Rep. Manny Guzman discusses state House Dems’ Central PA Delegation, recent budget wins

Democratic state Rep. Manny Guzman, who represents the City of Reading in the state’s 127th House District, recently spoke with City & State to discuss how the 2024-25 state budget benefits Pennsylvanians from all walks of life, and how the House Democrats’ Central Pennsylvania Delegation, which he heads, was instrumental in securing a slate of policy wins during budget negotiations. 

The delegation, which evolved out of the House Democratic Caucus’ Southeastern Delegation, is comprised of lawmakers from several counties in the middle of the state who are focused on issues affecting Central Pennsylvania.

“We have differences of people within the southeast and central (regions of) Pennsylvania,” he told City & State. “Life is a lot different in Montgomery County than it is in Lancaster County or Dauphin County. We saw, about four years ago now, that there was a need with the growing number of representatives that we had coming in based off of the new maps – we knew that we would have a good-sized delegation to come in and create this.”

Guzman told City & State that he believes that delegation had a major impact in this year’s budget negotiations, as evidenced by the final product signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro in July. The $47.6 billion budget includes large investments in basic education funding made in response to a 2023 Commonwealth Court decision that found the state’s public school funding system to be unconstitutional. 

He pointed to Lancaster County state Rep. Mike Sturla as a major advocate for increased basic education funding and said districts throughout central Pennsylvania will benefit as a result. 

“I really think we left a really big footprint on what this budget looks like, especially when it comes to education,” he said. “The Reading School District where I represent – it’s going to get $41 million back as a base. So every single year from here on out, we’ll get $41 million. Lancaster is going to get $6.8 million. York City is going to get $14 million. The Harrisburg School District is going to get $15 million additional. So again, these are additional resources that are going to be at the base level as we continue to address the Commonwealth (Court’s) education opinion. So on the education front, I feel like the central delegation – we have been pretty big winners.”

Other members of the delegation helped secure key policy changes in the final budget package, Guzman added. State Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz, who also represents Reading, successfully helped advocate for a change in state law that allows non-citizens who are authorized to work in the U.S. to be teachers in Pennsylvania schools. State Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El also helped push for $2.5 million in funding for a program that will provide legal representation for people facing evictions in the state.

“If you’re someone that’s facing eviction in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and you don’t have money for legal representation, Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El’s bill … now ensures that we have at least $2.5 million from here on out to help those people in the budget,” Guzman said.

The Berks County lawmakers also praised the state budget for making more cities eligible for City Revitalization and Improvement Zones, which are economic development zones covering parcels of land up to 130 acres. 

“We’re taking a 130-acre zone within a respective municipality, and we’re taking the taxes that are generated within that zone, and instead of giving those taxes directly to the commonwealth treasury, those funds are instead re-invested back into the 130-acre zone for things like bond issuance, for economic revitalization, for mixed-use development,” Guzman said. “Essentially, it’s a revitalization zone that is self-fulfilling in the sense that it’s self-sustaining.”

He added that the cities of Erie and Reading are two locations that could benefit from the expanded CRIZ application process. 

“That opens up a lot of cities – not just in Central Pennsylvania, but across the commonwealth – and their ability to be able to tap into what I believe is a vital economic program that we have in our toolbox to help cities, especially third-class cities like Reading,” Guzman said.

Guzman said the delegation will continue to advocate for increased education funding, along with increased transit funding and opportunities in future budget cycles. He added that the delegation wants to make sure “our presence is felt at the negotiating table, and make sure that our needs are not lost between the Philadelphia and the Allegheny counties that, of course, have a lot of needs, and of course have a lot more people.

“We in the Central PA Delegation have some people who are equally entitled to those resources,” he added, “and who are in desperate need of those resources as well. So we’re also making sure that we have our equal seat at the table and an equal portion of those resources.”