Description of office: The General Assembly is the legislative branch of government in Pennsylvania. It is composed of two houses: the Senate is the upper house, and the House of Representatives is the lower house. A majority vote in both houses is necessary to pass a law. The PA House of Representatives consists of 203 members representing one district each, with an equal number of constituents. Representatives must be at least 21 years old, have been a citizen and a resident of the state four years and a resident of their respective districts one year before their election, and shall reside in their respective districts during their terms of service. The House develops budget packages, makes taxation decisions, allocates spending, and passes laws (including redistricting in collaboration with the Senate). The House also has the exclusive authority to impeach public officials. Representatives also serve on various policy committees that may propose legislation.Term: 2 yearsSalary: $113,591Vote for ONE.Note: On Democratic and Republican primary ballots, voters will also choose members of the State and County Committees. We do not list these candidates on Vote411. For information on these candidates, we suggest you contact your local Democratic or Republican Party committee.
County
Allegheny
Occupation
Advocate
Education
Bachelors Degree in Economics and Communications, The University of Michigan
Qualifications
20+ years of professional experience in marketing and communications roles; Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America: Elections Lead, Pittsburgh Local Group Co-Lead, PA Legislative Co-lead; Chair of the Friends of the Hearing Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; local education advocate
The most pressing issue facing residents of my district is the rising cost of a comfortable life. I hear most often about the costs of energy and healthcare. In order to reduce the cost of energy, I support community solar and increased access to renewable energy. It is crucial to ensure there are guardrails around data centers, their energy consumption and the impact it has on the demand for energy. The increase in healthcare premium costs and expiration of the Affordable Care Act tax credits have caused people to drop their health insurance coverage, which leaves them susceptible to health and financial risks. I support exploring legislative efforts like those proposed by Reps. Powell and Scott to guarantee affordable health care coverage
I support legislation that is being proposed by Rep. Tarik Khan that would confirm state control over voter registration databases and election infrastructure; require a court order before any federal access to voter data; prohibit bulk or fishing-expedition requests; and protect election workers from pressure or retaliation for simply doing their jobs.
In addition, I support efforts to make voting more accessible and increase voter participation. These include early voting, mail-in voting and multilingual voting resources.
As a challenger, I have only observed the budget process from the outside. From that perspective it has been lengthy, inefficient and led to uncertainty for important organizations across the Commonwealth. As long as the state government is divided, and our country is divided along party lines, it is difficult to envision an environment where leaders are incentivized to seek compromise. Once in the state legislature, I would seek and support changes to streamline the budget process and ensure its timely passage.
With the rapid increase of data centers, it is critical that the state legislature enact laws to mitigate the risk to our citizens and their communities. This state regulation should provide reasonable oversight, protect energy and natural resources, and help keep utility costs affordable for consumers. The municipal governments should handle the zoning issues and concerns that are specific to their area and respond to the needs of their constituents.
County
Allegheny
Occupation
Legislator/ business owner
Education
Dickinson college BA, language and economics
Affordability. The issues the people of the 44th District care about range from the rising cost of living, to the lack of access to healthcare to ensuring a quality education for our kids. On these issues we need leadership focused on solutions, not politics. Government can ease the cost of living by controlling spending and taxes, as well as unleashing PA’s energy sector to better control utility bills. We can invest in traditional education and support alternatives. And we can make healthcare more affordable and accessible by allowing competition in health insurance, supporting innovation in healthcare (ie. Telemedicine) and making it easier to attract and keep doctors and healthcare workers to our state
We all share a common goal: make voting easier and increasing voter confidence and participation. Updating and maintaining clean voter rolls is a priority; ensuring strong oversight of mail-in voting; implementing voter id; ensuring voting machines are up-to-date with all standards; requiring consistency of voting rules across the state; and more timely vote counting of all votes at the polls.
As stewards of taxpayer dollars, it is our duty to ensure public funds are being used responsibly and efficiently. We must increase transparency and accountability in the budget process so taxpayers know what to expect as budgets are developed and “what happened” if they are not met. My legislation- House Bill 979 - would strengthen accountability in state programs by requiring agencies to assess, report & publicly disclose improper payments, mirroring federal standards to reduce waste, improve transparency and protect taxpayer dollars. I support a bill to require the Legislature to remain in session until the budget is passed and to stop pay for legislators if the budget is not passed on time
The legislative initiatives I support would ultimately protect and help the people of the 44th District. That’s what being a Representative means. Specific to data centers, there are different approaches the state can take, including: ensuring data centers are built only in industrial areas; protecting utility ratepayers from subsidizing data center operations;
holding centers accountable for their energy and water use and protecting environmental areas from damage by development. Taken correctly – and without partisan rancor – actions like these could provide municipalities with tools to better manage and regulate data center siting & operations, ensuring they align with local communities.
