What are your top three legislative priorities in 2025?
At the top of my list is lighting a fire under Pennsylvania’s energy economy. Across all economic sectors, but importantly in the bottom line of every Pennsylvania family, energy costs are too high and are constraining budgets too much. With abundant energy resources here in Pennsylvania, that should not be the case. We should be bringing people to Pennsylvania because of our low energy costs, proximity to cheap energy, and the ability to grow businesses with consistent energy delivery. On top of that, we are on the verge of an energy supply crisis. With more and more surrounding states cutting energy production, Pennsylvania is one of the few net exporters of energy in the mid-Atlantic, but we cannot supply everyone. In addition, we are a prime location for data center development and technological advancement, all of which have great energy needs. We need to produce more energy, transmit more energy, and use those as a catalyst to grow Pennsylvania.
Right after that is returning money to Pennsylvania’s taxpayers. There are several ways we can directly take our surplus and invest it in Pennsylvania families, but there are also commonsense ideas about how we can help small businesses and mom and pop employers with better fiscal and tax policy. Many of these are broad bipartisan concepts and these ideas are easily achievable in a closely divided House of Representatives.
Also, incredibly important to me is education policy, especially higher education policy. We have many schools in crisis in Pennsylvania and we need to find a way to help students and families trapped in a cycle of insufficient education outcomes. We also need to work on investing in career and technical education to provide a broad array of career ready skills in our basic education menu. On the higher education side, affordability and accountability are big things we need to continue to drive forward, but also providing an affordable education that provides skills which encourage our young people to stay in Pennsylvania.
What are the important issues facing your district?
My district is rural, so agriculture and related issues remain big for my district. Also, broadband access and access to technology remain works in progress. Of course, like the rest of Pennsylvania, especially rural Pennsylvania, one of the biggest issues facing Bedford and Fulton counties is finding ways to keep our young people local to help grow our economy and keep our communities strong. We are a large transportation corridor, so opportunities continue to present themselves, but areas like mine need to keep being part of the larger conversation about how to attract and maintain families to Pennsylvania so we are well positioned for the future.
What is your favorite vacation destination?
Really anywhere I can get to with my boys. Their sports interests take us all over Pennsylvania and the broader region, so we are on the road a lot. We have a beautiful Commonwealth with so much to offer people. But it’s never so much about the destination as who you spend that time with and there is nobody I would rather spend my time with than my two boys and my family.
What are the biggest challenges for grocers in your district?
Prices are a big issue not just in my district, but across the Commonwealth. There is a lot of that tied to energy costs, what it takes to produce supplies, get those supplies to the stores, and maintain stock. I would also say access to a workforce that is trained, consistent, and motivated, all the more reason we need to do better about investing in career and technical education.
What are your biggest challenges and successes as a legislator?
Challenges come and go, but it’s the challenges that turn into successes. I’ll point to a recent success we had in the last budget and that was the passage of the GROW PA plan. That plan looked at a challenge we faced in Pennsylvania: affordability and accountability of higher education and solved it with bipartisan successes that will lead to better education outcomes, more accountability in higher education, more affordable higher education, and more incentive for graduates to stay in Pennsylvania. That also shows us what we can do when we work to get something meaningful done in divided government.
What is your favorite food or meal to cook?
I love food and consider myself a foodie. My pork chops and lasagna are fan favorites.
What do you like to do for fun?
I am still active in umpiring PIAA baseball and officiating PIAA basketball back home. I am a volunteer coach for the Bedford High School football team, but before I ran for office, I was defensive coordinator. I enjoy golf even though I’m not very good at it. But, like I said before, I have my most fun when I’m with my two sons, meeting them where they are and in the things they like to do.
What is your greatest success as a legislator over the past few years?
Few of our successes are individual, but I was really proud of the work our team did last session when I was Republican Chairman of the House Education Committee and the work we continue to do in that space. Whether it was finding a way to keep choice options available, provide investment for better alternatives, or the previously mentioned work in higher education, we were able to make real change and progress in the education world. The other great success is the work done in our district office on a day-to-day basis by the incredible staff. Serving our constituents to the best of our ability is the definition of success.■
