Hosted by the Young Politician Club, Pennsylvania Representative Marcia Hahn spoke to students on Dec. 13 at Northampton Area High School.
Hahn was invited by the group to discuss a bit about her background in politics and to field questions from the students. She first spoke about her role as a representative and the election cycle.
“It’s a two-year term,” Hahn said. “It always seems like you’re campaigning, so that’s the hard part, always gearing up and running every two years.”
To demonstrate other difficulties of the job, Hahn addressed the issue of property taxes in Pennsylvania.
“One of the things I get called about all the time are about property taxes,” Hahn said. “Everybody wants us to do something about the school tax. Well, you’re never going to eliminate a tax. You just shift it from one thing to another. So there are a lot of plans out there. Do you raise a personal income tax on someone’s salary? So people who own homes get a break? Does that help renters? Some plans want to help the homeowner but not the businesses. So does that make it bad for business? These are all questions we look at and that is why property tax reform has been an issue for 40 some years.”
During the session, a student asked about the most rewarding and taxing parts of Hahn’s job.
“Most rewarding is the people you meet and the people you can help,” Hahn said. “The hardest part is when someone has a problem that you can’t help. Like when someone calls me and says I have my fourth DUI and they took my driver’s license away, you need to help me. Well, he needs more help than I can give him. Sometimes you just can’t help people. The other hardest part is that you are not going to please everyone.”
After taking all of the student’s questions, Hahn encouraged the students to get involved with local politics.
“We need more young people in politics and for them to get involved,” Hahn said. “Go out there and run. Start off local and if you want to, work your way up. We really need this generation to get involved.”
