State Rep.-elect Jeremy Shaffer (R-Allegheny) (Contributed photo)
Jeremy Shaffer has seen the good and bad of government.
After receiving a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon, he and a friend started a bridge inspection management software company aimed at keeping bridges and roads safe. He was able to travel across the country and world, and Shaffer said he saw how some governments manage infrastructure well and some, not so well.
Once he sold his company, Shaffer launched a successful campaign for Ross Township commissioner.
After two previous unsuccessful runs for the state Senate in 2018 and U.S. House in 2022, Shaffer launched a bid in January for the 28th District seat in the Pittsburgh suburbs after state Rep. Rob Mercuri announced his candidacy for Congress.
Shaffer was the only Republican candidate to make the ballot in the race for the state House seat. In November, he defeated Democrat Bill Petulla.
Now that he’s slated to become a member of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, Shaffer said he’s ready to reform Harrisburg.
“My philosophy is always, you know what? If we agree on B and C, let’s get B and C done,” Shaffer said. “And so let’s start from a place where we can deliver, at least a partial solution.”
This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Capital-Star: Tell me about your district, and what’s unique about it.
Shaffer: [The] district is northern Allegheny County. It’s a suburban district. It’s a people-heart, very family centered, a lot of families, people who care about quality schools, safe neighborhoods, want a good quality of life, enjoy the outdoors, and they want that at relatively low taxes and efficient government.
Capital-Star: What would you say is the most pressing issue in your district?
Shaffer: My district is kind of the highest point on a slowly sinking ship.
On paper, you would look at our region and actually our state, and you would think we should be one of the fastest growing areas in the country, but western Pennsylvania continues to slowly lose population. Our high taxes and bad regulatory environment basically drives people and businesses away from our region and our state, despite all the advantages that we have.
And so while my district in general is sort of faring better than the rest of the region and state, we could be doing even better.
Capital-Star: What would you say your top legislative priority is going to be?
Shaffer: I consider things in two buckets. One, I think that the system itself is broken. I’m a big reformer in general. So one bucket would be reform and the other bucket would be delivering on sort of bread and butter issues.
So in the reform bucket, I’d say the first bill I would like to introduce and co-sponsor would be one on term limits. I think we need a constant influx of new blood in the state legislature. It shouldn’t be a career. It should be something that people do, serve for a time and go back home.
I would also like to downsize the state legislature. We have the largest, most expensive, full time state legislature in the country, which is really ridiculous.
And campaign finance reform. Our current campaign finance system in Pennsylvania is a joke. Both parties abuse it.
And we need redistricting reform. So in that area, I think I can find people on both sides of the aisle who would recognize that common set of problems.
Then on the other side. I have a background in transportation, spent 20 plus years in the transportation industry, served on a number of national expert panels and written papers. Pennsylvania spends an enormous amount of money in our transportation system and infrastructure in general, and I’m not sure that we’re really getting the results based on the amount of money that we spend with highest per mile turnpike tolls in the country, second highest gas tax in the country.
Capital-Star: How many terms for the state House and state Senate?
Shaffer: I am willing to work with people to whatever number we can get, to get to the needed votes, but my personal preference would be 10 years. So five terms per state House members, and then three terms for state Senate members, so 12 years. So 10 and 12 would be the term limits.
Capital-Star: How about reducing the size of the legislature? What do you think would be an appropriate number?
Shaffer: Once again, I’m willing to work with others on that, but right now, the State House is 203 members. I would love to get it down to 100, but I’m willing to compromise at 150.
Capital-Star: You saidcampaign finance reform— what specifically do you have in mind there?
Shaffer: Pennsylvania is a wild west when it comes to campaign finance. Just for example, if you’re running for state legislative office, your campaign you have to file a report. And I might be a little bit off on these dates, but you have to file a report in May, and then the next report you have to file is around a week before the election. The penalties and fees associated with not filing are ridiculously low, so numerous candidates simply ignore the filing deadlines, and the public has no idea who’s donating to the candidates and how much.
And I’m a big believer in transparency, and the government should be very transparent, so we need more reporting, and we probably need to look at putting limits on how things can be done.