Whether she was fighting to help seniors with prescription drug costs or pushing for a transparent congressional redistricting process, state Rep. Wendi Thomas always had one goal in mind throughout her four-year tenure as a state representative – fairness.
Though Thomas enjoyed her time serving the constituents of the 178th Legislative District, which encompasses Northampton, Upper Makefield, Solebury, Wrightstown and New Hope, she and her husband are ready for their next chapter of retirement, traveling and enjoying higher temperatures during the winter months.
Thomas recently announced that she doesn’t intend to run for office in 2022. In an interview with The Times, she reflected on how, when she first won her seat in 2018, she had no intention of holding it for more than four to six years.
“I have a term limits bill, for goodness sake. I’m not a lifer,” she said. “It [retirement] really was a personal decision. I’ve been working for 40 years and my children are all adults, on their own and gainfully employed. My husband talked about spending some time in warmer weather, not where we get 12 inches of snow on a weekend. You really can’t do that in this position. It was more or less a family decision of, ‘It’s time to do this.’ ”
Prior to becoming a state representative, Thomas spent most of her career working in the field of health insurance and health advocacy. She was also a member of the Council Rock school board. For Thomas, running for political office never crossed her mind until several individuals urged her to follow in the footsteps of former Republican state Rep. Scott Petri, who retired from the 178th District in 2017.
“When the opportunity got presented, it was a chance to bring together professional life and a desire to try to make the world a better place into one thing. It seemed like a good direction to head in,” Thomas said. “I hoped and tried to be part of the solution, to make things better, to give back to the community. I really feel like the theme that I tried to do was fight for fairness.”
When asked to recount some of her achievements while in office, Thomas proudly shared that she had several bills advance through the House and Senate, and, in the case of House Bill 1260, which expands the PACENET program, be signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf.
“When there’s 203 state reps, it’s hard to get one bill done,” she said, adding that last session, 4,000 bills were introduced in the House. “That’s 4,000 ideas that people have for change. Even if you wanted to, you can’t run all of those. I didn’t know it as a general public person, just the volume of stuff and how hard it is and which ideas get picked to actually make it through the system. It’s not that your idea is bad, it’s just there’s 10 other good ideas and somebody has to pick which one’s gonna be the focus. It really is kind of crazy.”
Other pieces of legislation that she hopes get to the governor’s desk include the Healthcare Heroes bill (House Bill 1420), which would better highlight services available for frontline workers suffering from pandemic-related mental health issues; and House Bill 1421, which would increase the amount of burial benefits provided to those who perform burials for deceased veterans at the commonwealth’s three national cemeteries.
Regarding the congressional redistricting process, Thomas has been a strong advocate for transparency.
“We should have a public website where people can submit comments. We should have public meetings that people can watch on Zoom,” she said.
These suggestions were made a reality.
However, the state House map proposed by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission would divide Northampton Township for the first time, something Thomas fiercely voiced her opposition toward.
“My district got packed with more people of my own party. I didn’t analyze the whole state, but what I saw in Bucks County was, they packed the House districts by party so that you could almost count who would win. When you have a district with almost 8,000 more Republicans than Democrats, it makes it very hard to have a competitive seat,” she said, reflecting on winning by only 500 votes in 2018 after 34,000 were cast. “That is a 50-50 district. That is a very close race. The idea of packing districts by voters so you could count which way the race will go does not serve Bucks County well.”
Additionally, Thomas has fought for the mental health industry, which is experiencing a statewide shortage of providers; worked to attract businesses, especially those in the biotech field, to Pennsylvania because, according to statistics from 2018, the only growing population in the state is age 85-plus; and spread awareness of human trafficking, a “sad and scary” issue that happens right in Bucks County.
“I tend to get super passionate about a lot of things. That’s been one of my struggles, trying to narrow down your focus because there’s a lot of things that need work,” she said.
Around the same time that Thomas announced her retirement at the end of this term, Kristin Marcell, a current member of the Council Rock school board, expressed her intent to run as a new Republican candidate. Thomas provided a few words of advice for whoever fills her seat in November.
“Meet with everybody. Talk to everyone. Listen. There wasn’t anybody I wouldn’t take a meeting with,” she said.
One constituent encounter will stick with her forever. A woman who had a serious diagnosis of cancer was struggling to schedule a telemedicine appointment for a second opinion. Thomas was able to play a small part in getting her a virtual visit.
“Those things happen when you open your doors, meet with people, talk to them, listen and move forward in the way you feel is best for your community,” she said. “Work hard.”
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
