State Representative Tarah Toohil
Tarah Toohil is currently serving her second term as state representative of the 116th Legislative District in Luzerne County. She is seeking to help bring about the restoration of government integrity and accountability and eager to strengthen Pennsylvania's jobs climate. Tarah is a strong proponent of providing property tax relief for area taxpayers and furthering the growth and stability of small businesses to create jobs and stimulate the local economy. She favors improving the business climate in Pennsylvania by removing burdensome taxes for local entrepreneurs.
She is strongly in favor of reducing excessive government spending and borrowing and putting an end to the funneling of taxpayer dollars for unnecessary projects. Tarah also supports aggressive efforts to identify and isolate instances of fraud in welfare spending, ensuring the proper allocation of state dolllars and the protection of hard-working Pennsylvania residents. As the public remains skeptical of the actions of state government, Tarah will be a part of an increasingly open and honest government that is accountable to state residents. She will advocate for a transparent government and stand behind efforts to weed out corruption wherever it is found.
Tarah serves on the House Children and Youth (secretary), health, Judiciary and Local Government committees. She is a member of the Welfare Reform policy Development Team and the Property Tax Relief Policy Task Force. She has served as a deputy majority whip since taking office. Tarah was appointed by Speaker of the House Sam Smith to serve as a board member of the Children's Trust Fund. She was also named to the Pennsylvania State Councli Interstate Compact for Juveniles. Since being elected into office. Tarah has been the prime sponsor of legislation dealing with juvenile justice, the foster care system, Caylee's Law and welfare reform.
Tarah is a local attorney. Raised in Drums, she is a graduate of Hazleton Area High School. Tarah dual majored in political science and sociology, with a concentration in law and legal services, at Northeastern University. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Penn State Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle in 2008. While in law school, Tarah worked as a certified legal intern for Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico. She was also co-captain of the Moot Court Team.
Prior to attending law school, Tarah was a paralegal for Attorney Matthew Cartwright at Munley, Munley and Cartwright and was the deputy chief clerk of Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Tarah is a member of the Lower Luzerne Bar Association, Hazleton Area Lady Lawyers, Young Lawyers and the Wilkes-Barre Law Library Association. She is also a member of the Elks Lodge, Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Circle 200 Women of Northeastern, PA, AAUW Breaking Through Barriers for Women and Girls, Hazleton POWER, and she is a Leadership Wilkes-Barre alumnus. In addition, Tarah serves on the advisory board at Lackawanna College in Hazleton, the nominating committee for the Amercan Heart Assocation's HeartChase program and the Hazleton Area Gang Task Force.
She is the recipient of the Young Republican of the Year Award (2011), Elks Citizen of the Year Award (2011) and the Margery Scranton Council of Republican Women's History Month Award (2011).
Tarah is the author of a weekly column in the Hazleton Standard Speaker and a monthly column in the newspaper's "Senior Scene" section. She is an adovcate for Hazleton's downtown renewal and has worked to clean up gang graffiti and rid Broad Street of the MinSec correctional facility.