HARRISBURG – Senator Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) pledged to continue fighting for a brighter future for Pennsylvania as he was sworn in today to begin serving his third term representing the 13th Senatorial District.
“I am humbled by the faith the people of Lancaster and Berks counties have placed in me to continue representing them in Harrisburg,” Martin said. “We have achieved so much over the past eight years, and I will continue to put our communities first as we work to overcome the challenges we face in the years ahead.”
Martin is a lifelong resident of Lancaster County with deep roots in the community. He has been one of the Senate’s leading voices for fiscal responsibility and sustainability throughout his tenure in the Senate.
As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Republican Leadership Team for the past two years, Martin has fought to cut billions in new spending proposed by Governor Shapiro and House Democrats.
He played a key role in shaping the past two state budgets, which held down the rate of spending growth while investing in our schools and bolstering the state’s emergency fund – also known as the Rainy Day Fund.
The fiscally responsible approach led by Martin and Senate Republicans led to several credit upgrades and long-term credit outlook improvements by major credit rating agencies over the past two years, saving Pennsylvania taxpayers more than $100 million in borrowing costs.
In his previous two terms, Martin authored numerous other laws to help Pennsylvanians. Most recently, he led the creation of the new Grow PA post-secondary education and career preparation plan that will encourage young people to pursue an educational program in an-demand occupation in Pennsylvania and agree to live and work in the state for at least one year for each year they accept the scholarship after graduation.
In addition to providing grants and scholarships to students beginning in the 2025-26 academic year, the plan included new learning opportunities by increasing funding for the Ready to Succeed Scholarship Program and record-high funding for career and technical training programs.
Martin also was one of the lead authors of the law that created the School Safety and Security Grant Program and the Safe2Say Something anonymous school threat reporting system in 2018. Both programs have been successful in protecting children, with the grant program driving out hundreds of millions of dollars to schools and the Safe2Say program generating more than 146,000 tips to school administrators and law enforcement.
In addition, Martin has been one of the General Assembly’s strongest advocates for protecting children and families facing pediatric cancer. This includes writing a law establishing the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund and allowing for Pennsylvanians to donate to the fund when filing their state income tax returns or when renewing driver license and vehicle registrations.
An additional $40 million has been allocated in recent budgets to support pediatric cancer research hospitals. Martin also championed a law that allows students facing an extended absence from school to participate in classroom activities using telepresence technology, preventing students from falling behind in their studies and missing out on critical social interactions with teachers and classmates.
As a former Chair and current member of the multi-state Chesapeake Bay Commission, Martin has been a leader in efforts to support clean water in Pennsylvania communities and in other states downstream. He worked with his colleagues to create the landmark Clean Streams Fund in 2021, and he secured $50 million in recurring funding for the program in the 2024-25 state budget. The new funding represents the largest state investment in clean water in Pennsylvania’s history.
Martin also co-authored an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution that limited the power of a governor to issue open-ended emergency declarations that last longer than necessary.
Over the next four years, Martin said he plans to continue fighting to help create family-sustaining jobs, working toward fiscally sustainable and structurally balanced budgets, and supporting policies to help students and families in struggling public schools explore new educational options.
“I am proud of all we have accomplished during my time in the Senate, but we still face significant challenges in the years ahead. We need a sustainable and responsible state budget. We must advance policies that help reverse Pennsylvania’s economic and demographic decline while helping more young people plant their roots here and build futures here. We need to promote educational opportunities and ensure young people can learn in the environment that best suits their needs,” Martin said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to make all these goals a reality.”
In addition to being re-elected by his colleagues to serve as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Martin was recently reappointed to serve on the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Athletic Oversight Committee.
Additional Senate committee posts are expected to be announced in the days ahead.
CONTACT: Jason Thompson