Incoming Pennsylvania House Democrats want to focus on kitchen table issues in next session

Pennsylvania House Democrats are welcoming five new members to the chamber when the session starts in January. They look forward to making progress with education funding, protecting workers rights and delivering justice for survivors of child abuse. 

Democrats in the Pennsylvania House were able to buck national trends this past election and hold onto their one-seat majority by advocating for kitchen-table issues. 

With the 2025-26 legislative session scheduled to start on Jan. 7, Democrats will be welcoming five new members to the chamber, and in recent interviews with The Keystone, the new members hope to focus on closing the education funding gap, protecting workers and protecting child abuse survivors. 

“I think the Democratic Party has to get back to bread and butter issues,” State Rep-elect Sean Dougherty (D-Philadelphia) said during an interview. “When I was out on doors, people were asking me or talking about national policies, and I’d have to tell them there’s nothing I can do nationally.”

Dougherty explained that his constituents won’t have a direct line to the White House to fix any potential issues in the Northeast Philadelphia district. 

“I stayed away from the national policies and national politics because quite frankly, no matter who you voted for for president, you’re not going to be able to call up the White House and get the president on the line to help with an issue,” Dougherty said.

This year’s freshman class for House Democrats includes two former public school teachers. State Rep. John Inglis (D-Allegheny) is a former teacher and is finishing his role as a school counselor prior to the new session getting underway, while State Rep. Nikki Rivera (D-Lancaster) spent the past 30 years as a Spanish teacher.

Both Inglis and Rivera agree that having teachers as part of the legislative process will help address issues such as the education funding gap or the state’s growing teacher shortage. 

“It’s great to have a variety of backgrounds in the legislature, and I’m always happy to hear about educators being involved in the process as well,” Rivera said. 

“I think it will help when it comes to making decisions about education. It helps if one works in education. I wouldn’t deem myself an expert in certain fields if it weren’t my background.”

Lastly, this incoming class wants to find new ways to protect child abuse survivors by giving them a two-year window to sue their abusers even if it falls outside of the statute of limitations.

State Rep. Nate Davidson (D-Dauphin), who previously worked as a staffer under House leadership, believes the state legislature can pass a two-year window by bypassing a constitutional amendment.

“There’s a long list of reasons why this hasn’t gotten across the finish line yet,” Davidson said.

“I think perhaps in a new session both the House and the Senate can take a different approach. The constitutional amendment was always talked about in the past, but we can always do it statutorily and get it done right away.”

“I’m just hoping to turn down the partisanship on that issue, and refocus it on doing the right thing for these survivors and giving them their day in court.”