The candidates, competing for Pennsylvania\u2019s 8th Congressional District seat, each spoke for about an hour and answered questions on workforce development, transportation, and health care.<\/p>\n
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This story continues below.<\/p>\n
Bresnahan, a Republican from Luzerne County, is seeking a second term in Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’d be honored to continue to serve in the 120th Congress because at the end of the day we started with our team, \u2018How are we fighting for Northeastern Pennsylvania today?\u2019\u201d Bresnahan said. \u201cAt the end of the day, \u2018Did we fight for Northeastern Pennsylvania today?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Cognetti, a Democrat, is seeking to unseat Bresnahan and bring what she described as a record of independence and accountability to Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need change,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cI’m very pleased to be able to offer a spot on the ballot of somebody who has a record of independence, a record of accountability, and a vision for how government can work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWorkforce development <\/p>\n
Both candidates were asked how they would strengthen the region\u2019s workforce and expand career opportunities. Cognetti highlighted apprenticeship programs and local government’s role in supporting workforce development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to make sure that all of the pieces fit together,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cWe know that our building trades are doing their part to offer those apprenticeships. For our part in the city, for example, we’ve had apprenticeship dollars that we’ve helped to fund, so those opportunities get there.”<\/p>\n
Bresnahan pointed to investments in career and technical education, including a technical school that he secured $3 million in federal funding for in Pike County. He also mentioned the project to establish the Misericordia University School of Law. \u201cWe’ve been able to break ground on what’s going to be an incredible career technical school where we’re training plumbers, carpenters and electricians,\u201d Bresnahan said.<\/p>\n
\nCandidates support Scranton-to-New York Amtrak connection <\/p>\n
Bresnahan and Cognetti agreed on the importance of establishing a proposed Amtrak connection between Scranton and New York City.<\/p>\n
Bresnahan cited his work on transportation infrastructure and said he has supported funding efforts for the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m one of the very few pro-Amtrak Republicans that actually serve in Congress, and we have supported appropriation letters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cognetti said the route would be important to the region\u2019s economic future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am in there, I will push and push and push and make sure that we bring that to fruition,\u201d she said. \u201cThat Scranton to New York line is a key component of our future economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHealth care costs and Medicaid <\/p>\n
The forum concluded with a discussion about access to affordable and reliable health care.<\/p>\n
Cognetti raised concerns about cuts affecting Medicaid, saying they could leave more people in the region without health insurance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is already having impacts in our region,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cNine thousand people in our region already don’t have health insurance because of those cuts. We anticipate at least 20,000 more people will lose their insurance next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bresnahan emphasized the need for oversight of taxpayer-funded programs, citing what he described as fraud detected in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid system.<\/p>\n
\u201cPennsylvania just admitted to $3 million of fraud that was detected inside their Medicaid system,\u201d Bresnahan said. He added that taxpayer dollars should not go toward programs that are obsolete or fraudulent.<\/p>\n
\nLive debate scheduled for Thursday <\/p>\n
Bresnahan and Cognetti are scheduled to meet Thursday at 7 p.m. for a live debate. You can watch that debate on WNEP and for free on the WNEP app.<\/p>\n
The 8th Congressional District race will determine who represents the region in the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswatch 16’s Valeria Quinones gives us the highlights of what each candidate had to say. SCRANTON, Pa. \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-313056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}