Supporting Public Transportation

Like many in our community, I use SEPTA for my commute – from eastern Chester County to Philly where I pick up Amtrak to Washington, DC. Unfortunately, due to increased costs to run the system and reduced state and federal funding, we are about to experience severe service cuts and higher ticket prices. Starting next week, SEPTA trains and buses will run less frequently, and over 30 bus routes will be eliminated or shortened. This will cause larger crowds and longer wait times for all SEPTA riders and leave many riders without public transportation to parts of our community.  SETPA is also increasing their ticket prices by 21% on September 1. If you’re one of the 1 million people who use SEPTA every day, please check out SEPTA’s Rider Guide before you plan your trips, and you can find out more about the impact on our community here.

As our community’s voice in Congress, I have worked hard to support SEPTA’s goal to modernize, expand, and increase ridership, and to strengthen public transportation across our region. I met Scott Saurer, the General Manager of SEPTA, at the newly renovated Paoli Station to talk about the impacts of eliminating key routes like the Paoli/Thorndale Line and ways that I could continue to support SEPTA down in Washington. Especially with the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosting six games at Lincoln Financial Field, and 250^th Anniversary events across Southeastern PA, our community needs more reliable mass-transit options, not less. I encourage you to call your State Senators and ask them to support mass transit.

Investing in Infrastructure and Energy

With storms becoming more frequent and more intense, households across Chester and Berks Counties know all too well that power outages also become more likely. I visited PECO in Berwyn to learn more about how they are strengthening our community’s energy resilience. PECO provides electric and power services to over 1.5 million families across our region and the Berwyn facility plays a key role in energy distribution in our community. It was a privilege to see that the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which I helped to get signed into law, has helped PECO improve grid resilience against extreme weather, and I am frustrated that the significant cuts to energy programs in the Republican budget bill might slow down this important work. I will continue to advocate for more resources and federal support for energy reliability.

Supporting Manufacturing

Philadelphia was once called the “Workshop of the World” because of the large scale and vast diversity of products manufactured in the city; including clothes, metal working, rugs, chemicals, jewelry, and train cars to name just a few. According to the Society of Industrial Archeology, no city equaled Philly in this regard. Although the kind of manufacturing in our region has changed over the years, it continues to play an important role in our local economy. It was a privilege recently to visit four different manufacturing facilities in our community. Viwinco in Morgantown is a family-owned window and door manufacturer with over 400 employees. Spanco, founded in Downingtown in 1979, is a leading manufacturer of overhead cranes and lifts for industrial settings. JA Moody in Malvern is a veteran-owned small business specializing in products for U.S. Naval aircraft carriers and amphibious warships, and Piasecki Aircraft Corporation in Coatesville manufactures rotorcraft and unmanned air vehicles.

Each of these businesses is contributing significantly to our community, and each is facing unique challenges. Whether it is a lack of public transportation or affordable housing to support a growing workforce, the availability of a skilled workforce, or the increasing prices of items needed to manufacture their products, I appreciated hearing from each business. Listening to their stories helps me better advocate for our community when I’m down in Washington. Manufacturing is in the fabric of our community, and I will continue to support manufacturing across our community, Commonwealth, and country.

Hot Topics

Chrissy Houlahan

U.S. Member of Congress

Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for my newsletter here. 

Please note that replying to this email will not direct your message to the right place. To contact the Office of Representative Houlahan, please click here.