I spent this morning in Harrisburg but was able to come home this afternoon since we had a non voting session today. I made it to the Ag Parade in Martinsburg and had a good time seeing everyone and eating a lot of festival food afterwards. I can hit the office for a little while in the morning before driving back to the capital for a 3:00 session. The next couple of days are expected to be very long and if we don’t get done, we may stay and have session on the 4th, we’ll see. Over the past several session days, I have been the only “no” vote on two bills and one of two “no” votes on another. Although numerous members express concern about bills or even agree outright that the bill is not good for one reason or another, most follow along with the caucus and vote together. I understand the concept of working as a team but not when you are representing the people of Pennsylvania and those people are counting on you to do the right thing, not the easy thing or the let’s-get-it-done thing or the let’s-help-this-member thing or the team-work thing. I don’t remember learning about any of those reasons to vote that way in school or hearing anyone explain a vote that way in their campaign. I’m not saying that I would always be on the winning side of an issue but I shouldn’t be the only no vote nearly as often.
- John
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