State Rep. Todd Eachus has served the Greater Hazleton Area since 1996 and was elected by his colleagues to serve as House Majority Leader in 2008, becoming the first representative from the Hazleton Area to hold this top leadership position. As Majority Leader, Todd works with the Speaker of the House, the leaders of all four House and Senate caucuses and the Governor to craft an aggressive agenda to help working families. As Leader, Todd sets the legislative schedule and consults with House members to advance the goals of the Legislature to make Pennsylvania a better place to live, work and raise a family.

Prior to serving as House Majority Leader, Todd was elected chairman of the House Majority Policy Committee. The House Majority Policy Committee serves as a catalyst to enacting major caucus policy initiatives and acts as a vehicle for public hearings and meetings on issues important to the public. As chairman, Todd led the fight to develop major pieces of legislation, including a plan to fix our broken and costly health-care system. Todd, the leading voice for health care access for Pennsylvanians of all ages during his time in the Legislature, led the charge and was the primary supporter of legislation that would affordably expand access to affordable health-care insurance coverage for working Pennsylvanians.

Coming from Luzerne County, an area with a rapidly growing population of senior citizens, Todd quickly established himself in Harrisburg as the “PACE Guy,” the lawmaker who successfully led the charge for historic expansions of the state’s senior citizen prescription drug programs. Hundreds of thousands of senior citizens in the Commonwealth now have access to affordable medicine thanks to his efforts, and he continues to seek out innovative programs working with insurance companies and drug manufacturers to make sure every Pennsylvanian has access to the medicine they need. Todd has even been tapped by Washington D.C. to advise on legislation helping seniors, when he was appointed as a primary delegate for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. The Conference was charged with making aging policy recommendations to the President and Congress and to assist the public and private sectors in promoting dignity, health, independence and economic security for current and future generations of older people.

Todd grew up in the heart of Coal Country, and lives just a few miles from the site of the Lattimer Mines massacre – so it’s no surprise he has been one of the strongest and most vocal advocates of organized Labor in the legislature.

Todd opposed – and always will oppose – any effort by anti-Union lawmakers to make Pennsylvania a so-called “Right-to-Work” state.

• Todd believes that using Union labor on taxpayer-funded projects saves money in the long run, because skilled craftsmen do the job right the first time
• Todd successfully fought to end mandatory overtime for nurses to help caregivers protect themselves and their patients.
• Todd fought to protect injured workers when misguided lawmakers attempted to change the worker’s compensation laws.
• Todd fought to come down hard on contractors that use illegal immigrant labor.
• Todd is fighting to stop outsourcing by requiring all state contracts be conducted with companies that use Pennsylvania workers.
• Todd fought against arbitrary spending caps – the so-called “Taxpayers Bill of Rights” – that would put a severe burden on school districts and public projects and put lives at risk.

Todd is working hard to cut property taxes – he was one of the key supporters of the job-creating slot gaming laws, and he wants to do more to take the burden off of seniors and make it easier for young working families to get their piece of the American Dream by buying a first home in Pennsylvania.

Todd was born September 26, 1962 in Harrisburg, Pa., moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. in 1964 and graduated from Wilkes-Barre Coughlin High School in 1980. He received his bachelor’s from Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges, Claremont, Calif. in 1984, where he also was a three-year College Football Letterman, Pomona/Pitzer Fighting Sagehens. He married Ellen Kusiak-Eachus of Plains, Pa. in 1985. They have three sons: Anthony, Benjamin and Nathan.

Todd began his public service career in 1985 on the staff of Congressman Frank J. Guarini, until opening his own small business in 1990 as President and Owner of Portable Space in Exeter, which he ran until being elected to the state House in 1996.