Robert Mensch (born August 27, 1945) is an American politician. A
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, served as a member of the
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...
representing the
24th district from 2009 to 2022. He previously served as a member of the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
It ...
, where he represented the
147th legislative district.
Biography
Mensch attended
Valley Forge Military Academy and College
Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional military school format with army traditions. Though military in tr ...
on a music scholarship.
He worked for 27 years as a general manager at
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
and later for ARBROS Communications as a National Sales Director. He then served as a
Marlborough Township
Marlborough Township is a former incorporated and now geographic township in eastern Ontario, Canada.
Marlborough was located in the southern part of Carleton County. It was bounded to the south by Oxford Township, to the southwest by Montague T ...
Supervisor from 2004 through 2006.
He is the co-founder of the Unami Watershed Conservancy and chairman of the Upper Perkiomen Valley Regional Planning Commission.
PA State Senate
On July 28, 2009, State Senator
Rob Wonderling
Robert C. Wonderling (born December 22, 1961) was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who represented the 24th District from 2003 to 2009. The district he represented includes portions of Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh and Northa ...
retired from his seat in the 24th district in order to assume the presidency of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Mensch announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for the special election as soon as Wonderling announced his plans. With Montgomery County Commissioner and former District Attorney
Bruce Castor
Bruce Lee Castor Jr. (born October 24, 1961) is an American lawyer and retired Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March ...
and former State Representative
Jay Moyer withdrawing their names, Mensch had a clear path to the nomination that he received on August 6.
On September 29, Mensch defeated
Democratic Lansdale
Lansdale is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a densely-populated commuter town, with many residents traveling daily to Philadelphia using SEPTA Regional Rai ...
Borough Council member Anne Henning Scheuring with 66% of the vote. In the 2010 general election he defeated Democrat Bill Wallace with 60% of the vote
Senator Mensch was elected by his Republican colleagues to serve as Majority Caucus Chairman, a leadership position, for the 2019-2020 legislative session. As chairman he presides over Republican caucus meetings to discuss bills and amendments and to develop caucus strategy. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee and sits on the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. In addition, the Senator is a member of four additional committees: Health and Human Services; Game and Fisheries; Aging and Youth; and Labor & Industry. He co-chairs the bipartisan Senate Life Science Caucus, Economy, Business and Jobs Caucus, and the Community College Caucus. He also chairs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, which conducts studies and makes recommendations aimed at eliminating unnecessary government spending.
Senator Mensch sponsored Senate Bill 358, now Act 86 of 2013, which requires certified FDA facilities to provide patients with information regarding their breast density.
He also sponsored Senate Bill 181, now Act 48 of 2017, which requires all departments and agencies to justify their budget requests beginning with dollar one, for all existing as well as proposed programs for each fiscal year, before they can receive consideration for budget funding.
In October 2021, Mensch announced he would retire at the conclusion of his term.
References
External links
official PA Senate website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mensch, Bob
1945 births
Living people
People from Pennsburg, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators
AT&T people
American telecommunications industry businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
Valley Forge Military Academy and College alumni