Republican Jeremy Shaffer will be sworn in to represent House District 28, while Democrat John Inglis will be representing House District 38.
Shaffer is a former Ross Township commissioner who spent 20 years in the transportation industry as a computer engineer and entrepreneur. Shaffer discussed his plans for his new position, saying, “We need to grow our state. We need to help create jobs here and reduce some of the regulations that drive businesses to other areas of the country.”
He added, saying, “A state that has an effective preventative maintenance program, they might spend $1 million preventing $100 million of repairs in a future year.” He also mentioned that he would like to improve school funding in his district.
John Inglis served as a West Mifflin councilmember and a school guidance counselor. He said, “Investing in counseling, therapy, behavior intervention specialists, and social workers…I feel like we’ve been oftentimes very reactionary in how we fund things in Pennsylvania [schools] and certainly it’s better to be proactive.”
Inglis said his top priority will be to find a new funding model for education, especially in districts that do not have a strong local tax base. He said, “Studies have found… a lot of public education facilities across the state are outdated. Not all schools have the same resources and support.” He also expressed his support of unions, saying, “I grew up in a union household. My dad was an educator in the Navy, so this idea of service has been instilled in me.”
The two new legislators will be sworn in on January 7th at the State Capitol.
