Barbara McIlvaine Smith

Infobox State Representative
name = Barbara McIlvaine Smith


width =
height =
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state = Pennsylvania
state_house = Pennsylvania
district = 156th
term_start = 2007
term_end = present
predecessor =
successor = Incumbent
constituency = Chester County (part)
majority =
party = Democratic
birth_date =
birth_place =
alma_mater = West Chester University
occupation = Business Owner
spouse =
residence = West Chester, Pennsylvania
religion =
website = http://www.pahouse.com/bsmith

Barbara McIlvaine Smith is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 156th District since 2007. She previously served on the West Chester, Pennsylvania Borough Council and was the Council's vice-president from 2004 to 2006. Barbara is an enrolled member of the federally recognized Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma.

Early life and career

McIlvaine Smith has lived in Chester County her entire life, with family roots that date back to 1683. She graduated from West Chester Henderson High School in 1968, and graduated summa cum laude from West Chester University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. McIlvaine Smith taught 4th grade at Penn Wood Elementary and also environmental education at the Brandywine Valley Association. She and her husband, Robert, incorporated their business, Brandywine Water Systems Inc., in 1980. Together they owned and operated the business until Robert's death in 2007. Their son now owns and operates the water conditioning business. [Rep. Barbara McIlvaine Smith's Official Biography. http://www.pahouse.com/bsmith/bio.asp] .

Family

McIlvaine Smith was married to her late husband Robert for 35 years. They have two grown children, a son and a daughter, and one granddaughter.

West Chester Borough Council

McIlvaine Smith first won election to the West Chester Borough Council in November 2001. When she was sworn in on January 2, 2002, the Council became a full Democratic body for the first time in 100 years. [Gelb, Jonathan. "Chesco Democrats find little cheer in election;They saw gains in West Chester. With a 2-1 edge inregistration, Republicans swept county row offices." "Philadelphia Inquirer." November 8, 2001.] . She became the council's vice-president in 2004. During her tenure on the council, McIlvaine Smith chaired the Parks, Recreation & Environmental Protection Committee and the Public Works Committee and initiated a resolution to support Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's Growing Greener II plan [Barbara McIlvaine Smith's Resume. http://smith156.org/about/resume.php] . In 2004, she ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives against incumbent Republican Elinor Z. Taylor, saying that she if elected she would "work to reduce property taxes, find a solution to the state's medical malpractice insurance problems, and figure out a way to restore public library funding [Lowe, Benjamin Y. "West Chester official may challenge Taylor." "Philadelphia Inquirer." January 7, 2004.] ." McIlvaine Smith lost with 45 percent of the vote, but was heartened enough by the competitive nature of her race in a heavily Republican district that she decided to forgo running for another term on the West Chester Borough Council when her term expired in 2006 in order to seek a rematch with Taylor that November [Lowe, Benjamin Y. "Smith to forgo 2d term on board;The West Chester council member said she would devote time to running again in the 156th House District.." "The Philadelphia Inquirer." July 19, 2005.] .

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Taylor announced in late 2005 that she would retire after the current term, and West Chester-area Republicans endorsed former West Chester Borough Councilman Shannon Royer to replace her. McIlvaine Smith formally announced on January 17th that she was running for Taylor's now open seat, and was not opposed in the Democratic primary ["Candidates in the Philadelphia Suburbs The Pennsylvania Department of State has received nominating petitions from the following candidates for the state legislature. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk." "Philadelphia Inquirer." March 8, 2006.] . She was endorsed by Progressive Majority, a national Political Action Committee that supports progressive politicians at the state and local levels [2006 Elected Candidates. http://www.progressivemajority.org/candidates/all/?all=all/] . Unofficial returns on election day initially showed that Royer had won by 19 votes, however, after the counting of provisional and absentee ballots, McIlvaine Smith was declared the winner by 23 votes, giving Democrats control of the state house for the first time in 12 years and making history as the first Native American ever elected to the legislature [Loviglio, Joann. "Democrats win control of Pa. House after 12 years in minority." "Philadelphia Inquirer." November 28, 2006.] . Pennsylvania Republicans refused to accept the outcome, though, and demanded a hand recount, which ended on December 22 with Mcilivaine Smith being officially certified as the winner [Couloumbis, Angela and Schaefer, Mari. "Recount over, but new fight begins The Chesco hand recount confirms Democrats' control. Who becomes speaker of the Pa. House is uncertain." "Philadelphia Inquirer." December 22, 2006.] .

McIlvaine Smith currently serves on these committees:
*Aging & Older Adult Services
*Children & Youth
*Education
*Health & Human Services
*Local Government

She is also the majority chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Special Education [House Bio http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/House_bio.cfm?id=1130] . In December 2007, McIlvaine Smith was one of a few lawmakers who refused to accept a pay raise from the state, saying that she would donate her additional money to charities in her district [Bumsted, Brad. "Freshman lawmaker refuses raise." "Philadelphia Inquirer." December 6, 2007.] .

2008 campaign

In December 2007, Shannon Royer announced his intention to challenge McIlvaine Smith for her House seat in a rematch of their closely contested 2006 campaign [Beideman, Don. "Lawmakers' retirements could bring changes to county politics; Art Hershey and Carole Rubley won't run again. Leaders of both parties predict heated campaigns." "Philadelphia Inquirer." December 23, 2007.] . Mc Ilvaine Smith is once again being supported by Progressive Majority [Fall 2008 Endorsed Candidates. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbara_McIlvaine_Smith&action=submit] .

Views

Healthcare

McIlvaine Smith is an advocate for affordable access to healthcare for all Pennsylvanians. She supports a system that "provides prenatal care for expectant mothers, pediatric care for children, prescription drugs for senior citizens and basic care for all," and has written several editorials in the "Daily Local News" promoting her views [http://www.smith156.org/issues/] .

Education

McIlvaine Smith supports increased funding for Pennsylvania's public schools, and has called for the state to provide 50% of the funding to local school districts. She also co-sponsored a bill in the House opposing Pennsylvania's Graduation Competency Assessment, a standardized graduation test, because she feared it would cause teachers to "teach to the test [Kristie, Dan. "State, local officials decry standardized graduation tests." "Daily Local." June 16, 2008.] ."

Ethics reform

McIlvaine Smith strongly supports increased government transparency, backing legislation to open up the records of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, a student loan agency [Smith, Barbara McIlvaine. "New law lifts shroud of secrecy." "Daily Local." February 17, 2008.] . She has also listed her monthly expense reports during her time in office on her House website [Monthly Expense Reports. http://www.pahouse.com/BSmith/expensereports.asp] . McIlvaine Smith has also called for the implementation of new rules that would require all legislators to publicly post their expense records, end the practice of ghost voting, require that all bills be presented publicly for three days before being voted on, and provide sweeping campaign finance reform [http://www.smith156.org/issues/BMS06006_v8-2.jpg] .

References