Pa. lawmaker drew homestead rebate for Harrisburg residence, not Philly home
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Langhorne Carpet Company gives away more than 5,000 pounds of yarn after a 2013 fire forced the company to get new materials for quality control. (Kimbelry Paynter/WHYY)
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A Pennsylvania legislator will have to make some tax changes to rebuff an effort to dump her from the ballot for the May primary election.
State Rep. Pamela DeLissio, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, has admitted she’s taken a homestead rebate on her Harrisburg townhouse since 2009, not her Philadelphia home. Lawmakers are allowed to take that tax break on their primary residence. But DeLissio, a Democrat, said the mistake should not be enough to have her removed from the ballot.
“I apologize for the confusion,” she said, adding that it “will be very easy to correct. I don’t believe, I know it doesn’t, jeopardize my candidacy as it pertains to running for office.”
A complaint filed in Commonwealth Court said she legally lives in Harrisburg and constitutionally can’t represent the district here.
DeLissio said she has lived in Philadelphia and always voted out of her Philadelphia home, but admits that her driver’s license lists her Harrisburg address.
“My driver’s license did not get switched back to the Philadelphia address,” she said. “It was done in 2010 … I had not been elected to office yet.”
DeLissio has an opponent in the Democratic primary and a Republican is challenging her in November.
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