John Myers
State Representative, 201^st Legislative District 

Rep. John Myers is steadfast in his conviction and determination to safeguard the public trust and to put the 201^st Legislative District in the forefront of innovative and improved services to the people who live and work in Northwest Philadelphia. He is deeply concerned about the plight of the City of Philadelphia, our region and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Some of the most far-reaching legislation Rep. Myers submitted in 2005 and continues to work for is his gun bills:

• House Bill 871 would limit the ability of a person to purchase more than one handgun during a 30-day period.
• House Bill 872 would grant Philadelphia the authority to pass a city ordinance limiting handgun purchases in the city to one per month.
• House Bill 873 would require police agencies to trace recovered firearms and report them to the Pennsylvania State Police.
• House Bill 874 would empower Philadelphia to pass an ordinance, subject to a voter referendum, that would ban ownership, possession or transfer of assault weapons in the city.

Rep. Myers has fought to improve health care for senior citizens by expanding the PACE and PACENET prescription drug program. Thanks to his work, an additional 115,000 seniors in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania are eligible for the program.

He also helped make health care more accessible and affordable by expanding the CHIP program and enabling parents to provide free health insurance for their children. Rep. Myers also helped an additional 5,000 adults qualify for health insurance for only $32 a month through the adultBasic health-care program.

Rep. Myers fought for a historic economic stimulus program that invests millions in our economy, funds economic revitalization projects in communities like Germantown and Mount Airy, and prepares old industrial sites to be new business centers. In fact, because of the work of Rep. Myers, a full-service, 50,000 square-foot supermarket is coming to Chew Avenue at Wister Street, an area that has not had a supermarket in almost 40 years. The Chew Avenue Retail Center will not only include a supermarket, but also retail space for several other small businesses. The shopping plaza, projected to be built by the end of 2007, will mean short- and long-term employment for upwards of 100 to150 people from the community and surrounding areas.

Because of Rep. Myers, Pennsylvania has already added nearly 65,000 new jobs in the last couple of years. He also continues to support a better climate for economic growth in the Commonwealth by significantly reducing and phasing out burdensome business taxes.

He also helped deliver Growing Greener II, which provides $625 million to improve the quality of life and revitalization of communities across the Commonwealth by protecting natural areas, open spaces and working farms, and by cleaning up rivers and streams. In the 201^st Legislative District, Rep. Myers worked to help clean up the Waterview and Morton Recreation Centers. He assisted in getting them funding to fix and replace playground equipment, clear paths, cut weeds and dead trees, and remove debris.

At Awburry Park, Rep. Myers worked to get significant funding to clear sightlines, to increase safety and security, restore the trail system, and beautify the park and surrounding streets.

In the 1300 block of East Haines Street, Rep. Myers was key in getting funds to buy and rehabilitate five abandoned houses, plant new trees along the block and repair the sidewalks.

In the 1400 block of Haines Street, Rep. Myers worked to get funding to complete site remediation and prepare a clean site for future amphitheater development.

Rep. Myers also worked to get funding to put a facelift on a portion of Germantown Avenue.  That was called the Germantown Avenue Streetscape project. This provided new curbs, sidewalks and lighting in the 5300-5900 of Germantown Avenue.

A supporter of the first-ever state contribution to the federal LIHEAP program to help 20,000 more families pay heating costs, Rep. Myers also successfully worked for major new investments in early childhood education, allowing 60,000 children to enroll in full-day kindergarten and placing 347,000 students in new one-on-one tutoring programs.

Rep. Myers worked to add $1 billion in additional state revenue to significantly reduce property taxes for Pennsylvania homeowners and has led campaigns to bring millions of dollars for work-force development, recreation and capital improvement projects in Philadelphia, and to promote improvement of sanitation conditions in our streets and neighborhoods.

The goal Rep. Myers is focused most sharply on remains improving the quality of life within Northwest Philadelphia specifically, and all around Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is always looking at the bigger picture.

Rep. Myers has been a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives since 1995. He serves on the Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Appropriations, and Liquor Control committees, as well as the Health and Human Services Committee, where he serves as Democratic secretary.

Rep. Myers attended Germantown High School, completing his studies there with a GED in 1965. He served his country in the U.S. Navy from 1964-1968, and later earned a masters degree in Human Services from Lincoln University in 1993.

A life-long resident of Philadelphia, Rep. Myers resides in Germantown with his wife Joyce. They have two children.