The Honorable Matt Bradford

PA House Majority Leader

Matt Bradford proudly represents the citizens of central Montgomery County, while serving in Democratic leadership as the House Majority Leader. Previously, he served in leadership as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee from 2018-2023, ensuring taxpayer dollars were invested and used responsibly in the state budget to provide the best quality of life for all Pennsylvanians.

Prior to being elected by his peers as Appropriations Chair, Matt served for two years as Chair of the House State Government Committee and spent eight years as a member of the Appropriations Committee, where he became known for pushing back against harsh cuts to public education funding, advocating for good, family-sustaining jobs and quality healthcare. As a father of four, Matt has seen firsthand the vitally important role a school plays in shaping children’s lives and has dedicated his work as an elected official to ensuring all kids have access to high-quality public schools.

A lifelong resident of southeastern Pennsylvania, Matt earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from Villanova University. During his time at Villanova, Matt volunteered as a local CYO basketball coach and president of the College Democrats.

As a law student, Matt developed a keen interest in advocating for the rights and needs of workers. He participated in the Union Summer program and, in 2003, earned a competitive Peggy Browning Fund Fellowship that allowed him to work with AFSCME on important labor law and policy issues. Matt went on to work with the United Steelworkers’ Office of General Counsel, where he continued to advocate for the safe, fair treatment of workers.

In 2006, Governor Ed Rendell appointed Matt to serve as municipal administrator and chief executive officer of Norristown Borough. Matt, who at the time was working as a litigator at a Philadelphia law firm, left his job and committed himself to serving the community. In less than three years, Matt led the municipality away from bankruptcy, securing public and private investments and overseeing major improvements to public services.

In 2009, Matt fused his passion for politics with his commitment to working families when he was elected to represent the citizens of the 70th Legislative District. He remains deeply committed to the community’s long-term success.

In addition to serving in the General Assembly, Matt is of counsel at a municipal law firm and continues to assist local public officials in confronting the pressing policy issues that impact hardworking Pennsylvanians.

Matt is an avid Philadelphia sports fan. He lives in Worcester Township with his wife, Renee, and their four children.

Representative Bryan Cutler

Pennsylvania House Republican Leader

Serving his eighth term in Pennsylvania General Assembly, Bryan Cutler represents the 100th Legislative District in Lancaster County. In June 2020, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as the 139st Speaker of the House, having previously serving as the Majority Leader. He was re-elected Speaker on January 5, 2021.

Bryan’s emergence as one of Pennsylvania’s key leaders reflects his approach to life: Give back to the community that helped you. A lifelong resident of the Peach Bottom area, Bryan faced adversity as a high school student when both his parents were diagnosed with ALS (which eventually took both their lives) and he took on the responsibility of caring for them and his younger sister. The community helped out and embraced Bryan and his family, helping meet their every need.

At a time when most young adults headed off to college, Bryan worked and put himself through a trade school to become an X-ray technologist. Soon after, he married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer, and graduated summa cum laude, from Lebanon Valley College with a health care management degree. Following several years of working at the local hospital overseeing the budgets and daily operations of several sections in the radiology department, he pursued a law degree, focused on health care law, from Widener Law School and become a member of the Lancaster Bar Association and began practicing law with the firm of Nikolaus & Hohenadel.

The desire to give back to the community – which did so much for him and his family – drove Bryan to run for public office. He was elected in 2006.

Bryan’s extensive background in hospitals has also translated into writing laws to make the Commonwealth’s hospitals work more efficiently. His bill to eliminate redundant hospital accreditation procedures for hospitals that already meet all state licensing requirements, was signed into law as Act 60 of 2013. The law has allowed Pennsylvania hospitals to spend more of their time and money serving their patients.

Bryan has also lead efforts to ensure only the people eligible for human service assistance receive the help they need, helped reform the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), promoted greater integrity and transparency in state government strengthening lobbyist disclosure law, and most recently leading efforts to establish a state based health insurance exchange and reforming Pennsylvania’s election laws.

Bryan’s legislative achievements have all received strong bipartisan support and are a sign of his willingness to work together for the best interest of Pennsylvanians.

Bryan and his wife, Jennifer, have three children, Cheyanne, Caleb and Drew. The family lives on an 11-acre “hobby farm” in the same log cabin home where Bryan grew up. The Cutlers are active members of the Wrightsdale Baptist Church.

Representative Dan L. Miller

Pennsylvania House Majority Whip

As the eldest child of immigrant parents, Dan was the first member of his family born in America. Raised by a single mom from an early age, finances were often challenging. Even so, his family instilled in him a strong appreciation and recognition of the special opportunities America offers. As a result, Dan has made public service an important part of his life.

He enlisted in the Army National Guard after high school. While his military service was cut short due to injury, he found another way to engage in service. As a Team Leader in the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, he led a team of young people working on community projects across the Mid-Atlantic. Dan earned undergraduate degrees in education and history and became a teacher. He later graduated with a law degree from Catholic University, where he received two community service awards, chaired its public interest auction, and served as executive editor of its communications journal. Upon passing the bar, Dan decided to serve the community again as a public defender focusing on juveniles and later as a county solicitor where he worked to make sure kids were safe in their homes and received a proper education.

Dan and his wife Kim moved to Mt. Lebanon where he joined the Mt. Lebanon Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter. In 2011, he was awarded the Medal of Merit for his attempt to save the life of a 3-year-old child from a devastating house fire. He went on to be elected as a municipal commissioner and has served the community as a board member of such local institutions as Outreach Teen and Family Center, the Center for Theater Arts, Carnegie Library, and the Hollywood Theater in Dormont.

Dan was elected to the House of Representatives in 2013. In previous terms he served as a member of the Education, Labor and Industry, Judiciary and Human Services committees and on the following caucuses: Steel, Government Reform, Early Childhood Education, Equality, Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, and Fire/EMS. In 2018, he was elected by his peers to be chair of the Allegheny County House Democratic Delegation and in 2020 he became Caucus Chair of the Democratic Caucus.  Two years later, he was elected Whip of the Democratic Caucus when the Democrats became the majority party in the state house.

As state representative, Dan has received awards for his advocacy for people with disabilities from Achieva, The Peal Center, the Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association, the Pittsburgh Local Task Force, Autism Connection, the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association, and the Arc of Pennsylvania, and he has been awarded a lifetime membership in the PTA and an advocacy award from the United Steelworkers.

Valerie A. Arkoosh, MD, MPH

Secretary, PA Department of Human Services

Valerie A. Arkoosh, MD, MPH, was appointed to lead the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services by Governor Josh Shapiro on January 17, 2023. 

Prior to this role, Acting Secretary Arkoosh served on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners since January 2015, when she was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Commission. Arkoosh won election to a full four-year term in November 2015 and served as Commission Vice Chair until her election as Commission Chair in November 2016. She was the first woman ever to serve in this role. Arkoosh was re-elected in November 2019 and unanimously chosen by her colleagues to again serve as Chair in January 2020. Montgomery County is the third most populous county in Pennsylvania with over 856,000 residents. The three-member Board of Commissioners oversees a budget of more than $500 million and directs more than 2,800 employees charged with administering and overseeing county functions, including human services. 

As Commission Chair, Acting Secretary Arkoosh was committed to strengthening services for children, veterans, and seniors. She led the efforts to eliminate street homelessness of veterans and streamline delivery of human services. Recognizing the need for a strong, supported workforce in executing these goals, she instituted a $15 minimum wage and gender-neutral paid parental leave for Montgomery County employees. Drawing on her background as a physician, she oversaw a multi-pronged, integrated response to the opioid overdose epidemic, including issuing a standing order in 2015 to enable participating pharmacies in Montgomery County to dispense the overdose antidote naloxone at the request of any member of the public.

As a physician and public health professional, Acting Secretary Arkoosh was at the center of Montgomery County’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, leading a data- and science-driven approach to the unprecedented challenge. Arkoosh’s leadership was praised during the county’s response, especially her transparency and public communication throughout the pandemic. Acting Secretary Arkoosh is also a staunch advocate for maternal health and reproductive rights, and she serves on the Pennsylvania Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Upon obtaining her Master of Public Health in 2007, Arkoosh became deeply engaged in the national effort to achieve comprehensive health care reform. She led the National Physicians Alliance, a national non-profit organization of physicians, who, putting their patients before profits, joined a broad-based nation-wide coalition for reform. During this time, she developed policy and legislative strategy, and promoted public engagement in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and throughout the country. Dr. Arkoosh maintains comprehensive knowledge of the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its impact on individuals and the health care system.

Prior to stepping into public service, Acting Secretary Arkoosh was Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Arkoosh is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and received a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She performed her residency at Jefferson Medical College in Anesthesiology with a special focus in Obstetrics. She has an undergraduate degree in economics from Northwestern University.

Acting Secretary Arkoosh lives in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, with her husband and their three children.