State Senator Judy Schwank announced on Feb. 2 that she will seek re-election to her second full term in the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the Berks County-based 11th Senatorial District.
“I am grateful to the citizens of Berks County for placing their trust in me to serve as their voice in Harrisburg,” said Senator Schwank. “It has truly been an honor and a privilege. I have tried to reward the trust and confidence they have placed in me by providing them with effective and energetic leadership and representation.”
“I am proud of what I have accomplished over the last four years in Harrisburg – better protecting victims of domestic violence, increasing investment in our local roads and water and sewer infrastructure and passing legislation to ensure that the agricultural industry continues to have access to state economic assistance tools for growth and expansion,” Senator Schwank continued. “I also am proud of the superior constituent service my staff and I provide. This past year alone more than 30,000 Berks Countians contacted our office for help.”
“We still have so much more to do though – finishing the state budget and fixing the budget process, developing a viable plan to make our pension systems solid and sustainable, investing more in and improving our education system, promoting economic growth, revitalizing Reading and surrounding communities, addressing the heroin epidemic and finishing the job of lifting the heavy burden of school property taxes, which we came so close to doing in December,” Senator Schwank said.
In her four short years in the State Senate, Senator Schwank has earned the respect of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle and her constituents as serious, thoughtful and engaged public servant. A champion for education and a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable members of our society, her priorities have been fostering sustainable growth, promoting agriculture, improving education, preventing domestic violence, enhancing economic growth and preserving our natural resources. She currently serves as Democratic Chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, among her other legislative assignments.
“Effective leadership requires the ability to listen to all sides of an issue and reach solutions to real world problems through consensus and compromise,” said Senator Schwank. “I have worked in a bipartisan manner with my colleagues, basing my decisions on what is best for the Commonwealth, not what is best for party or politics.”
“Although I have been able to successfully work with my colleagues on many issues, compromise has not been the norm in Harrisburg in recent days, as the state budget impasse demonstrates,” she continued. “I believe leadership requires commitment and sacrifice and I have not taken my paycheck during the prolonged budget delay… I intend to redouble my efforts at the State Capitol to bring my colleagues together to work hard to do what is right for the taxpayers we represent.”
Judy Schwank has spent much of her adult life in public service. She has been, in many senses, a trailblazer, serving in positions and working in fields that were more of a male domain. She previously worked as a horticultural agent with the Penn State Cooperative Extension and became director of the Berks County Cooperative Extension in 1991. In 1999, she became the first woman elected to serve as a Berks County Commissioner, including four years as a chairman. Prior to being elected to the State Senate, she led the statewide non-profit agency 10,000 Friends, and later served as Dean of Agricultural and Environmental Studies at Delaware Valley University.
Senator Schwank is heavily involved in community and civic causes. In addition to her services as an elected official, she is a member of the Advisory Board of Penn State Berks and serves on the board of the United Way’s Ready Set Read Initiative, which seeks to achieve the critical goal of having all third graders in Berks County read on grade level by the year 2023. She also regularly volunteers as a tutor at the Glenside Elementary School in Reading.
Senator Schwank was first elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 2011 to fill out the unexpired term of the late Senator Michael O’Pake. In 2012, she was overwhelmingly re-elected by the voters of the 11th Senatorial District to a full term, garnering nearly two-thirds of the votes cast.
Schwank resides in Ruscombmanor Township with her husband Jim.
