Lawmakers take the oath

John Galloway begins term

HARRISBURG – At a noon ceremony on Jan. 1 at the state Capitol, state Rep. John Galloway, D-Bucks, was sworn in for his fourth term representing the people of the 140th Legislative District.

Galloway vowed to continue his fight to protect Pennsylvania jobs.

“My E-Verify law takes effect today, and I will continue to find ways to help Pennsylvanians get and keep good-paying, familysupporting jobs,” Galloway said. “Many of our problems can be improved by providing living wages to more of our working families.”

Beginning today, all public works projects, such as school construction, will require contractors to verify all employees are eligible to work in the United States via the federal government’s E-Verify program. E-Verify checks Social Security and Homeland Security records as well as an employee’s I-9 Employment Eligibility verification form.

Galloway said he will continue fighting for a constitutional convention to bring the government’s contract with voters up to date and address the unfair system of funding education on the backs of property owners.

“Effective public schools are vital to our future. But we need a statewide education funding system that takes the bulk of the financial burden off of property owners while ensuring all children have access to a quality education,” Galloway said.

“We also need to reconsider the Marcellus Shale issues, now that we have some history with the extraction in Pennsylvania,” Galloway said. “It is apparent that there are many environmental issues, still to be addressed, such as the waste water and drill site accidents, and we are still giving the drillers too much of a bargain. We can start to restore some of the critical funding cuts of the past years simply by raising the extraction fees to match surrounding states.”

The 140th Legislative District includes the boroughs of Bristol, Morrisville and Tullytown, and Falls Township plus parts of Bristol and Middletown townships.