In honor of National Gun Violence Survivors Week, I urge everyone to open their minds and their hearts to how we can stop this epidemic and save lives. Read more

HARRISBURG, Jan. 26 – State Rep. Mike Zabel today announced the creation of the bipartisan and bicameral Youth Safety Caucus, focused on reforming Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system. This new caucus will work to identify and implement evidence-based changes to redefine how Pennsylvania sentences young people convicted of a crime. Zabel explained that the goal is to protect the well-being of Pennsylvania’s youth and create better public safety outcomes. “As a commonwealth, we can hold young Pennsylvanians accountable for their behavior while simultaneously pursuing evidence-based policies that reduce recidivism and keep families intact,” Zabel said. “Over-utilizing juvenile detention centers, or worse – in some instances, adult jails, puts youth who were considered low risk at a higher likelihood of reoffending and re-entering the criminal justice system. To address this problem, the Youth Safety Caucus will instead focus on prioritizing community service, interventions and diversion over incarnation for Pennsylvania’s youth.” Zabel added that pursuing options outside of incarceration could significantly save money statewide. Removing a young person from home and putting them in out-of-home placement costs as much as $192,720 per youth per year, nearly 50 times the cost of high-quality effective family therapy. In addition to Zabel, the Youth Safety Caucus is also co-chaired by Rep. Natalie Mihalek, Read more

"It is my hope that at the conclusion of this tour we will have a clear idea on how best to heal the divides in Harrisburg, what a fair set of House rules should include, and a plan to finally get survivors of childhood sexual assault the justice and truth that they so desperately deserve.” Read more

Rozzi said he hopes the members of Speaker’s Workgroup join him on the tour and that by the end of it, “we will have a clear idea on how best to heal the divides in Harrisburg." Read more

“Today’s Commonwealth Court ruling is a victory for democracy." Read more

The workgroup will organize on Tuesday, January 17th, and will meet regularly until a path forward is reached.  Read more

History will not judge us based on how many Democratic Party wins or Republican Party wins we achieve, but we will be judged based on what we did for the children of this Commonwealth. Read more

There is an epidemic of sexual abuse against children in this Commonwealth, throughout this nation, and throughout the world. I came to Harrisburg with one purpose: to see that survivors of childhood sexual assault in Pennsylvania receive the justice that they deserve. Read more

HARRISBURG, Jan. 4 – State Rep. Carol Kazeem took the oath of office in Harrisburg Tuesday, commencing her first term as state representative for her Delaware County district. After last year’s reapportionment process, the 159th Legislative District consists of the City of Chester, Lower Chichester and Upper Chichester townships and Eddystone, Trainer, Parkside and Marcus Hook boroughs. “It’s a great honor that the residents of the 159 th District gave me the opportunity to be their advocate in our state legislature,” Kazeem said. “I look forward to bringing up the topics that our commonwealth needs to seriously discuss and enact change that will improve the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians.” Kazeem said that some of her top legislative priorities for this session include reducing gun violence, strengthening education equity, criminal justice reform and raising the minimum wage. She expects to receive her committee assignments later this month. Kazeem is one of 26 new Democratic members sworn in and one of eight Democratic freshwomen. This class of freshmen legislators is the largest and most diverse group in over a decade. Photos from the swearing-in ceremony are available on Kazeem’s website: https://www.pahouse.com/Kazeem/PhotoGallery?g=5437 . Read more

HARRISBURG, Jan. 3 – State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, today was elected by his peers as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. After taking the oath of office in the state Capitol this afternoon to commence his sixth term, Rozzi was then elected speaker by a vote of 115 to 85. “I’m proud to say that I’ve served the residents of the 126th Legislative District for the last decade, and I’m humbled to now serve every Pennsylvanian,” Rozzi said. “As speaker, my goal is to remain nonpartisan in order to deliver a sense of unity within the legislature. It’s past time that we work together and restore trust in the people’s House.” Rozzi pledged to caucus with neither Democrats nor Republicans. He affirmed that while at the rostrum, typical politics and the division they subsequently create will have no place in the House chamber. “Sometimes Republicans will win, and sometimes Democrats will win, and that is fine, so long as the beneficiaries are the people of this commonwealth,” he said. Rozzi, most notably known for his work protecting children through abolishing Pennsylvania’s criminal statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse , said that his top priority as speaker is to put people over politics and eradicate instances of hyper partisanship. Photos of Rozzi at today’s swearing-in are available on his website: Read more