Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find
common ground through uncommon
conversations, politics,
religion, finances,
all the topics your grandmother told
you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests on commonalities.
Thank you for joining another episode
of Commonalities. I'm your host,
Matt Dowling. My guest today is
a friend and colleague of mine,
Senator Greg Rothman.
Greg served in the Pennsylvania
house with me and, uh,
is a newly minted Pennsylvania
state. Senator Greg,
I want to thank you for being with me
today. And, uh, want to give you a,
an opportunity at the start of the
show here to give a little bit of your
background, uh, you know,
how you got into politics and how you, uh,
you got to your current seat
in the Pennsylvania Senate.
Thanks, Matt, and great seeing you. It
was, uh, it was honor serving with you.
We had, uh, did some important
stuff in the house together. Um,
I served in the house, as you said,
for seven years. Uh, prior to that, um,
I spent about 30 years in real estate, uh,
real estate brokerage and appraising
a little bit of development, uh,
in the Harrisburg area. Uh,
I grew up in this area. Uh,
I was always interested in politics
and certainly understood the role that,
uh, the state government has in, uh,
in our business and in our lives.
Um, and so I cared about who the, who
was holding office. Um, as I said,
about seven years ago,
my state representative,
who'd been there for a long time,
left there was a special election. Uh,
I was chairman of the county party,
and, um, we had a conf free process.
And, uh, I wasn't, uh,
wasn't really satisfied with
the way, um, it was shaping up.
And a couple people came to me and said,
well, you know, maybe you should run.
And I thought I would just finish out
the term about six or nine months.
And I ended up, uh, getting there and
meet, meeting some great people like,
like yourself. And I thought,
well, this is important work. I, I,
I thought that politics is too serious
to be left to politicians, so that,
that's why I ran in the
first place. And, um,
ended up being able to get a lot done
and stop a lot of bad things too. Um,
during, uh, redistricting,
um, the, the, uh,
new map for the house, basically my seat
was sent in three different directions,
so it became three different seats. Um,
and the Democrats were successful
in redistricting my house seat away.
But meanwhile, they created a,
a, a senate seat that was, um,
perfect, I thought perfect for my
background and my, um, philosophy.
And, and, uh,
my house district was a hundred
percent within the Senate district,
so I ran for that and, uh,
won a, a contested primary.
And then the general contested
general election. So, um,
for those keeping score, I had seven
contested elections in seven years,
and we won them all. So,
um, I've, um, I spent,
um, I went to college in Massachusetts,
uh, in Amherst, Massachusetts at UMass,
was a political science major.
Went to graduate school at Johns Hopkins
and got a master's degree in real
estate. Spent 10 years in the
Marine Corps Reserve. I was, uh,
in artillery in the Marine Corps. Uh,
I've got five children, uh, four girls,
one of whom has a fifth birthday
today. And, uh, and one boy, of course,
the boy's my favorite. Right, right.
Matt, it's <laugh>. Um, but anyway, I, uh,
uh, grew up in this area
in central Pennsylvania.
I've lived here all my life
and, uh, love representing it.
That's.
That's.
My elevator speech.
So you are, uh, you're, like I said,
you're a newly minted senator, and,
uh,
I wanted to get your opinion
on the way things are kind of
breaking down here as a new
session has started, uh,
with a new governor. Of course, we have a,
a Democratic governor with
Governor Josh Shapiro. Um,
the Pennsylvania House for the
first time in many years is, uh,
being controlled by the Democrats,
and then we still have a
Republican majority in the Senate.
You know, how do you foresee
those three factions working
together, um, kind of to get things
accomplished? And, you know, I,
I know the house is, uh,
is really behind in getting
organized and getting off the ground,
uh,
especially as we're coming to what
would traditionally be the beginning
of budget season. So, uh, you know,
how do you see those three
factions being able to,
to work together here in Pennsylvania?
Yeah, as soon as you and I leave, the
whole place goes to, you know, <laugh>,
uh, it, it, it'll be interesting,
um, you know, you know,
the dynamic from having served there
too. Um, 203 is a lot of people.
Um, you know, we, we talk about
herding cats, um, you know,
to get 102 people on the same page
for anything is difficult. Um,
which is why, you know, having
a, having a healthy majority,
like we had when you and I
served, um, you know, still, um,
despite that,
we still didn't get everything done we
wanted to get done in the house. So, um,
I mean, it looks as if,
I don't know, I mean,
it's gonna be 102 to 101
or 102 to a hundred next
week. Um, uh, and then, you know,
in my seven years in the house,
there was always someone vacancy,
and there was always someone, uh,
whether they were, um, you know,
under indictment or running for
another office or had health issues or,
um, you know, had, had other
conflicts weren't there.
And so if you're not there now, all of
a sudden the numbers change again. And,
um, I s I thought after
the election, you know,
realizing that the Democrats had picked
up the majority in the house, um,
that the Senate would end up being
a, a, a backstop, and that we in the,
the Republicans and the Senate would
stop bad things from happening. Um, now,
um, based on the sort of
dysfunction of the house, um,
and the, and the really, the difficulty
that either party's gonna have, um,
in coming up with a solid
majority, uh, to get things done,
that I think the Senate Republicans are
gonna be the caucus that actually gets
stuff done. And we are gonna be
the leadership, the leaders in, uh,
in an agenda and send it
to the house. And, um,
the house is gonna have to accept it if
they can't come up with an alternative
where they get 102 votes.
So, and, and as you know, um,
so your listeners might not, you know,
most of the stuff that gets done in the
legislature happens around budget time.
So, um, you know, the governor's got, uh,
an ambitious agenda, uh, has, has done
some good things already, I think.
And we're gonna, uh, we hope
that, you know, his campaign, uh,
rhetoric matches the
reality of his policies. Uh,
and then let's find what we can
agree to, um, which is the, you know,
that's how the real world exists,
right? You compromise and you, um,
you, you, I, I want this, you want
that. That's how you negotiate.
That's what I did in real
estate for 30 years. And, uh,
I think that's what's
gonna end up happening.
But the negotiations are likely gonna
be between the governor and the Senate
Republicans, um, with the house, just
having to accept whatever we come up with.
Well, and, and I think regardless
of what party you're a member of or,
or what you think of, um, you know,
of his campaign promises,
Josh Shapiro is, uh,
is a phenomenal politician. And, uh,
and that's one thing that
I saw over my time, uh,
in the house as he was Attorney
General, was the fact that, uh,
he's very good at, at playing
the game. So hopefully, um,
you know, he will continue to,
to do some of those things and to
work with members of the Senate
to, uh, to get some ideas off
the ground as we do move through,
uh, this budget season and, and start
to hit some of those priorities,
you know,
as someone who came from the
Pennsylvania House and is now
in the, the Senate. And, uh, you
know, not even looking at the,
the dysfunction that's happening in
the Pennsylvania House right now,
but what do you see as some of
the biggest differences, um,
you know, now that you're serving in, uh,
in the upper chamber of,
of the Pennsylvania legislature
compared to when you were in,
uh, in the Pennsylvania House?
Yeah. So, uh, obviously
it's a, a smaller body.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common
ground through uncommon conversations.
Copyright 2022, coordinated 360,
all public rebroadcast should be done
with prior written approval from Matthew
Dowling. All requests should be sent
to
[email protected]
Thank you for listening to commonalities.
Are you enjoying the program?
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online.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling
of home, that sense of belonging,
those fall Friday nights under the
lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing
spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider
softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and
hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those
memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future.
During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back
to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first
comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's
section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted
properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the Foldy
equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more
competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet
service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's
still more to do. So, I Bill Gerkey,
I'm running for a second term. We're
Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild
Uniontown for the next generation.
Paid.
For by Mayor Bill Gerkey.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should
call Dave Dowling At Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers,
freshly painted walls,
granite countertops, gleaming
hardwood floors, and other touches.
What you can't see is the
cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might
be revealed when you hire a
home inspector. And when it
comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications
and experience needed,
should be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grandview Inspections
is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial
construction experience and
hundreds of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity
for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report
outlining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and
what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of
your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is
everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at
Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
I'm Melinda De LaRose. As an
Assistant District Attorney,
I've protected Fayette County families
and fought to uphold our constitutional
rights. As a prosecutor
and trusted local attorney,
I've provided victims of crime with a
strong voice and put criminals behind
bars. My pledge to you as
judge is to follow the law,
always maintain the
highest ethical standards,
and to run a courtroom that's
respectful of your time and tax dollars.
I'm Melinda de LaRose asking
for your vote for Judge paid.
For by Friends of Melinda de LaRose.
So, so there are 50 members in the
Senate compared to 203 in the house.
So because of that, you have
an opportunity to get to
know your colleagues, uh,
in, in a more intimate way. Um,
we're also, um, you know, we have a,
uh, smaller, you know, we're
on more committees. I'm on, uh,
I think five or six committees. I
chair one and vice chairman another.
So your interaction with your
colleagues is a lot, um, more.
And I believe that, you know, the,
the familiarity actually
breeds cooperation and respect.
And so if you see a person, you get
to know someone, it's, it's harder to,
um, um, it's harder to, to to be
unkind to them <laugh> that's,
that's, uh, in the house,
there's so many people,
and you get insulated in your own party
or your own region, or your own caucus.
Um,
and it makes it easier for people to take
jabs at each other because they don't
know each other. And so, um,
and the con, you know, the, the,
the inverse of that is that we can
work together cuz we know each other.
So I see more, um, more
civility, um, more,
um, of a, you know, uh,
of relationships between senators
and, uh, and a mutual respect, uh,
which I already ha I mean, I,
I had for some members that I had
served with when we were in the house
together, but, you know, guys like
Marty Flynn, who's the chairman of the,
the Democratic Chairman of
the Transportation Committee
we serve together in the
House, or Jimmy Dillon from Northeast
Philadelphia. I'm just getting to know.
Um, you know, so that, that makes
life a little, little different.
And I think in, in many
ways better the Senate.
So you mentioned committees and,
uh, you know, in, in the house,
it took about 10 years
for an individual to, uh,
get a chairmanship of a committee. Um,
so I wanted to give you an
opportunity to, you know,
rattle off some of the committees that
you're on, but also to talk about, um,
the committee that you're
now chair of and, uh,
some of the legislative priorities
that you have on that committee.
Yeah, so you're right, I,
I probably would've never become a
chairman of the house, certainly, um, not,
not this term. Um, but I've, uh, am a, um,
chairman of the Game and
Fisheries Committee, uh,
which my district has is a very rural
district outside of the suburban core of,
uh, uh, Hampton and East sbo and
Camp Hill, the, the, um, you know,
sort of the southeast, uh, southwest of
Cumberland County. But the rest of it,
I have all of Perry County and Upper
Dolphin County and all of Western
Cumberland County.
It's have a lot of hunters and some
of the best fishing in the, uh,
entire state, maybe in the nation.
I mean, la tort, yellow breaches,
and even the Sulan River has
great fishing. So, um, it's, um,
it's a very important committee.
We regulate the Game Commission and
the Fish and Boat Commission. Um,
we're responsible for oversight of the,
I think it's 1.6 million acres
of, um, state game lands.
Uh, and, um, we help, uh, give
guidance to the commissions.
Both the fish and boat and the Game
Commission are independent commissions,
but we do have oversight over
them. So, um, for instance,
I think while you were in the
legislature, we were together,
we voted on Sunday hunting, which
was a very controversial issue,
but also is a very popular
issue. Uh, so the, you know,
million plus hunters and million plus
fishers and, uh, fisher people who fish,
I guess, um, you know, care about
what our committee does. And so,
um, you know,
whether we open on a Saturday or a
Monday is a sort of a controversial issue
right now. Um, and I, I'm
just trying to get to know,
um, the, um, the fishing and game, uh,
or the game and fisheries, um,
industry. And I mean, I, I'm,
I'm a mediocre fisher and a
mediocre hunter, but I do, uh,
greatly appreciate the outdoors. I
spend a lot of time outdoors and, um,
you know, wanna promote
that as an industry, uh,
not just for the revenue it
generates for our economy,
but also as a way to attract people
to Pennsylvania. Not just for tourism,
though, that's important,
but to try to shift the demographics
and get more young people to come to
Pennsylvania after they, um,
graduate from high school or college,
and come here because they love the
outdoors and all the opportunities we have
on our, our streams and our, our
rivers and our lakes, and, um,
and in our, in our state game lens.
Well, Senator Rothman, we
have to take a quick break.
We'll be right back here
with more commonalities.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common
ground through uncommon conversations.
Copyright 2022, coordinated 360,
all public rebroadcast should be done
with prior written approval from Matthew
Dowling. All requests should be sent
to
[email protected]
Thank you for listening to Commonalities.
Is your business using analog
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If so,
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Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
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[email protected] Again,
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Buy our host a cup of coffee or help pay
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online.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling
of home. That's sense of belonging.
Those fall Friday nights under the
lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing
spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider
softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and
hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those
memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future.
During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back
to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first
comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's
section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted
properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty
equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more
competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet
service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's
still more to do. So I Bill Gerkey.
I'm running for a second
term. We're Uniontown proud,
we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild
Uniontown for the next generation.
Paid.
For by Mayor Bill Gerkey.
I'm Melinda De LaRose. As an
Assistant District Attorney,
I've protected Fayette County families
and fought to uphold our constitutional
rights. As a prosecutor
and trusted local attorney,
I've provided victims of crime with a
strong voice and put criminals behind
bars. My pledge to you as
Judge is to follow the law,
always maintain the
highest ethical standards,
and to run a courtroom that's
respectful of your time and tax dollars.
I'm Melinda de LaRose asking
for your vote for Judge paid.
For by Friends of Melinda de LaRose.
Thank you for staying with
us on commonalities. I'm
your host, Matt Dowling.
My guest today is Senator Greg
Rothman, who represents, uh,
district towards the center of
the state. He is a newly minted,
uh, state senator, was a colleague
of mine in the Pennsylvania House.
And, uh, we've been talking a little
bit about, uh, the makeup of the house,
the Senate, and of course, uh,
having a new governor here and how
things are going to work together,
as well as the, uh, committees
that Greg is on. And, uh,
and the committee that he chairs. You
know, in the spirit of President's Day,
which just happened,
uh, yesterday, Greg, uh,
I thought I would give
you a chance to, uh,
to recognize your favorite
US President and maybe tell
us a little bit about, uh,
why that individual is, uh,
is at the top of your
list of US presidents.
Yeah, so, you know, the, the,
my favorite president of my
lifetime is Ronald Reagan. Um,
Ronald Reagan inspired me to, to get
involved in public service. Um, he,
um, came, came, became president in a,
a very critical time in our
country's history when, you know,
we had the malaise and the, um, you
know, God bless him, but Jimmy Carter,
who's, uh, it sounds like
he's on his deathbed,
but Jimmy Carter had what he had done
to our economy from inflation and, uh,
interest rates going through the roof
and, uh, the oil, uh, embargo and the,
the, you know, the, the issues
we were having with, uh,
Russia and then the
Soviet Union and communism
marching in Central America
and Eastern Europe into Poland.
Ronald Reagan came along, and I
would like to think that, you know,
maybe times were even tougher then
than they are now. Uh, and he saved,
um, not just America, but
saved the whole world. Um,
he's the reason that communism,
um, and the, and the, uh,
the Soviet Union imploded, and he's the
reason we had the great, uh, eighties,
uh, economy that lasted
through, you know, uh, the,
the huge economic expansion. So he is my
favorite president, uh, of my lifetime.
And I actually had a chance to meet him
and wrote a little book about him. Uh,
I think Abraham Lincoln is probably,
uh, historically my favorite president.
I have a farm in Gettysburg, and I
think what Abraham Lincoln did in the,
with the 14th Amendment and Emancipation
Proclamation, and, you know,
saving the nation from, um, the, the what,
the hideous practice of slavery,
but then also keeping the nation together
by willing to, by willing to, to, uh,
fight the Civil War. Um, I also loved
Calvin Coolidge. Calvin Coolidge, uh,
was from Vermont, but went to school
in Amherst, Massachusetts, uh, went to,
was the mayor of North Northampton, was
a state representative, a state senator,
or a, uh, a lieutenant governor,
a governor of Massachusetts,
went on to become the vice President
and then president and Calvin Coolidge.
Uh, leads, I think, you know, shared
what you and I believe that, uh,
the government functions best,
which does least <laugh>.
And let let the people do things
and, and empower the people.
It's the government of
the people by the people,
for the people that consent
to the governed. So, you know,
for a long time they said, well,
Calvin cool. Didn't do anything.
What did Calvin cool do other than be
President during the ro roaring twenties?
Um,
and then later historians look back and
there've been some great books written
about him. And so, wait a minute, he
did exactly what he said he would do,
which is stay out of the,
stay out of the lives of Americans
and stay out of our businesses and our
industries, and let them thrive by
having government leave them alone.
So those are my three favorite presidents.
Well, that, that, that's great
feedback to get. And, uh,
and those are three presidents that I
think as Republicans that we can draw a
lot of connections to. Um, you
know, I wanted to talk about, uh,
what you feel will be the
biggest legislative priorities,
not just for the Senate or
for the House or for the
Governor, but what do you see as actually
getting accomplished in this next
two year period here in Pennsylvania?
Yeah, you know,
one of the first pieces of legislation
I introduced when I got to the house was
to cut the corporate net income tax. Uh,
I had worked for Jack Kemp and the
Kemp Roth tax cuts of the eighties, uh,
which, uh,
Ronald Reagan championed were critical
to attorney the economy around as a
country.
And I thought cutting the corporate net
income tax rates would do the same for
Pennsylvania. Uh, it took seven years,
but the governor actually signed, um,
it into law, uh, as part of the budget
process. Senator Ryan Aht from, uh,
Lancaster had worked on it too many other
people, Senator Michelle Brooks. Um,
but now that we've passed that, I'd
like to see it accelerated. Um, it,
it, the, the way the bill passed,
it does cut it a little bit,
but it doesn't cut it enough, um, to
attract businesses to Pennsylvania.
So I'd like to see that, you know,
regu regulatory reform is such a,
a big issue, not just for
the Republicans, but all the,
all the private sector were all
affected by these regulations.
And during the Covid Pandemic, um,
the Governor Wolfs administration
suspended a lot of regulations,
and we should be looking at
those regulations and saying,
do we really need these since, uh, we
survived, uh, having them suspended?
And then I think energy's
such a big issue for, um, our,
our nation and with what's going
on in Ukraine. Um, you know,
Pennsylvania should be a, an exporter
of energy. We should certainly, uh,
use the energy to our advantage to
help bring manufacturing back to the
commonwealth and back to the
country for that matter, uh,
and that we should be a leader, um, in,
in energy, in all forms of energy. But,
but certainly natural gas and oil that
we're blessed to have in coal. Um,
you know, I, it sort of, I
find it ironic that, you know,
and I'm all for electric
vehicles, but let's be real,
electric vehicles are powered by
coal fired or gas fired, or, um,
you know, in, in many cases
in Pennsylvania, nukes, um,
very little energy is
generated by windmills or, um,
or solar panels or hydro electricity. Um,
so, you know,
we need to be promoting natural gas
because it is s safe and efficient and
clean, uh, and abundant.
You know, and I, and I live
here right in the midst of, uh,
Marcella Shell, uh, land where,
you know, we have just a,
a plethora of gas and oil opportunities.
And I believe if we were to
have additional pipelines or
ways to, to transport that gas and oil,
we could be an even larger
player nationally, um,
in the export of gas and oil.
But one of the big things that I know
as I've worked with the industry,
um,
that I've found is kind of the
instability that Pennsylvania has
with gas and oil. We've
been talking about, uh,
an excise tax or, or a gas tax, uh,
for a long period of time. Um,
I always unfortunately
leave some blame with, uh,
with Governor Corbett in
the fact that, you know,
we had fees that we weren't calling taxes.
So sometimes people say
that we're not being taxed,
but our fees that we pay are more
than even some of the other states.
But there is that instability
in the market where, uh,
I think some gas and oil, uh,
providers are saying, you know,
we just want stability.
We wanna know that, uh,
the laws aren't going to
change when we are, you know,
20 million into an investment
or a big play here in
Pennsylvania. Do you think
we have the power to, uh,
to stabilize and,
and solidify some of the
regulation in gas and oil
so that that stability is there and, uh,
and the manufacturers won't be afraid
that they're going to be hit with
some other tax after an
investment has been made?
Yeah, no, you're, you're, you're spot
on. I mean, they, they need stability,
and these are huge investments
that they're making. Um, so I,
I mean, I'm hopeful. I'm
optimistic that, you know,
governor Shapiro came out against,
uh, Pennsylvania joining the, uh,
regional Greenhouse gas initiative.
Reggie, uh, he has been, um,
you know, has been supportive of the
industry, uh, as a candidate. Um,
but, um, I think that, you know,
we need to make sure that, um,
people who invest in Pennsylvania and
make large investments in Pennsylvania
have their investments protected. And
stability's a a huge part of that issue.
Um, you know, I, I've been talking
about, um, across the street from now,
Senator John Federer
Man's house in Braddock,
Pennsylvania is the steel
plant. And US Steel were,
you know, they, they were gonna invest
a billion dollars in that plant,
but because of permit delays
by Allegheny County and, um,
local governments too,
they instead just decide to deploy
that $1 billion in investments to
Arkansas. So that, that
hurts our economy. Um,
so it's not just stability, but
it's, um, responsiveness of the,
of the state government
and the permit issuers. Uh,
I had a meeting yesterday
with the, the new, uh,
proposed secretary of D E p Richard
Ning. And, uh, you know, his,
he, he recognizes that
d e P is, um, you know,
hindering our, uh,
ability to attract businesses
to Pennsylvania and get
economic investment. So,
uh, I think he's gonna be, again,
I'm optimistic that he's gonna
understand how important, um,
that is to our economy. And, and you're
absolutely right, stability is, uh,
a main issue that investors want, um,
when they make investments
into our commonwealth.
So, uh, you know, we are at
the beginning of a session at,
at the beginning of a session,
we see a lot of co-sponsorship
memos that go out, um,
from individuals that, uh,
that maybe are reintroducing something
that they didn't get accomplished in
the previous session, uh,
or some new ideas that they have
had since they were recently out
on the campaign trail
talking to constituents.
So they come back and they're
trying to fix some of those issues.
For you personally, is there, uh,
a legislative agenda or a,
an item that you have that,
uh, that you're looking to fix? Uh,
I know we already talked about
the corporate net income tax, um,
but do you have any co-sponsorship
memo that you've put out recently,
uh,
with any new legislation that
you are championing or promoting?
Yeah, so, um, I, I just got done
reading this morning about this, uh,
Philadelphia police officer,
temple University police officer who was
shot point blank and killed. Um, the,
the gun violence we have
in, uh, this country,
I believe can only be stopped by
deterrents and by enforcing the laws we
have, it's not gonna be by
punishing, um, the, the,
the law abiding gun owners.
And you and I share, um,
respect for not just the Second
Amendment, but the 21st, um,
the section 24 of our Constitution,
uh, which says that, um,
the right to, uh,
own firearms is to protect your life and
your property and your family. And so,
section 21, so, um,
I introduced legislation that
has death penalties for those who
commit murders in safe spaces.
So if you go into a school, uh,
university that, that, that the,
um, guy at Michigan State last week,
um, or you kill someone in a
church or a temple or at a,
a sporting event or somewhere
where, um, you know, you, you,
you believe that it should
be a safe spa, safe space.
That right now the death penalty is not
a consideration or not allowed in those
cases. But under my, uh,
law that I just introduced the
co-sponsorship memo to, uh,
prior to the Michigan State shooting, um,
and I introduced it in the house,
and it went nowhere after the,
the Tree of Life shooting. And so,
um, in every one of these cases,
Matt, you know, it, I mean
the, the Temple University,
that poor officer was killed, um,
African American police officer,
father of four, killed by an 18
year old Bucks County, um, white,
um, sort of upper middle class
kid, not kid. He's a man,
he's 18 years old, had a gun charge
against him that wasn't enforced.
The Michigan State Killer had a gun
charge against him that was pleaded down,
and he didn't have to, he should have
been a felony, and he didn't have to,
he should have never had a gun.
And so we need to start
enforcing the gun laws we have,
and we need to have death penalty on
the table as a deterrent. Um, you know,
when you have punishments for crimes,
it says a deterrent as punishment,
which I, I believe, you know, um,
old Testament, and you take a life,
you should give your life, um, you
can have your life taken, and then,
of course, to protect society. So,
and with the cost of keeping
someone in prison, you know,
you commit a heinous crime, you
know, you kill or rape a child, um,
rape and kill a child.
I don't want to have to spend 60 or
$7,000 a year to make sure that you're fed
in clothed and have internet and cable
television, and, you know, in prison, I,
I, I wanna see that you give
up your life for that. So, um,
as a deterrent and as punishment
and to protect society,
and certainly the fiscal cost of
keeping someone in prison for life,
not to mention all the appeals. And so
the fact that the governor came out, um,
in the midst of all this gun violence, uh,
and said that he's not gonna enforce the
death penalties and not gonna sign any
death penalty orders, was really
disappointing. And I think, um, a mistake,
and I think he should
have as a prosecutor,
the Attorney General's office
should have known better.
The last death penalty, if
I'm correct, in Pennsylvania,
was in 1999, uh,
the last execution that was carried
out, rather. So it has been, uh,
quite some time and, and, uh,
unfortunately, because I, I know the, uh,
the governor's stance on the death
penalty, I think you will, uh,
have a little bit of an uphill battle, uh,
getting that le legislation
passed through. Um, you know,
we're coming to the close
of our time together today.
I wanted you to give you
an opportunity to, uh,
to share any final thoughts
you may have for our listeners,
uh, before we have to go.
Yeah, I just look, I wanna talk
about you, Matt, you, you were a,
a great member of the General Assembly,
a great friend. Um, you know, I,
I want to see you.
I hope you stay involved
and you are staying involved
in public policy. And, um,
I, I just think that, uh, you know, your,
your listenership needs to know, um,
you know, what, what I
think of you <laugh>,
what many of your colleagues
thought of you, that you were a,
a man of ideas and
policy and, um, you know,
really served your constituents well.
And I loved the conversations
we had together, and, um,
I stole a lot of your great
ideas. So thank you. And,
and what you did for the Second Amendment
Caucus, um, to really, um, you know,
help protect the Second Amendment,
um, was, was all, you know,
really praiseworthy. So I,
I'm grateful to have you as a
former colleague and friend,
and look forward to with
you in the future too.
Well.
And you got a great family.
Thank you so much for, uh, for taking
the time to be on the show today, Greg.
Uh, it was great talking with you and, uh,
and I'm sure there's a lot of good
that you'll be able to do here in the
Pennsylvania Senate. Best of luck to you.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common
ground through uncommon conversations.
Copyright 2022, coordinated 360,
all public rebroadcast should be done
with prior written approval from Matthew
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Hello Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling
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Thank you for staying with
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um,
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in the Pennsylvania House
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But, uh, before we go,
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This has been Commonalities,
a show where guests find common
ground through uncommon conversations.
Copyright 2022 Coordinated 360.
All public rebroadcast should be done
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Dowling. All requests should be sent
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Thank you for listening to commonalities.