Tedd Nesbit

GROVE CITY — State Rep. Tedd Nesbit, R-8th, took what one might call a winding road to Pennsylvania’s General Assembly.

The lawyer and Grove City native worked as a television news anchor, a truck driver and a human resources manager before becoming a lawyer.

Nesbit doesn’t find himself in a courtroom much these days, however. More often he’s in meetings and on the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he’s finishing his freshman term.

Nesbit’s first two years in office have been marked by contentious budget cycles and sometimes-vicious politicking between Republicans, who control both chambers of the General Assembly, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

“It’s been a challenge. I didn’t appreciate some of the tone, but at the same time I think we need to be able to solve some of these problems without massive tax increases,” Nesbit said. “I would rather not pass a budget just to get it done, but (pass) a responsible budget.”

That said, Nesbit believes that’s what did happen over his two years in office. He said be believes voters sent him to Harrisburg to hold the line on taxes, but chose him over Jeffrey Black in 2014’s Republican primary because they recognize his willingness to compromise and get things done.

This year Nesbit ran uncontested in the Republican primary and won 9,416 votes in Butler and Mercer counties.

“I think I’ve done a good job of representing the views of my constituents,” Nesbit said, “while at the same time being open to compromise.”

In 2014, Nesbit ran for election on a platform that included strong support for natural gas drilling, plans to reform Pennsylvania’s reliance on property tax revenues and holding the line on education spending while finding ways to make public education more efficient and effective.

He’s also expressed support for enrolling new state employees in a 401(k) pension system, and has said that he doesn’t believe benefits for employees already in the system should be altered.

Two years in state House hasn’t changed Nesbit’s mind on those issues, but he has shifted his focus when it comes to the things he believes residents in the 8th District are most concerned about.

Foremost among those concerns, following two contentious budget cycles at the state level, is how the state’s spending habits affect Nesbit’s constituents, he said.

“The state budget is going to be difficult for everybody,” he said. “We’ve had a couple difficult years with the pension crisis, education funding, infrastructure needs, etc. I think that’s the most important thing we have facing this area.”

Nesbit said his goal remains presenting a fiscally-sound budget without a broad-based tax increase — something he said happened during his first two years in office. Nesbit also said he worked to pass a tax incentive plan to help data centers like the Iron Mountain and Century Link facilities in his district. That’s part of his plan to focus on jobs and the economy within his district.

An issue that touches on jobs, but is itself separate — infrastructure — is something Nesbit wants to focus on during a second term in office.

“Generally, we need a strong growth in infrastructure,” Nesbit said. “I think we need to make sure we have a coordinated effort between municipalities, the state and, where applicable, the federal government to ensure we have the infrastructure we need to create jobs.”

Nesbit said he wants projects to improve roads, bridges and sewer systems to top governments’ to-do lists in the coming years.

On education, Nesbit continues to believe the state faces a tough challenge. But he also sees opportunity when it comes to skills training. The Beaver County ethylene cracker plant project, which is expected to provide thousands of jobs over both the short and long-term, is an example of opportunities the local job force needs to be ready to take advantage of, Nesbit said.

“The cracker plant may be a tremendous boon for us, but we need to make sure our people are ready to take the jobs that would naturally flow from that,” Nesbit said.

The way to do that, he said, is to focus on skills training for students — “everything from welding to electricity, to working on roads.” But that alone won’t be enough if school districts and the state don’t confront the elephant in the room, which Nesbit pegs as “shrinking demographics,” in many districts.

Another issue Nesbit’s 2014 campaign touched on — drugs — is also at the forefront of his mind. Nesbit has recently held at least one public forum addressing drugs and addiction, and said he believes it’s important when confronting “what I believe is a crisis.”

“I’m always learning new things, and what surprised me was just how pervasive it is,” Nesbit said. “It’s touching every socioeconomic group. What I think we’ve been able to do though is raise awareness and start to focus on trying to find solutions from the entire community.”