State Rep. Dan Deasy

Deasy to Serve on Four House Committees

State Rep. Dan Deasy's first monthly report of the new year includes info about the committees he will serve in the House of Representatives.

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season and I wish you and yours a blessed and safe 2013. On New Year’s Day I was sworn into office to serve another two years as your State Representative. Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, the General Assembly must be in session the first Tuesday of the new legislative session, which this year fell on January 1st.  I am honored that my colleagues have elected me to serve as Vice Chairman of the Allegheny County Delegation for the 2013-14 Legislative Session. The Delegation is a group of Democratic lawmakers who serve Allegheny County and work together to address the needs of the region. State Rep. Dom Costa will serve as the Delegation’s Chairman for the 2013-2014 Legislative …

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Rep. Schmotzer Aims to Ban 'Pension Double Dipping'

The Whitehall man hopes to prevent public employees from collecting more than one state or local government pension.

Martin Michael Schmotzer, a Democrat from Whitehall Borough who represents the 22nd House District of Pennsylvania, including Brookline and Beechview, plans to introduce a bill in the state House of Representatives that would ban public employees from collecting more than one state or local government pension, which Schmotzer labels "pension double dipping." "Public-sector retirees have the option to return to work at another level of government and continue to receive a pension," Schmotzer said in a news release. "Although the pension benefits of state and public school return-to-service retirees must be frozen while collecting a state paycheck, this is not the case for retirees collecting pensions from various levels of government. "If …

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Election 2012: Q&A With Auditor General Candidate Maher

State Rep. John Maher is also running unopposed in a re-election for his current House seat.

State Rep. John Maher (R-Upper St. Clair) is running for two offices this election. He's running unopposed for state representative of the 40th District—an office he has held since 1997. Maher is also seeking the auditor general seat currently occupied by Jack Wagner, who has reached his term limit. He will be squaring off against Frank Pinto of Harrisburg in the April 24 Republican primary. Maher or Pinto will move on to face state Rep. Eugene DePasquale of York County, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination as auditor general. Maher is an Upper St. Clair resident and a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, with an B.A. degree in management sciences/accounting. He also completed scholarship studies at Oxford …

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Wagner’s Offices to Stay Open Despite Resignation

Office spokesperson answers questions regarding her pay, current job position and local offices.

State Rep. Chelsa Wagner’s (D-Pittsburgh) resignation from the House of Representatives should have little effect on constituents, a spokesman for her office said Monday. Effective Monday, Wagner—who was temporarily serving as both Allegheny County Controller and state representative—is no longer a state representative and will only hold the position of controller. Wagner collected only her legislative salary while serving in both positions, and—as of Monday—will only collect her county salary. The resignation, as well as her acceptance of a more than $20,000 pay raise to her county salary, raised questions among constituents about Wagner’s pay and about which state representative to turn to in her absence. Lou Takacs, a communication …

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