Merski elected chairman of Northwest Delegation
Rep. Robert Merski February 7, 2022 | 3:41 PM
HARRISBURG, Feb. 7 – State Rep. Bob Merski, D-Erie, announced today that he was unanimously elected chairman of the Northwest Delegation, a coalition of lawmakers representing the interests of residents in Erie and other counties in Pennsylvania’s Northwest quadrant.
“Service is part of who I am,” Merski said. “After serving as treasurer, I’m honored to be elected to serve as chairman of the Northwest Delegation and guide our efforts to make sure our region’s needs are priorities in Harrisburg. Our corner of the state is blessed with rich natural resources and resilient people who have worked hard to reinvent our economy during extremely challenging times.
“At the same time, families in our region are still living with an underfunded education system that hurts students and threatens taxpayers, a shortage of affordable housing and the need for greater economic stability, while communities are still battling blight and dealing with aging infrastructure.
“In the months ahead, I’ll be working closely with the delegation on key priorities, including bringing more funding back to our region; fighting for fairer school funding that broadens the state’s investment in our region’s public schools; strengthening workforce training and job opportunities; promoting opportunity zones and other initiatives that attract investors and businesses; and fortifying our infrastructure to encourage business growth, fight blight, and keep the public safe. With the prospect of more funding on tap for infrastructure investments, we are looking forward to putting those dollars to work to benefit our region.
“Above all, we’ll be working to ensure that the residents of our region have a loud and clear voice in Harrisburg,” he said.
Merski said he is looking forward to developing strategies with other delegation members, including the new vice chairman, state Rep. Pat Harkins, D-Erie; the new treasurer, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria; and the new secretary, state Rep. Chris Sainato, D-Lawrence.