Rep. Mike Turzai
28th Legislative District, House Majority Leader
Mike Turzai hit the ground running as soon as he was elected state representative for the 28th District, representing communities in the North Hills of Allegheny County, in 2001. He quickly emerged as a commonsense, principled leader promoting fiscal responsibility, economic competitiveness and professional integrity.
He was elected by the House Republican Caucus to serve as the majority leader for the 2011-12 session. As majority leader, Mike speaks on behalf of his caucus on the House floor, leads discussion and debate on major issues, plans the voting calendar and promotes the legislative agenda of his caucus.
Mike has focused his efforts on standing up for hard-working families and making Pennsylvania more competitive for businesses and job creators. He has pushed hard to control government spending so we can reduce taxes on families. He has been out front in calling for a reduction in the Personal Income Tax, a cut in the consumer electric tax and has fought for tax incentives for college savings. Mike has also lead efforts to provide real business tax relief and advocated for fair and balanced workers’ compensation and unemployment compensation systems.
Mike has been spearheading the call for lawsuit abuse reform, which will benefit both large and small employers, taxpayers, consumers, doctors and health care professionals, and insurance companies. He has sponsored legislation to eliminate the doctrine of joint and several liability, also known as the Fair Share Act. The Fair Share Act implements a system of proportional responsibility in which a defendant is responsible for only his or her share of the damages.
Mike has been a staunch advocate to bring integrity to Harrisburg. He voted against the legislative pay raise and never accepted any increase. He helped to lead efforts to repeal the pay raise. As a former prosecutor, he has demanded real reforms to Gov. Ed Rendell’s gambling scheme.
Mike and his wife, Lidia, and their three sons, Andrew, Stephen and Matthew, live in Bradford Woods and are involved in many community activities.