For Immediate Release
January 31, 2007
Contact:  Lisa Landis
Legislative Assistant
717-787-6709
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A Conversation with Senator Brubaker

New laws help protect individual information

Several bills passed by the General Assembly during the 2005-2006 session will help protect an individual's private information and prevent identity theft, which is a growing concern across the country.

For instance, the Credit Reporting Agency Law, which took effect January 1, allows consumers to place a security freeze on their credit reports, preventing third parties from accessing the reports without prior authorization from the consumer. These security freezes do not apply in certain situations, such as requests from a child support enforcement agency or the federal, state or local government.

The Attorney General's office advises that consumers consider carefully whether a credit freeze is right for them, and to plan ahead to remove the freeze before seeking a loan or new credit. For more information about this law, you can visit the Attorney General's web site at www.attorneygeneral.gov.

In addition, Act 60 and Act 160 will help protect the confidentiality of Social Security numbers by prohibiting anyone from making this number available to the public, and by allowing state citizens to use alternatives to Social Security numbers for identification when applying for licenses or certification. This means that Pennsylvanians will now be able to use a PA Driver's license number or nondriver identification card number on state applications.

PaConstructionJobs.com provided for job seekers

Both job seekers and employers in the highway design, construction and maintenance industries have a new resource at their fingertips.

The PaConstructionJobs.com site is designed to help more people be aware of the many job opportunities that exist in these industries, from surveying to engineering to construction management and beyond. A second web site, roadsRus.org, provides additional information about the various jobs available, as well as the training required, salary and compensation benefits.

Community spotlight

I was very pleased to meet Marc Spiridigliozzi recently at the grand opening of his Thrivent Financial business in Mount Joy, a venture which is part of the Main Street Mount Joy Program to encourage community development.

From speaking with Marc and those who know him, I have come to understand that Marc is an extraordinary example of the people who live and work in the 36th District. He is a very active member of Habitat for Humanity, both personally and through his business, and Thrivent Financial is now the largest single contributor to Habitat for Humanity. Marc is also the countywide coordinator of volunteers and fundraising efforts, and spent many days and hours on the site of the recently completed project on Green Street in Lancaster. I understand he plans to continue his involvement when new Habitat houses start going up on Queen Street this year.

I have been told that he is always the first one to volunteer, not just with Habitat but also through his church, as a member of the Rotary, as capital campaign chair for Main Street Mount Joy, and in previous service on the capital campaign for the Milanof-Schock library. In fact, last year he was selected from nominees across the state for the Volunteer in Excellence Award from his company, which now puts him in the running for the national award.

I commend Marc for his dedication to serving his community, and I look forward to hearing many other inspiring stories from my District.