Jan. 05, 2017
HARRISBURG—State Rep. Ron Marsico (R-Lower Paxton) has officially been appointed by Speaker of the House Mike Turzai to serve as Republican chair of the
House Judiciary Committee for the 2017-18 legislative session.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue chairing a committee that is hands-on with so many important issues,” said Marsico. “I have been highly involved with law enforcement issues, drug issues and criminal justice issues during my time in the legislature, and I am looking forward to working with the members of this committee to create legislation that will enhance our state’s public safety and criminal justice system.”
During the 2015-16 legislative session, the House Judiciary Committee continued to serve as the busiest of the House’s standing committees. More than 440 bills and resolutions were referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration, which is more than were referred to any other committee of general legislative business. The House Judiciary Committee acted upon 116 of those referrals, reporting out more substantive bills or resolutions than any other committee of general legislative business.
Marsico authored a new law to make cyber harassment of a child a punishable offense, as well as legislation to make it a crime for hazing to occur at Pennsylvania schools and to require schools to write and enforce policies to prevent hazing. He was also instrumental in getting legislation enacted permitting the use of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania in a controlled fashion.
In addition to legislative committee voting meetings, the House Judiciary Committee also has certain legislative oversight responsibilities for various executive departments. In order to meet these responsibilities, 25 tours of state facilities and public hearings across Pennsylvania were conducted during the 2015-16 legislative session.
“The stage is set to begin discussions on several major initiatives this legislative session,” said Marsico. “I envision law enforcement and corrections remaining top priorities of the committee. We will continue to focus our energies on reforming Pennsylvania law to deter and reduce crime, assist those who have been victimized by crime, redirect non-violent offenders in need of mental health or addiction treatment toward services, and ensure that those committed to correctional institutions receive fair punishment for their crimes but also a fair opportunity to succeed once released. There are also continuing issues that the committee will seek to address, such as police use of body cameras, the safety of correctional officers and efforts to fight the scourge of heroin.”
For more information on Marsico, please visit his Web site at
RonMarsico.com.
Representative Ronald Marsico
105th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Autumn R. Southard
717.652.3721
asouthar@pahousegop.com
RonMarsico.com