Columns

Like everyone who watches the news, I have been inundated with the story of the protest in Charlottesville.
After days of watching CNN, NBC, CBS, Fox News and MSNBC, I’m troubled by the lack of focus on what actually happened in Charlottesville last Saturday. Most of the coverage has concerned President Trump’s comments about the event.
Many of the news outlets are not reporting news as much as taking another opportunity to display their political bias and hatred toward Trump.

There is nothing “right” about racism and hate. It’s a learned disease, and the best antidote is unity.
This weekend’s events involving white-supremacist groups are as disturbing and disgusting as they are heartbreaking. The attack was a stark reminder of the darkness of hate. We must come together, as we have before, to confront the issues that chip away at the very foundation of who we are and what we stand for as a country.

At the end of September each year, Lancaster County mails property tax bills for real estate (homes and commercial buildings) and personal property (boats, business furniture and equipment, manufacturing, etc.).
While nobody likes getting a tax bill, it’s important that they are sent to the correct address. Having the correct address on file is the taxpayer’s responsibility, and that prevents you from having a late fee due to never receiving the bill.

Now that the legislative session is over, I wanted to do something a little different and tell you about some legislation before the General Assembly that I did not support this year.
A friend and fellow lawmaker shared the advice that the job of a legislator is 60 percent constituency work, 30 percent stopping bad legislation from happening and 10 percent passing good legislation. During my first year in the House, I have tried to model my time and effort around those three things.
Here are three bills that I did not support and why.