Jan 25, 2020 2 min read

Saying that he has brought more than $1 million in economic development grants to the 39th Legislative District, state Rep. Mike Puskaric announced Friday he is seeking the job again this year.

The 30-year-old Republican and Union Township resident won the seat in 2018. It had been held by Rick Saccone, who narrowly lost a 2018 special election for a congressional seat that had been held by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy. Saccone declined to run for re-election in the 39th District, which includes Finleyville and Union, Nottingham and Somerset townships in Washington County, and parts of Allegheny County.

A director of settlement operations for Matrix Property Settlements, Puskaric said in a news release that “we hit the ground running in my first term, with a strong focus on economic development in a region that had long been forgotten about in Harrisburg.”

Puskaric points to a $750,000 grant to rebuild a seawall along the Monongahela River in Jefferson Hills, $625,000 to demolish blighted structures in Elizabeth Borough, and grants to upgrade a public park in Union Township and infrastructure development in South Park.

If he wins a second term, Puskaric says he will try to push forward legislation he is championing that would enable Pennsylvania to develop new hydroelectric generators. His legislation would allow the Department of Environmental Protection to issue permits for fish-friendly, zero-emissions hydroelectric generators.

Puskaric says the legislation could bring new jobs to the Mon Valley, and “keep our skilled labor force employed for years to come.”