Steve Samuelson
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Steve Samuelson visiting Factory LLC in Bethlehem.jpg
| caption = Samuelson in 2021
| name = Steve Samuelson
| state_house = Pennsylvania
| district = 135th
| term_start = January 5, 1999
| term_end =
| predecessor = Lisa Boscola
| successor =
| constituency =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|9|21}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Democratic
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Politician
| spouse =
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| website = [https://www.pahouse.com/samuelson/ Steve Samuelson]
}}
Steven Samuelson (born September 21, 1960) is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He was elected to his 13th term in November 2022 and is the chair of the Finance Committee.{{cite web |title=Steve Samuelson |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/house_bio.cfm?id=80 |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |publisher=Pennsylvania House of Representatives |access-date=21 November 2022}}
Early life
Samuelson is from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He attended Liberty High School as part of its class of 1978 and received a B.A. in Government from Lehigh University as part of their class of 1986. Samuelson served as legislative aide and clerk for the Lehigh County Commissioners board from 1989 to 1998. He also was a legislative aid to representatives Paul McHale and Karen Ritter.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Samuelson was elected to the Pennsylvania House district 135 in 1998, taking office at the opening of the next legislative session in 1999.>{{cite web |title = SESSION OF 1999 - 183D OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1|work = Legislative Journal| publisher = Pennsylvania House of Representatives |date = 1999-01-05|url = http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/HJ/1999/0/19990105.pdf}} During his 23 years in office he has sponsored 578 bills.{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania Bills sponsored by Steve Samuelson |url=https://openstates.org/pa/bills/?sponsor=ocd-person%2F34472dfb-dae9-4db4-8901-088457d74904&page=1 |website=openstates.org |access-date=22 November 2022}} Some of his more notable bills include House Bill 1260 which he co-authored that increased the income limits for the PACENET program by $6,000 to increase access to prescription medicine for senior citizens. It is estimated that due to this expansion 20,000 more Pennsylvanians have access to the PACENET program.{{cite web |title=House Bill 1260; Regular Session 2021-2022 |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2021&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1260 |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |publisher=Pennsylvania general assembly |access-date=22 November 2022}}{{cite web |title=Governor signs bill co-authored by Samuelson to expand PACENET eligibility |url=https://www.pahouse.com/InTheNews/NewsRelease/?id=122181 |website=www.pahouse.com |publisher=PA House Democrats |access-date=22 November 2022}} Additionally he authored House Bill 2560 which utilized a portion of left over COVID-19 relief money to increase rent rebate payments for an estimated 477,000 Pennsylvanians, mostly above the age of 65.{{cite web |title=Regular Session 2021-2022 House Bill 2560 |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?sYear=2021&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2560 |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |publisher=Pennsylvania General Assembly |access-date=22 November 2022}}{{cite web |title=Samuelson proposes doubling Property Tax/Rent Rebate payments |url=https://www.pahouse.com/InTheNews/NewsRelease/?id=124657 |website=www.pahouse.com |access-date=22 November 2022}} Additionally Samuelson has been pivotal in securing funding for renovation projects in Bethlehem including a $500,000 grant to the National Museum of Industrial History, $30,000,000 to renovate the ruins of the Bethlehem Steel plant in the South Side, and $9,100,000 to renovate the Goodman Building.{{cite web |title=PA REPRESENTATIVE STEVE SAMUELSON ANNOUNCES $500,000 IN STATE FUNDING FOR NMIH |url=https://www.thevalleyledger.com/?p=114429 |website=www.thevalleyledger.com |access-date=22 November 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Bresswein |first1=Kurt |title=Bethlehem Steel ruins among 18 Lehigh Valley projects awarded $30M for redevelopment |url=https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2022/10/bethlehem-steel-ruins-among-18-lehigh-valley-projects-awarded-30m-for-redevelopment.html |website=www.lehighvalleylive.com |access-date=22 November 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Bresswein |first1=Kurt |title=Bethlehem’s Goodman Building goes from blighted with ‘stalactites of mold’ to a $9.1M investment |url=https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/2022/11/bethlehems-goodman-building-goes-from-blighted-with-stalactites-of-mold-to-a-91m-investment.html |website=www.lehighvalleylive.com |access-date=22 November 2022}}
References
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{{Pennsylvania House of Representatives}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuelson, Steve}}
Category:Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Category:21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly