Always Working for You
Bringing more attention to our corner of the state
The Erie region is an innovative, growing, beautiful corner of the state, but being a corner makes it a little more difficult to share the strides we're making and the problems we're facing with the state government in Harrisburg.
For example, Erie's emerging tech industry is attracting national attention, yet we still have areas in the region that don't have reliable access to broadband. We are doing great things and have the capacity to do a lot more, but only if we can get statewide attention.
As state representative, I've brought legislators to Erie every year to see first-hand what we have to offer and why we deserve state attention and investment. These efforts were supercharged starting in 2021 when I was elected to House leadership as Policy Chair. This position gives our region a voice at the highest levels of state government which means:
- Nearly $25 million in state funding for infrastructure repairs, schools, police, fire, and EMS in 2022 alone.
- 98 policy events held across the state on issues that matter to you like infrastructure, job creation, Covid recovery, and education.
- Two trips for my colleagues to visit our region and see first-hand the amazing work we are doing, creating a thriving place to live and do business.
This means a $530k grant for those emerging tech businesses to really prove that Erie is on the cutting edge of tomorrow's business and $50k for a study to determine where broadband isn't functioning and prepare us for the rollout of a better broadband system statewide.
But none of this will matter if our right to vote, to decide freely and securely who will lead us, is stripped away. There is a strong and growing effort to skew the process, discredit our elections, and end democracy as we know it. As Policy Chair my first three hearings held regarded the attacks on the Capitol and we have been standing ever since to defend democracy, expand early voting, protect voting my mail, and ensure counties like ours have what they need to certify elections quickly and securely. There has never been a more crucial time for voters to stand up, demand better for our country and our state, and VOTE.
