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Senator Matt Smith |
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BY DOUG HUGHEY |
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Last summer, as
Representative Matt Smith
was vying for the 37th
district’s Senatorial seat
being vacated by John Pippy,
one of his stops on the
campaign trail included the
North Fayette Fair at
Donaldson Park. |
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The representative from Mt.
Lebanon spent much of that
day with local supervisors
Jim Morosetti and J.R.
Mangan, shaking hands with
residents in the aisles
between tents set up by
local businesses and
organizations. At one point,
J.R. convinced Matt to sign
up for the fair’s 5K race,
without bothering to mention
that it started at the
bottom of the quarter-mile,
monster of a hill leading up
the park.
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"Halfway up when I turned
the corner," says Matt, "I
knew I was in trouble."
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Four months later,
Representative Smith
defeated Republican opponent
D. Raja while riding
positions on a range of
issues from education to Act
13, his established
popularity in the South
Hills, and quite possibly
his willingness to sprint up
a hill in the sweltering
July heat just because a
local supervisor suggested
it.
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Since taking office, the
newly minted senator points
to a number of ways that his
office is continuing to
reach out to his new
constituency. He’s been
meeting with local
officials, taking bus tours
with local supervisors to
assess infrastructure needs,
and bringing in ways to
protect the interests of the
area’s growing senior
citizen population.
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"Moving on," he says, "we’re
focused on jobs and economic
development."
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In the airport region, he says that means
continuing to build and improve
infrastructure. He supports the southern
beltway project, which has been green
lighted by the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation, but is still searching for
the necessary funding. The project, which
would link the airport to Canonsburg via the
Findlay Connector, Senator Smith says would
facilitate development in outlying areas. He
compares it to how the Parkway spurred
development in Robinson Township, and
characterizes the airport corridor as the
"right way" to make an area "hospitable to
private development and business."
He also points to the importance of the
911th Airlift Wing in Moon, which the Air
Force has tried repeatedly to close.
"One of the first things we did was go over
to the 911th and 171st [Air Refueling
Wing]," says the Senator who grew up in Mt.
Lebanon and graduated from Duquense Law
School.
Like his recent opponent, the senator
currently still resides in Mt. Lebanon,
along with his wife, two daughters, and son.
Defenders of the 911th have cited its vital
economic role in the area and a unique
partnership with Pittsburgh International
that cuts operating costs. In February,
Senator Smith hailed a decision by Governor
Tom Corbett to allocate $200,000 in his
budget proposal to study the economic impact
of the 911th, and a subsequent decision by
the Air Force to continue operating the base
at least through 2014.
The Senator, however, called another portion
of the governor’s budget that makes modest
contributions to education in exchange for
limiting teachers’ pension benefits woefully
"insufficient." He says this forces schools
to generate revenue by levying more taxes on
families already shouldered with
school-related fees.
Saying he’s a big supporter of early
childhood education, he calls the proposal
"an abdication of the state’s
responsibilities," and says he would instead
like to see corporate tax loopholes closed,
which would help lower the tax rate for all
businesses, including small businesses
currently paying a 9% rate. He’d also like
to see a severance tax on natural gas
produced in Pennsylvania. As a member of the
House, he voted against Act 13, which limits
communities’ zoning rights in exchange for a
smaller, localized fee. The legality of the
act is currently being weighed by the state
Supreme Court.
He also did not support outsourcing the
Pennsylvania Lottery, a move that was
scrapped after it was deigned illegal by the
Attorney General. He says he knows of a
number of senior citizens who were worried
about what the sale of the lottery might
mean for them.
"They were going to add Keno to boost
revenue," says the Senator. "That needs to
go through the legislature. Use the existing
agencies and feed prescription programs.
Don’t risk these programs."
In Mt. Lebanon, the Senator says his office
has long worked to supply services to
seniors. They’ve held programs that educate
seniors on how to avoid identity theft, and
clinics to offer flu shot vaccinations. One
at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon last year
attracted around 1,200 seniors, he says.
This year, he’s looking forward to hosting
that event again in the South Hills and
participating in another at the Crowne Plaza
with Representative Mark Mustio. They worked
together on a number of issues when they
were both in the house, he says. Now that
they’re both representing the same area,
he’s looking forward to reaching across the
aisle to work together again. |
