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State Rep.-elect Chad Reichard says businesses in his district need help to train skilled workers • Pennsylvania Capital-Star [1]
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Date: 2024-12-11 11:00:13+00:00
Chad Reichard said his election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives takes his career in public service to a new level representing the southern half of Franklin County in state government.
Reichard won the Republican nomination in a primary campaign against Greencastle-Antrim School Board Vice President Janon “Jay” Gray and ran unopposed in the general election last month. He is taking over the 90th Legislative District seat from Rep. Paul Schemel (R-Franklin) who announced this year he would not run for reelection after five terms in the House.
With degrees in business and public administration, Reichard has served as the zoning officer and town planner for Washington Township and was elected as a supervisor. He also worked as a legislative staffer in the Pennsylvania Senate and the U.S. House. Reichard said he’s drawn to public service by the ability to shape government to better serve people.
“I’m from the district here, so this is where I grew up. These are people that I’ve known my whole life. And if there’s a way that we can work to make government work better for them, then I’m all for it, and that’s that’s why I’ve really kind of taken this career path for public service,” Reichard said.
The 90th District spans Franklin County between the Maryland border and the Chambersburg area. It includes the boroughs of Mercersburg, Greencastle, Waynesboro and seven other municipalities.
Capital-Star: What would you say is unique about your district?
Reichard: It’s got that small town charm — that kind of rural feel that people know each other. I could leave my house, I could go on vacation, and I know that I have neighbors that would kind of keep an eye on things.
I think that’s what attracts people to move into this area, especially from the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas, that it’s still one of those few places in America where you have that kind of neighborly and community feel.
Originally it was retirees, but now with COVID and how office culture has changed, more and more people are able to telework, folks can live here because the cost of living is a lot cheaper and the schools are fantastic. But if they need to be in the city a day or two a week, it’s not overly burdensome to drive.
We have traditional conservative values here and that’s why we have low taxes and smaller government and more responsibility placed on the individuals. Folks that might be moving into the area are used to a broader range of government services. When you start wanting more services and then their taxes go up, folks start to have some heartburn about that.
C-S: What do you see as the most pressing issues for the state government to address in your district?
Reichard: We have a great shortage of skilled labor. We have a lot of manufacturing here. The statistic I heard once was for every five people retiring from a skilled labor position, there’s only two going in to replace them. We need welders, we need carpet layers, we need plumbers, we need electricians, but we also need health care workers.
If there’s a way that we might be able to set up or create some sort of paid apprenticeship program that would allow folks that might already be established in one career path to explore, potentially enter into some of these needed skilled labor position, or to attract folks to the area to fill those that would certainly be something I’d be interested in exploring.
Preservation is another big issue here. We’ve seen a lot of solar development.
We don’t necessarily want to tell the farmers and folks like that what they can and can’t do with their land, but we also have some of the best agricultural land, I’d argue, in the United States here. If there are ways that we can encourage farmers to explore farmland preservation over selling those lease rights to solar companies and at least making it more competitive that would be another priority.
C-S: Is there a piece of legislation that you sort of have in your back pocket ready to introduce on day one?
Reichard: I was alluding to a paid apprenticeship program. I don’t believe it’s the government’s job to create jobs, but we can certainly create the economic circumstances necessary for business to do that. And I think that’s what we’re looking to do, is just find a way to be able to to allow businesses to take a very necessary step for them to expand their workforce.
When you have folks that might be in an unskilled labor position, but you still have a mortgage or rent, you still have a family that you have to support, you can’t necessarily stop or put that on hiatus, or run it all on a credit card until you get the certifications.
These skilled labor positions tend to be higher paying jobs. That family income will go up, but how do you bridge it in the meantime? I think that that’s what this tax credit program, or whatever form it takes, would kind of help with that bridge.
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