In an election profile Tuesday, state Rep. Ruth Rudy, D-Centre, disagreed with my statement that she is a party-line voter who merely rubber-stamps the party line. She claimed to be an independent voter and that her record would show that. I have looked at her record and it clearly shows she voted the party line 90 percent of the time this season! Rudy:

-- Voted to borrow $300 million and put the state deeper into debt when we were already facing hard financial times (House Bill 274 4/9/91).

-- Voted for the 91-92 budget, the largest spending increase (12 percent) in state history (HB 1536 6/6/91, 8/3/91).

-- Voted for the record tax-hike raising personal income tax from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent, then leveling at 2.8 percent, increasing the Corporate Net Income Tax from 8.5 percent to 12.25 percent, increasing the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax and adding products and services to the 6 percent sales tax (HB 185 8/3/91).

-- Claimed to support the Rural Leadership program but caved in to the party line by voting against funding the program with money taken out of the governor's office after he froze the program's appropriations (HB 2529, Amendment A1229 3/31/92).

-- Voted against preserving wetlands (HB 274 4/8/91).

-- Voted against hazardous waste management to protect watersheds (HB 953, Amendments A0856, A0862, A3746, A1063 3/24/92).

-- Voted against making affordable health care insurance available to small business (HB 20, Amendments A3824 12/11/91).

-- Voted against addressing welfare reform (Discharge Resolution 29 6/29/92).

-- Voted against the farmer (HB 496, Amends A1786, A1744, A1746 6/26/91).

-- While claiming to support education and the Equalized Subsidy for Basic Education that promised $125 million to our school districts, voted to not provide the funding (SB 6, Concurrence 6/30/92).

-- Voted against nine budget reform measures proposed as amendments to the budget reform bill (HB 2383, various amendments 2/11/92).

-- Voted for the 92-93 budget which cut funds for universities, failed to provide promised funds to school districts, reduced funds for the Ben Franklin Partnership, and made no attempt to cut the bureaucracy or reform welfare (HB 2696 5/19/92).

Rudy's record also shows poor committee meeting attendance. For example, committee attendance and roll call records filed with the Chief Clerk show that she missed at least 14 Educational Committee meetings and at least 17 committee votes from January to May 1991! She did bother to show up for three committee meetings. This while she is fond of proclaiming the importance of education!

While on the State Government Committee between January 1991 and June 1992, Rudy missed at least seven committee meetings and was only present by proxy for at least five other meetings. During that time she also missed at least 29 committee votes and voted only by proxy at least 29 more times!

We are not paying our representatives for this kind of work. We are certainly not paying them to rubber-stamp the party line; rather, to vote for what is good for Pennsylvania. This is not the kind of representative I will be. I intend to do the job and vote in the best interest of the people.