Election Coverage:  Meet Your State Senators

As part of the SGB’s ongoing election coverage, we will be presenting you each week with information on your public representatives currently on the ballot and any competitors they may face for their post.  While the following state senators are running unopposed, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the people who are your voice in the state senate. 

For those living in Sutherland Hall and the two adjacent frat complexes: 

Sen. Wayne D. Fontana, D- 42nd District: Senator Wayne Fontana is a native of Beechview, a suburban neighborhood southwest of Southside.  He is a graduate of the Community College of Allegheny County, where he received an associate’s degree in business.  Most of his career was spent in real estate working for Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and serving on the Allegheny County Council, where he held several committee chair positions and eventually became Council Vice President until he ran for office as a state senator in 2005.  He is the minority chair of the Community, Economic & Recreational Committee, a member of the Appropriations, Law & Justice, and Urban Affairs & Housing committees, and a board member of the PA Higher Education Assistance Agency. 

Fontana is the sponsor of 2,437 Senate bills, of 48 of which he is the prime sponsor.  Among his prime sponsored bills are bills that place harsher penalties on the murder or assault of a child than those for the murder or assault of an adult; that create harsher penalties for those who neglect a care-dependent person; that elaborate on the process for reporting suspected child abuse by school officials (a bill which has found increased support following the Sandusky scandal); that provide financial aid to public library systems; that provide debt assistance andnew loan programs that aim to combat the current debt crisis; and that create a tax credit for the use of mass transit systems, with the intention of bolstering the use of mass transit. 

Official Website: http://www.senatorfontana.com/ 

PA Senate Website Profile:http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/Senate_bio.cfm?id=1041 2011-2012 

Sponsored Legislation:http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDocs/Legis/BS/bs_action.cfm?SessId=20110&Sponsors=S|42|0|Wayne%20D.%20Fontana 

For those living in Forbes Hall, the Litchfield Towers, Lothrop Hall, the Quad,Sutherland Hall, Pennsylvania Hall, the Fraternity Complex, BouquetGardens, Forbes-Craig, Centre Plaza, Oakwood, and Ruskin Hall: 

Sen. Jay Costa, Jr., D- 43nd District: Senator Jay Costa comes from a family with a long history of public service.  His grandfather, an Italian immigrant to Pittsburgh, became a ward leader and worked with the railroad companies to find work for Italian immigrants.  Jay Costa Sr., the current senator’s father, served as Allegheny County treasurer.  Costa’s two brothers also have a history of public service; his brother Paul is a state representative, his brother Guy served as Pittsburgh Public Works director, and his cousin Dom was featured earlier on this blog as a current state representative.  Jay Costa is a graduate of the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), received a B.A. in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and obtained his degree in law from Duquesne University.  He served as a deputy sheriff for Allegheny County before taking the bar and working for a local law group.  He served in the Allegheny County register of wills from 1992 until 1996, when he ran for state senate.  He is an ex-officio member of the Appropriations Committee and is the current minority chair of the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee. 

In his sixteen years of service, Costa has sponsored 5,592 Senate bills, of 208 of which he is the prime sponsor.  He counts among his legislative accomplishments bills that impose stricter penalties on child pornography and rape, prevent retaliatory firings of employees who file for worker’s compensation, expand coverage and reduce prescription drug cost for seniors, to reduce Pittsburgh and Allegheny County debt via gaming revenue, expanded state funding for mass transit, and supported bills that would expand CHIP to all children in Pennsylvania.  His current priorities are to create new protections for homeowners from home invasion crimes, increase penalties for theft and fraudulent business practices, write new safeguards into the gaming law, expand affordable healthcare, and grant Allegheny County greater authority to create their own campaign finance reform and smoking bans.  

Official Website: http://www.senatorcosta.com/ 

PA Senate Website Profile:http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/senate_bio.cfm?id=254 2011-2012 

Sponsored Legislation:http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDocs/Legis/BS/bs_action.cfm?SessId=20110&Sponsors=S|43|0|Jay%20Costa 

For more on the Costa Family legacy:http://www.iop.pitt.edu/documents/report/Report%2048%20Summer%202011.pdf