Mark B. Cohen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark B. Cohen
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 202nd district
In office 1974 – present
Preceded by	Eugene Gelfand
Constituency	Northeast-Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Majority	Democratic
Democratic Caucus Chairman
In office 1990 – incumbent
Preceded by	Ivan Itkin (1990), Jeff Coy (1994)
Succeeded by	Jeff Coy (1992)
Constituency	House Democratic Caucus
Democratic Majority Whip
In office 1992 – 1994
Preceded by	Ivan Itkin
Succeeded by	Ivan Itkin
Constituency	House Democratic Caucus
Born	June 4, 1949 (1949-06-04) (age 60) New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Mona Getzes Cohen
Children	Amanda Cohen
Residence	Castor Garden
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania, Lebanon Valley College, Widener University School of Law
Profession	attorney
Religion	Jewish
Website	http://www.pahouse.net/cohen

Mark B. Cohen (born June 4, 1949) is a Democratic politician from Northeast-Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has represented the 202nd legislative district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 1974, making him one of the most senior members in the chamber. Cohen has been in House Democratic leadership since 1990, and has served as Caucus Chairman since 1994.

Contents 1 Personal 2 Political career 3 Criticism 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Personal

Cohen hails from a prominent political family in Philadelphia, where his father served in the Philadelphia City Council. The younger Cohen worked on his father's eight successful and three unsuccessful campaigns for Philadelphia municipal office. He attended Central High School of Philadelphia, graduating in 1966. He then enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he interned for Congressman William J. Green and Senator Joseph S. Clark, as well as being involved the in Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. Cohen graduated in 1970 and served as an aide to Milton Shapp's gubernatorial campaign.

Cohen continued his education after elective office, earning a law degree from the Harrisburg campus of the Widener University School of Law in 1993 and an M.B.A. from Lebanon Valley College. He has also performed graduate work at Temple University, Gratz College, and the Pennsylvania State University.[1]

He and his wife Mona, a Philadelphia special education teacher and advocate for children with autism, have one daughter and reside in the Castor Garden section of Northeast Philadelphia.

[edit] Political career

Cohen was elected in a special election in May 1974 at the age of 24. Political observers at the time noted that he was backed by Reform Democrats in the Philadelphia chapters of Americans for Democratic Action.^[1] He was endorsed by the Philadelphia Daily News columnist Chuck Stone.^{[citation needed]}

Cohen served as Chairman of the House Labor Relations Committee from 1983 to 1990, where he focused on increasing the minimum wage and by protecting workers' compensation benefits. He was also participated in finding a solution to ensure solvency in Pennsylvania's unemployment compensation fund.^[2][3]

He was a member of Speaker of the House Dennis M. O'Brien's Commission on Legislative Reform. Cohen is a member of the President's Council of Common Cause, the State Legislative Advisory Board of the Democratic Leadership Council, the executive board of the National Labor Caucus of State Legislatures. He continues to participate in political organizations including Democracy for America and the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee. He is Democratic committeeman for the 53rd Ward, 16th Division in Philadelphia. He was a delegate for Howard Dean at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

On April 29, 2009, Cohen introduced House Bill 1393 to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania saying that he believes it is time to get rid of a decades-old negative image surrounding marijuana and replace it with "a new, honest image."^[4]

[edit] Criticism

The Philadelphia Inquirer has published articles questioning whether or not his expense account spending was excessive, noting expenditures over two years of $28,200 for books he thought of relevance to public policy, $3,050 for magazines and periodicals, and $46,000 in legislative per diems. ^{[5] [6]}

Cohen was the only vote among the members of the Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform against adding a proposal to allow electronic access to all legislative expense account records to the legislative reform package.^[7] Cohen said he feared that the expenses would become gossip fodder for the press, but voted for the final version of the Commission recommendations including electronic access to all legislative expense account records at a Commission meeting and on the House floor. Cohen also voted against a study of a Constitutional Convention supported by most Democrats and opposed by most Republicans. ^[8][9]

Democracy Rising PA, an advocacy group run by retired Democratic staffer Tim Potts, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, published a 2007 study, released July 12, 2007, rating legislative independence from House and Senate floorleaders. Rep. Cohen was rated on the Microsoft Excel spreadsheets enclosed with the study as voting with Democratic leader Bill DeWeese 220 out of 232 times, voting with DeWeese more times than 61% of the House Democratic Caucus; he has long been part of Democratic leadership as an elected caucus leader since January, 1990. ^[10]

[edit] See also

• David Cohen
• Northeast Philadelphia
• Pennsylvania House of Representatives

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pennsylvania House of Representatives - Mark B. Cohen official PA House website
• Project Vote Smart - Representative Mark B. Cohen (PA) profile
• Follow the Money - Mark B. Cohen
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 campaign contributions
• Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus - Rep. Mark B. Cohen official Party website
• Interview with Dr. Daniel E. Loeb Philadelphia Jewish Voice, February 2007