Meet the Candidate

LENZI, JOE

Running For:

REPRESENTATIVE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

District:

183

Political Affiliation:

DEM

Age:

Occupation:

SALES

Education: (click to expand)

Biographical Info: (click to expand)

As the youngest of five growing up in an Italian-American working class family where my father was a union meat cutter, my mother a homemaker, and my older siblings were politically active, I always had my goal of elective office. Throughout my life, I was politically active, starting in my teens when I was active in Young Democrats in High School. After graduating from Penn State with a degree in public service, my first job after college in 1984 was a canvasser for the Pennsylvania Public Interest Coalition(PennPIC). Back then, we were soliciting for the NO Nukes movement in PA as well as educational reform. My goal was to get a job as a city planner or in the civil service, but Reagan had eliminated a lot of the jobs. It was then that my older brother invited me to move to NYC and work in his french restaurant on the upper west side of manhattan. I went up to work there for a few months which eventually led me to living and working there until 1999. During this time, I worked my way up in the restaurant and hospitality industry in Manhattan, mostly in operations management transitioning to Sales positions. Even though I was not working in politics, I volunteered on a number of national campaigns(Mondale-Ferraro 1984, Dukakis-Bentzen 1988, Clinton*Gore 1992 & 1996). In the early 1990s, I became very active in the Broadway Democrats of the Upper West Side. Starting out on their nominating committee, I was elected to the Manhattan County Democratic Committee in 1992. From there, I held a of positions within Broadway Democrats including Newsletter Editor, Fundraising Chair, Vice-President, and Treasurer. I also worked on Charles Schumer's Senatorial Campaign in 1996, David Pattersons borough president campaign in 1998, and was appointed to Community Board 9 representing Morningside Heights in 1998 by Manhattan Borough President C Virginia Fields. After my father died in 1999, I moved back to Pennsylvania relocating to Bath, PA and living with my now wife, Carole. In the early 2000s, I was a sales rep for a Pharma Biotech R&D Instrumentation company. In 2003, I was elected to the Northampton County Democratic Committee. Ive been active with Norco Dems ever since. I also worked on the John Kerry/Edwards campaign in 2004, Bob Casey in 2006, John Edwards, 2008. Obama for America(2008, 2012). I worked as an Election Judge in 2006, 2008 state and federal elections. In 2005, My wife, Carole, and I moved to Northampton, where we both still reside with her daughter Shaylyn Danae, and our granddaughter Olivia. Throughout my life, my core values have always been to look out for the little guy and give voice to the ones who dont. I do this through my perseverance. I am known as THE TANK. People gave me that name because nothing gets past me because I don't give up easily. My vision is one word...FREEDOM. These are the freedoms I believe we should protect in this country: freedom from regressive taxes, freedom to obtain a quality education, freedom over ones own body, freedom from discrimination, freedom from gun violence, freedom to stay healthy with quality healthcare, freedom to live on a sustainable planet. Democrats dont own this word like they should, because I believe we are the Freedom party.

Why are you running for office? (click to expand)

Survey

Response Legend

YYes
NNo
UUndecided
−Declined to Respond / Position Unknown / Unclear
*Comment
†Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question	Response	Comments/Notes
1. Should education funding be available directly to families through a grant, scholarship, or education savings account so that parents can send their children to the school of their choice, including religious schools?	U
2. Should marijuana be legalized and sold commercially for recreational use?	U*	i support what these US Senators are calling for U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and eight of their Democratic colleagues, including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, urging the DEA to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The letter follows a recent recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) that marijuana be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III. The Senators are calling for a complete descheduling of marijuana, consistent with state law, public sentiment, and the need to eliminate draconian criminal and civil penalties for marijuana use. We write to urge the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to swiftly deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), wrote the Senators. (R)escheduling to Schedule III would mark a significant step forward, (but) it would not resolve the worst harms of the current system. Thus, the DEA should deschedule marijuana altogether. Marijuanas placement in the CSA has had a devastating impact on our communities and is increasingly out of step with state law and public opinion. Rescheduling would do little to rectify the most severe harms of the current system. (The) criminal penalties for recreational marijuana use, and for medical use of marijuana products that lack federal approval, would still exist, disproportionately penalizing Black and Brown communities. Similarly, non-citizens could still be denied naturalization and green cards, and even (be) deported, based on recreational marijuana use and most marijuana offenses, continued the Senators. The Biden Administration has a window of opportunity to deschedule marijuana that has not existed in decades and should reach the right conclusion consistent with the clear scientific and public health rationale for removing marijuana from Schedule I, and with the imperative to relieve the burden of current federal marijuana policy on ordinary people and small businesses. In August 2023, HHS recommended moving marijuana to a less restrictive DEA schedule. This followed an October 2022 directive from President Biden requiring HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review the current scheduling of the drug. Prior to this review, the last review of marijuana scheduling occurred in 2016, when HHS ultimately recommended keeping marijuana under Schedule I. Now, HHS has identified credible scientific support for marijuanas medical uses and has changed its position. The medical science, as well as developments in state law and international law, support removing marijuana from Schedule I. The Senators have requested that the DEA and DOJ provide more information on steps taken to act on HHSs rescheduling recommendation no later than February 12, 2024. This letter is also signed by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Senator Padilla previously joined Senators Merkley, Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and 21 of their Senate colleagues in a bipartisan effort to urge passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2021, to allow state-legal cannabis businesses to access banking services.
3. Should the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act be amended to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," which would require public schools and other public facilities to open up restrooms and locker rooms to members of the opposite sex?	Y*	this would eliminate the Gender Warfare the religious right is raging against our students and public residents are being subjected to.
4. Should Pennsylvania enter into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which would include a new carbon tax on electricity producers?	Y*	We are waiting too long to transition to clean renewable energy. It is already less expensive than fossil fuels
5. Should increases in state government spending be limited to the rate of inflation plus population growth?	N*	our whole PA tax system benefits the rich and powerful. we need to molre than inflation to make up for the underinvestment PA has done in our working class communities
6. Should state taxpayer funding be allowed for elective abortions?	Y*	I believe a woman's right to choose is a fundamental right and must be codified into state law. It's a health procedure just like any other.
7. Should all voters be required to show identification before voting?	N*	with the advancement of AI, i don't believe it is necessary
8. Should striking union members have access to unemployment compensation?	U
9. Should public schools be prohibited from allowing males who identify as females to compete in girls’ sports?	U
10. Should schools have to post curriculum online for review by parents and taxpayers?	U*	only if parents and taxpayers are qualified educational professionals
11. Should funding for public and state-related universities follow the student rather than go directly to the institution?	Y