Some of Mastriano’s other views

Undoubtedly, everyone in the 33rd PA Senate district is familiar with the broad outlines of our state senator, Doug Mastriano’s career. He has earned a reputation for his leadership of the anti-mask, anti-shutdown, anti-vaccine approach to the pandemic and of the “stop the steal” movement. But what sort of person is he? I know it’s a bit like asking “Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln …” but besides these two issues, what else does he believe? If he was elected, how would he govern?

 A look at some recent votes and announcements doesn’t make him any less alarming. First, within the past few days, the Senate approved two bills sponsored by Mastriano. On June 6, the Senate passed SB 573, Poll Watcher Empowerment Act. This is a Mastriano bill to increase the number and rights of partisan poll watchers (permits them to work outside their county of residence;, more rights to challenge, stiffer penalties for impeding them, etc.) This bill is part of a package introduced by Mastriano, which also includes bills that would eliminate mass mail-in voting (SB 884) and mandate voter ID for all forms of voting (SB 735). Earlier, the Senate also passed legislation to ban dropboxes.

 Although these bills are probably headed nowhere this year, they are a signal of what he will do as governor. Currently, it’s understood that Governor Wolf will veto anything on this order, which makes it harder to gain support. The inauguration of a Republican governor may trigger introduction (and passage) for much of the restrictive legislation that has been making the rounds in red states.

 Other action he’s taken in the past few months also tell us about the issues that matter to him: abortion, fracking, school boards, and the threat of transgender athletes.

 For example, he Voted aye on Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which bans transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams. In another example of the GOP’s ability to use words cleverly to mask their intentions, they are using “protecting the gains women have mad in access to sports” as their justification. The bill passed the Senate June 7.

He also gave a statement on the impending repeal of Roe v. Wade: “The Heartbeat Bill was one of the first pieces of legislation that I introduced as a senator in 2019. The legislation requires physicians – before proceeding with an abortion – to determine whether the baby has a heartbeat. If the baby has a heartbeat, the abortion cannot be performed. No person with a beating heart, no matter how small, should be deprived of the fundamental right to life. A beating heart is an unmistakable sign of life. I was proud to reintroduce the Heartbeat bill in 2021 (SB 378), together with Rep. Stephanie Borowicz’s mirror legislation in the House. Once the repeal of Roe v. Wade is official, I am calling on the General Assembly to hold a vote on the Heartbeat bill. The time is now for action to protect the rights of the unborn.”

He also introduced “PA Energy Independence Act (SB 1219) which he claims would spur natural gas production and investment, reduce regulatory and permitting burdens, open new state lands for production, and withdraw Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Among the requirements:

  • Report from Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on all current rules and regulations affecting the natural gas and coal industries and the respective economic impact of each regulation.

  • Requires legislative approval for any new regulations that affect the natural gas Expedites  approvals by deeming applications “approved” if a decision is not made within 45 days.

  • Ends Governor Wolf’s ban on leases for natural gas and oil development in State-owned lands. This will create new opportunities for investment and extraction.

  • To save Pennsylvania’s remaining coal industry, the bill will establish an “Intrastate Coal/Natural Gas Use” provision to clearly state that any environmental regulation of coal that is extracted and used in Pennsylvania can only be exclusively regulated by the Commonwealth, not by the Federal government. To preserve coal-powered plants, the bill exempts Pennsylvania plants from the EPA’s Wastewater Rule and Cross State Air Pollution Rule.

Finally, he issued a press release about school board reform. He stated that he plans to introduce legislation to set term limits for school board members, require visibility of committee meetings, require public notice of any discussion of budget, textbooks, library books, curriculum. (It is interesting that Mastriano seems to be more skilled at drafting press releases announcing his plan to write legislation than he is at actually writing legislation; he’s made a lot of “I plan to introduce …” statements.

It’s clear from this short list that Mastriano intends to run and govern on fringe culture war issues. What’s truly surprising when you comb through his record is the almost total absence of anything dealing with what used to be considered “real” issues. Aside from a few statements on preserving farmland, there’s nothing on issues that matter. Close to home, his only thought about national parks, historical tourism, agri-tourism, etc. appears to be “Protect Confederate monuments.” The issues of growth, an aging constituency, school taxes, etc.  They don’t seem to be on our senator’s radar.

This year’s election for governor is  profoundly important. The days when the Republican party nominated candidates such as Dick Thornburgh or Tom Ridge or Bill Scranton, where the parties could take turns governing without radical shifts in direction, are seemingly long gone. With a Republican-controlled state assembly, Mastriano has made it clear that he will create a system where it is impossible for a Democrat to win Pennsylvania’s haul of electoral votes. This could well be the last democratic election ever held in Pennsylvania.

ElectionsLeon ReedDFA