DALLAS — Patrick Musto, a Dallas resident and school board member, has announced he is seeking the Republican nomination for the 120th Legislative District seat.
The Pennsylvania primary is Tuesday, April 23.
“I’ve seen first-hand the pain that property taxes have inflicted on the residents of Luzerne County,” Musto said in an emailed news release. “These increases, combined with the ever-increasing school taxes, have forced seniors out of their homes. I believe the state lawmakers have been remiss in their duty to the taxpayer. Nothing has changed in the landscape of this district for the last 20 years. Taxpayers are tired of lip-service from complacent legislators.”
Musto said he is a proponent of HB-13, which calls for the elimination of property taxes in favor of higher state income tax and state sales tax.
“Today, Pennsylvanians are faced with a disintegrating tax base,” Musto said. “However, we are still tasked with maintaining and improving the quality of education, and we need to fund that in a more equitable manner.”
According to the news release, Musto chaired the negotiating committee during “the long and contentious strike at the Dallas School District.” He said he was instrumental in hammering out an agreement with the teachers union that included a first-ever healthcare contribution.
Musto said he also spearheaded the financing and construction of the new Dallas Intermediate School. The project was completed on time and under budget, with no change orders, he said. Over eight years at Dallas, Musto said the rate of annual tax increases decreased, culminating on a 0% tax increase from 2019-2023. Musto has been the finance chair periodically during this period and is currently finance chair for fiscal 2024.
Musto said he served on the Luzerne County Board of Appeals from 2012-2018.
Musto, who dubs himself a Constitutionalist, is a King’s College graduate, where he received a bachelor of arts in education. He is the co-owner of Tuft-Tex Flooring in Plains Township. He has been married for 35 years to his wife, Valerie Hayden Musto. He has two daughters; Olivia and Gianna, both graduates of the Dallas School District, Kings College and Tampa University.
“I know it will take time, energy, and money to defeat the complacency and elitism that we have been forced to accept from our representatives,” Musto said. “I’ll be asking Republican voters if they are satisfied with the progress the legislature has made on the issues that face the Commonwealth. I see it this way. If they are happy with state budget shortfall and a pension crisis that repeatedly gets unaddressed, an increase of $8.2 billion from 2014–15 on education spending, an attack on the parental right to raise their children because we have a state legislature that is peppered with retired educators who pander to the education voting bloc, then they can go ahead and vote for the status quo.
“Frankly, I can’t imagine a true conservative Republican being satisfied with this kind of inaction in the face of these daunting and potentially catastrophic issues.”
Musto is the third Republican to announce candidacy in the 120th Legislative District, which is currently held by Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, who announced he will leave that position at the end of his term in December.
Also running are LeeAnn McDermott and Brenda Pugh.