PORT ROYAL – Current state representative and state auditor general candidate Eugene DePasquale spoke to a group of about 100 people Saturday night at the Democratic Round Up, hosted by the Juniata County Democratic Committee, at the Port Royal Community Center.

DePasquale, D-York County, is currently serving his third term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he has created or helped to pass policies such as the Alternative Energy Investment Act and bans on texting while driving.

He is consistently noted for his low expenses and became the first legislator to post such information online.

“My district office furniture was purchased at a yard sale,” he said.

Though the comment drew laughter from the group, DePasquale was serious. If elected as auditor general, he promised to work tirelessly to save money wherever possible.

DePasquale said he decided to run for auditor general after listening to a budget address by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, in which Corbett announced $1 billion in education funding cuts. As the father of two young children, DePasquale said he did not see this as acceptable. He decided to travel around the state and talk to people to see what they wanted from the auditor general’s office.

“People are very concerned about the environmental effects of the Marcellus Shale drilling,” he said.

The natural gas drilling has sparked statewide debate, especially where the process of hydrofracturing, also known as “fracking,” is used. As a former employee of the Department of Environmental Protection, DePasquale said he is prepared to take on the challenge.

“I think there should be a tax on the Marcellus Shale drilling,” he said, “and there should not be one dime cut from public education until we do.”

The auditor general’s office can conduct both fiscal and performance audits, and if elected, DePasquale said his first order of business will be to order performance audits on every tax policy and job creation policy. He said he will fight to create or keep the policies that work and eliminate the ones that don’t, including those intended to monitor water pollution and keep Pennsylvania’s drinking water and communities safe during the Marcellus Shale drilling process.

DePasquale then opened a question and answer session, in which he was asked about cost of living adjustments and transportation.

He noted that the current COLA for legislators is automatically granted annually. He said his current legislation would repeal the automatic COLA so that any increases would have to pass a vote.

Road funding is a core government function, he said. Since deciding to run for auditor general, DePasquale said he has traveled 30,000 miles inside Pennsylvania.

Though the current governor appointed his own Transportation Coalition Advisory Board, DePasquale said Corbett is not in favor of the board’s road-funding recommendations.

“It’s very hard to do a road-funding bill without the governor being on board,” he said, adding that road and bridge work cannot be outsourced and a road-funding bill would immediately create jobs for Pennsylvanians.

Harrisburg and Steelton-Highspire are among the 18 school districts that would receive additional money to apply toward academic programs that have been shown to help raise student achievement under a bill that Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, is sponsoring.

At a Capitol news conference with Pennsylvania State Education Association President Mike Crossey at his side, DePasquale outlined his plan, known as Priority Assistance Grant for Education (PAGE) program, that would direct $30 million to districts in academic or fiscal distress. Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks County, is introducing an identical bill in the Senate.

DePasquale suggested the state could find the money for this program from a portion of the proposed.tax on natural gas drillers, by reducing the corrections department budget or finding savings in other areas in the state budget.

His plan would provide Harrisburg School District with more than $2.7 million and Steelton-Highspire with an additional $267,891.

Other districts that he identified as eligible for the additional funding provided by his PAGE program are York City, Lancaster, Lebanon, Clairton City, McKeesport Area, Sto-Rox, Woodland Hills, Aliquippa, Reading, Greater Johnstown, Chester-Upland, Erie City, Albert Gallatin Area, Allentown City, Farrell Area and Norristown Area.

DePasquale said he would be open to consider adding more districts or funding if other legislators wanted to expand his program.

“The governor has already been quoted as saying he doesn’t expect this year’s budget to look much different _ and that means we need to find our own ways to help support our neediest school districts using proven, effective programs and the resources to fund them,” DePasquale said.

The districts would be required to use the money for such initiatives as full-day kindergarten, class size reduction, tutoring, parental involvement programs and school safety measures, among others. A commission of educators would oversee the program to monitor how the PAGE program dollars are used, he said.

PSEA endorses the initiative which uses use elements of its own “Solutions That Work” package it released last summer.

“Why are these schools struggling? Because they don’t have the resources to pay for solutions that work for students. It’s as simple as that,” Crossey said. “The PAGE program can help solve that. It will invest in our struggling schools, not cut them … After the $860 million cut by Gov. Corbett, they need it now.”