State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41st, was elected Senate majority leader for the 2023-24 legislative session on Tuesday. Butler Eagle File Photo
State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41st, has been elected Senate majority leader for the 2023-24 legislative session.
Next year’s Senate leadership team was announced Tuesday.
Pittman’s duties will include oversight of the legislative agenda, developing policies and strategies for the Senate Republican Caucus, and playing a key role in floor debates.
Pittman will also play a part in negotiating issues with the governor’s administration and House of Representatives and in coordinating action on the Senate floor.
“To serve as the majority leader of the Senate Republican Committee in the upcoming session will be a great honor,” Pittman said. “I am flattered to have the support of my colleagues and am committed to advancing a positive, pro-growth agenda for the citizens of this entire commonwealth.”
Pittman’s 41st District, which formerly included 15 townships and eight boroughs on the eastern side of Butler County, has changed with redistricting. Starting in 2023, he will represent Armstrong and Indiana counties and parts or Jefferson and Westmoreland counties.
Some of the Butler County municipalities formerly in Pittman’s district are now part of the 21st District, represented by State Sen. Scott Hutchinson.
Pittman previously chaired the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee.
He was elected in May 2019 to fill the unexpired term of retiring state Sen. Don White. He was reelected in November 2020 to a full four-year term.
Other legislators selected for the Republican leadership team were state Sens. Kim Ward, Senate pro tempore; Ryan Aument, majority whip; Scott Martin, Senate Appropriations Committee; Kristin Phillips-Hall, majority caucus chair; and Camera Bartolotta, Senate majority caucus secretary.
