Throughout her legislative career, Senator Lisa Boscola has worked tirelessly to bring property tax reform to the forefront of the debate in the General Assembly. Senator Boscola has been a leading proponent of the total elimination of the local school property tax and has been a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 76. Senator Boscola has also focused on the need for state government to promote economic development initiatives to provide family sustaining jobs to the Lehigh Valley and across the Commonwealth. She has worked diligently to bring the Lehigh Valley region our fair share of state funds for worthwhile local projects. She has been a strong advocate for funding economic development programs with proven track records of job creation and retention such as the Ben Franklin Technology Centers, Small Business Development Center and the Manufacturer’s Resource Center. Senator Boscola fought hard to ensure that Bethlehem had an opportunity to submit a CRIZ application and has worked to ensure that the incentive will be a tool that would drive new growth to the region. It was in Senator Boscola’s recognition that staying competitive required creative incentives to help generate new growth in the region, which is what the CRIZ accomplished. As our region continued to recover from the loss of Bethlehem Steel, the CRIZ looked to leverage new state tax increments to complete difficult development projects in Bethlehem and beyond. The redevelopment of the vacant steel land has proven successful and has created diverse job opportunities that have enabled Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley to flourish and remain one of the most competitive regions, of size, in the Northeast.
Currently, Senator Boscola serves as the Chair of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee where she has tirelessly protected consumers from utility rate increases. From 2011 through 2020, Senator Boscola served as Chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, where she lead the fight to bring policies into state government that would create family sustaining jobs, protect the rights of victims of crime, reform and reduce the size of state government and promote school to work opportunities.
Rodney Davis is Head of Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The former congressman leads the Chamber’s engagement on Capitol Hill and with the administration, helping defend against the growing threats to the American free enterprise system and working to advance pro-growth policies.
As a five-term Republican U.S. Representative for Illinois’ 13th district, Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, and a Deputy Whip, Davis was considered one of the most effective legislators during his tenure, willing to work across the aisle to advance common-sense policy solutions.
Prior to being elected to the U.S. House in 2012, Davis served as projects director for Congressman John Shimkus for 16 years, helping Illinois residents and communities cut through government red tape and support local economic development. He joined the Chamber in August 2024.
Paul Friel was elected to the state PA House of Representatives in November 2022, serving the state’s 26th Legislative District in Chester County. Friel has spent his career innovating and leading in the manufacturing, retail and environmental sectors. Most recently, he was owner of PACE Environmental, an environmental testing and engineering firm. He has also been highly invested in his community — serving on the executive boards of nonprofits such as Camp Rainbow and the Philadelphia Boys’ Choir, coaching wrestling, and serving as president of the Owen J. Roberts School Board.
Friel brings this perspective and experience to Harrisburg and is committed to working on some of the most pressing issues our families face:
- Making sure that high quality public education is available to every child, regardless of where they live and preparing each student in our Commonwealth for college if they choose, a career and civic life.
- Supporting innovative environmental policy that ensures clean air and water for future generations; promoting the development of strong and sustainable local economies and their energy and manufacturing sectors; and safeguarding open space, including the Commonwealth’s integral farmland.
- Protecting democracy by upholding voter rights and advocating for reforms that will increase the transparency and efficacy of government.
Friel grew up in Gilbertsville, PA and graduated from St. Pius X High School and Temple University.
A lifelong resident of Western Pennsylvania, Joshua D. Kail is a legislator who will work to protect taxpayers, reform Harrisburg and bring family-sustaining jobs to the 15th Legislative District. Pro-life and pro-Second Amendment, Josh is committed to defending constitutional liberties. He has long understood the importance of controlling taxes while modernizing education, as well as the need to put an end to job-killing overregulation and to apply conservative solutions to our state’s challenges.
For the 2023-24 legislative session, Josh was elected to serve as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee. He was also chosen to sit in as a member of the House Rules Committee. Prior to running for office, Josh worked as an attorney representing small and mid-sized businesses and worked as a solicitor for various local governments. He also did work for Beaver County’s Children and Youth Services.
Josh is a graduate of Geneva College and Regent University School of Law. He and his wife, Abby, and their eight children live in Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Jim Lee
Susquehanna Polling and Research (SP&R) is a nationally recognized, survey research and polling firm headquartered in Pennsylvania, and specializes in a full range of research services for businesses and state agencies, national and state trade associations, hospitals and health systems, candidates for public office and media outlets. The firm conducts polling in more than thirty states. Founded in 2000, SP&R includes a team of research associates with more than 50 years of combined experience, including telephone agents, focus group recruiters and other consultants.
Susquehanna Polling and Research acquired The Bartlett Research Group in 2016, a Harrisburg-area focus group company that has been conducting qualitative research and focus group services for a wide range of national and state clients since 1986. SP&R’s publicly released polling has been quoted in numerous national platforms including FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, the Rush Limbaugh radio program, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and USA Today. SP&R was profiled by CBS’s Inside Edition on two separate episodes for its unmatched accuracy in the 2020 battleground polling, and the nationally acclaimed, polling aggregator Real Clear Politics (www.realclearpolitics.com) rated SP&R the #1 most accurate polling firm in the nation for its accuracy in the 2020 presidential election in multiple states.
Jim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College, and has 12 credits earned towards an M.P.A. program at Shippensburg University. Jim resides in Thompsontown, Juniata County, with his wife Dr. Megan Kurlychek, and has two daughters, Ava and Alexis, ages 19 and 15.
Ashlee Rich Stephenson is a nationally respected and highly experienced strategist, pollster, and public speaker with nearly 20 years of experience working on high-level campaigns, independent expenditures, and on behalf of public affairs and corporate interests across the United States.
As senior political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organization, Stephenson has deep experience leading advocacy campaigns to support free enterprise public policy. As head of the Political Affairs and Issue Advocacy division, Stephenson led the Chamber’s Political Advocacy Committee, a member-driven board composed of government affairs heads of offices and CEOs from state and metro chambers. In addition, Stephenson directed the Chamber’s voter education and advocacy campaigns, endorsements, and the U.S. Chamber PAC.
She has worked on several U.S. presidential campaigns, including serving as the polling director for then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 campaign and as an adviser for then-Governor Scott Walker’s 2016 effort.
Stephenson was president of Just Win Strategies, a national political strategy firm, and principal and chief strategy officer at the polling and analytics company WPA Intelligence. She started her career in the Strategy Department at the Republican National Committee.
Named a Rising Star in 2014 by Campaigns & Elections magazine and inducted into the inaugural American Association of Political Consultants 40 under 40 class of 2015, Stephenson is a regularly requested panelist and commentator to discuss evolving trends in politics and public policy.
She currently serves on the boards of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions and The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.
A graduate of Allegheny College and native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Stephenson resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and their two children.