Pa. lawmakers react to loss of Congressional seat
By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com
Pennsylvania’s population growth has lagged behind other states for years, so Monday’s announcement that the state has lost another Congressional seat wasn’t a surprise to local officials.
The U.S. Census Bureau confirmed that the state’s population growth rate over the past 10 years of just 2.4% — from 12.7 million people to a little more than 13 million — means the commonwealth will drop from 20 electoral votes to 19.
The state has 18 incumbent U.S. House members, but will only have 17 seats in the next Congress, as two districts will likely be consolidated.
Pennsylvania grew more slowly than it did the prior decade, when its growth rate was 3.4%. The state lags behind the nation’s population growth of 7.4%.
It’s the fifth most populated state in the country, trailing California, Texas, Florida and New York.
“We’re not doing enough to keep our younger generation here,” said state Rep. Eric Davanzo, R-South Huntingdon. “We’re not investing enough in the infrastructure in our state. You hear the horror stories about businesses not getting permits. This should be a wake-up call for us to come together and do better for the commonwealth.”
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