Advocacy Updates with State Legislators- Erie and Northwestern Webinar

State Rep. Donna Oberlander represents the 63rd Legislative district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving parts of Armstrong, Clarion, and Forest Counties. In June 2020, Donna made state history by becoming the first Republican woman and only the second woman in the history of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to be elected as Majority Whip, the third highest position in the House Republican Caucus. As Whip, she is responsible for tracking House votes and informing her other Republican colleagues on upcoming issues and legislation. This position also comes with positions on the House Rules Committee and the Bipartisan Management Committee.

Majority Whip is Oberlander’s third role in House Republican leadership. She was elected as caucus secretary in 2014 and majority Policy Committee chairman in 2018, a position she has most recently held. She was the first woman to chair the Policy Committee and the first representative from the 63rd District to achieve this advanced leadership role.

She also serves as chairman of the House Diabetes Caucus, where she has led House passage of significant legislation to help people diagnosed with this health condition. This session, she also co-chairs the House Manufacturing Caucus, which allows members to interact with the manufacturing community on relevant issues and policy, help create pro-manufacturing legislation and raise the profile of the industry.

In the prior two sessions, Donna served as Majority Caucus Secretary. Her tenure in the House has also included services as a House Republican Deputy Whip and membership on the following standing committees: Appropriations, Children and Youth, Environmental Resources and Energy, and Local Government.

Senator Joe Pittman was elected as the State Senator for the 41st Senatorial District in a May 21, 2019 special election to complete the unexpired term of Senator Don White, who retired on February 28, 2019, after 18 years of service. He was reelected for a full four-year term in November 2020.
Senator Pittman serves as Chairman of the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee. He is a member of four additional Senate Committees: Appropriations, Banking & Insurance, Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure, and Judiciary. He also serves as the Senate Republican Caucus representative on the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) Board of Directors.

A leader in the effort to promote economic development, job creation initiatives, and strengthen the local economy, Senator Pittman has staunchly opposed the carbon tax under the Governor’s proposal that Pennsylvania join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The carbon tax would severely impact the region’s coal and electric generation sectors and potentially cause the loss of thousands of good paying, family-sustaining jobs.

He is the prime sponsor of Act 26 of 2020 (Senate Bill 1122), which created a special $50 million grant program to ease the financial burden on fire companies and EMS stations created by the COVID 19 pandemic.

Immediately prior to joining the Senate, Senator Pittman served as former Senator White’s Chief of Staff. In that role, Senator Pittman developed strong working relationships with members of the General Assembly, legislative staff and officials across a number of state agencies.
He also worked closely with county and local governments and civic organizations to foster and promote economic development and infrastructure improvement efforts to enhance the quality of life for the region.