Mark B. McCracken Announces Candidacy for House of Reps., 74th District

Mark B. McCracken has announced his candidacy for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 74^th District on the Democratic ballot. McCracken is currently serving his third term as Clearfield County Commissioner and also served for 10 years on the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors. With over 28 years of work experience and community service, McCracken is ready to have an immediate impact serving the people of the 74^th district.

McCracken feels the most critical issue facing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the ongoing fiscal crisis and unexpected revenue shortfalls that are causing funding cuts, not only at the state level but also impacting counties, school districts and municipalities. It is also troubling that a long term solution for transportation funding has not been found causing the postponement of necessary repairs to vital infrastructure including roads and structurally deficient bridges.

Another important issue is the reform of property tax assessment laws. County governments across Pennsylvania are forced to deal with property assessment issues using outdated laws and practices. The recent court ordered reassessment in Allegheny County and costly reassessment projects in other counties prove that the longtime practice of using base year values is no longer viable. It is up to the Pennsylvania Legislature to come up with a better system that will allow counties to use modern technology to annually update property values based on the condition of the property, the actual cost of improvements and the use of sales data.

As a former school board member and parent of an elementary school student, McCracken will work to provide adequate state funding for our local school districts and enact much needed legislation that would remove outdated and costly mandates on schools districts. In recent years, the state’s fiscal problems have caused state funding to become stagnant which leaves local school boards no choice but to raise property taxes. While this may allow officials in Harrisburg to claim they are balancing the state budget without raising taxes, in fact all they are doing is passing the tax increase down to the school district level.

McCracken said he supports imposing a reasonable impact fee or severance tax on Marcellus Shale gas drilling as long as the majority of the revenue is returned to the local level to offset costs incurred by communities impacted by the industry. A portion of the revenue generated from the impact fee should be dedicated to fund training programs to prepare local workers for jobs in the Marcellus Shale industry. Finally, there should be a portion of the revenue used to provide adequate funding for the regulatory and enforcement agencies responsible for protecting the water and environment.

McCracken noted that an important part of being an effective representative for the rural 74^th district is the ability to work with other levels of government. McCracken points to his experience as county commissioner that includes working in a bipartisan manner with federal, state and local officials and their staffs. McCracken stated “One of the strengths I can bring to the office is the working relationships I have already established with our township supervisors, borough council members and mayors.”.

On the recent announcement by Representative Camille Bud George that he would not be seeking reelection McCracken stated “Representative George has served the 74^th district for almost 38 years providing a high level of service and has written or sponsored legislation that has had a positive impact on all of Pennsylvania’s citizens. This November, someone will be elected to succeed Representative George, but no one will be able to replace him or duplicate the huge impact he has had on the 74^th district.”.

McCracken resides in Lawrence Township with his wife Kelly and daughter Amanda. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, as the Vice Chairman of the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging board, as Secretary for the Central Pennsylvania Community Action board, as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Counties Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperative, as Chairman of the Penn Ag Democrats and is a member of the Sons of the American Legion. The McCracken family attends Saint Francis Church.

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