, it died in the Senate.
In 2025, he co-sponsored the Youth Workforce Readiness Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Josh Harder (D., California), it would provide funding for hands-on skills education at after-school programs for students starting in elementary school. It has not seen a vote.
Harvie does not list jobs as a priority on his campaign website, and his campaign did not respond to an inquiry on his position and plans.
However, during an interview with WHYY, Harvie briefly mentioned his support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Introduced in 2021, it would expand labor protections related to employees' rights to organize and collectively bargain. While it died in the Senate, the legislation was reintroduced in 2025 as the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in July, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry, lower than the national rate of 4.1%. It’s the first time the commonwealth’s unemployment has been below 4% since October 2024.
However, the department also projects the commonwealth will face a shortage of more than 300,000 skilled trade workers by 2030.
Raising the federal minimum wage is a point of agreement between the campaigns. Fitzpatrick supports a dynamic model, while Harvie wants a blanket increase.
In 2025, Fitzpatrick introduced the Fair Wage Act, which would replace a standard federal minimum wage with a dynamic model that adjusts based on local cost-of-living data.
“It’s clear the federal minimum wage system is broken,” he said in a news release. “As someone who represents a diverse, hardworking district, I know that a fair wage in Bucks County doesn’t look the same as in New York City or rural Arkansas.”
Harvie supports raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, saying on his campaign website that “For too long, the minimum wage in this country has remained stagnant.”
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been $7.25 since the federal minimum went up in 2009, and has remained stagnant even as neighboring states’ have increased.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Where Fitzpatrick, Harvie stand on taxes, affordability, and jobs
