Related: McCracken Is Out and About, Spreading Her Word Before Nov. 6
BELLEFONTE — It is hard to believe that Kerry Benninghoff doesn’t drink coffee, but he never has. Not in his young adult days when he worked construction. Not when worked as an orderly at the hospital making the rounds and working odd hours. And not even as county coroner getting woken up at 3 a.m. for emergency calls and handling situations that most people would need more than coffee for.
And he wasn’t drinking coffee while sitting at the Bellefonte Waffle Shop recently, after a long morning starting in Pittsburgh, followed by a drive to Harrisburg for a meeting and then a long drive back to Bellefonte, his hometown, to talk about running for reelection after more than 20 years as state representative in the 171st district.
And despite his busy schedule and lack of sleep and caffeine, the Republican still takes time to talk to just about everyone he comes across, spreading a positive message as he goes.
“I just love it. I love interacting with people. I think you can learn something from just about everyone you meet,” said Benninghoff. He added later, “And I like to believe that we are a pretty good state, and we have got a lot of good stuff coming in. I happen to be a very positive person. I believe in being positive.”
GROWING THE ECONOMY
He said the state is currently in a good spot economically and he expects that growth to continue.
“One thing that is standing out to me lately is the competitiveness of salaries out there. I actually heard on the radio that Taco Bell was advertising for a sit-down interview where they would even give you food because they are looking for employees,” said Benninghoff.
“We have had multiple employers tell us that they had to offer major sign-on bonuses and bump up the salary by $5,000 and $10,000.”
He said this is how the economy and salaries adjusts naturally, without the government increasing the minimum wage.
“I have always believed that the market will drive that and we are seeing that play out now. People are able to earn better money, even in some of the lower entry-level positions just because the job market is so tight,” said Benninghoff. He said he has seen job fairs and postings all over the county, as employers are looking for good quality workers.
“That is what we want in our economy and as a government official, that is the kind of stuff that I have been trying to work for,” said Benninghoff.
He said he has worked to keep overall taxation down by challenging proposed budget increases by Gov. Tom Wolf.
“Now you see the economy growing on its own and people don’t have that extra tax burden and (companies) are giving better salaries out,” he said. “We are on the right track.”
With the demands for jobs, Benninghoff said it is important for people to be able to seize the opportunities by getting education for the in-demand jobs that are out there. He said career and technical training schools like CPI offer the training that people need to land high-paying jobs that they can support a family on, adding that computers have made jobs like mechanics and machine operators much more technical, requiring advanced training.
“At the end of the day, for every engineer out there, you need 10 technicians to fix these things,” said Benninghoff. He said that young people, and those looking to stay up in their field, should look at the demands of the market.
“You see these kids 18-, 19-year-olds leaving CPI and finding jobs making $50,000, $60,000. These opportunities are out there and we want to work to make sure they remain available,” said Benninghoff.
EXPERIENCE IN OFFICE
Benninghoff said he remembers all the people who shaped him growing up and who helped him learn how to make a difference in his community. He remembers his first construction boss, a contractor named Frank who taught him the importance of being precise in measurements. He remembers the physicians who took an interest in him while he was in medical school, studying to become coroner, and helping him along the way. He said he keeps up with relationships with the nurses and doctors while he was a coroner so that he can stay up to date.
“Life is a learning opportunity to me. I take every opportunity I can to learn and do new things. Now I am at a teaching point where I have the experience to help others learn the ropes,” said Bennignhoff. And, he added that his experience is valuable in the General Assembly.
“Should I get reelected, I will be fourth in seniority and whether people like that or not, those things are important. They are important in Harrisburg. They allow you to get things done. With (Senate Majority Leader) Jake (Corman, R-Centre) and I both being in leadership roles, it has allowed us to get good funding here … get things pushed though.”
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Benninghoff said one thing that he and Corman both fought for was the funding received for the forthcoming I-80/I-99 interchange project — something that Benninghoff said he knows personally is a needed improvement to the county infrastructure.
He said he knows what it takes to get these types of projects to move forward. He remembers his first day being sworn in as a member of the House and he met with the secretary of transportation to talk about the narrows projects for Route 322 in Lewistown.
“To be able to have that experience that I met with the transportation secretary and say, ‘I know I am just a rookie, but we have got to get this project moved up, we can’t wait another four years.’ And I was able to get it done,” said Bennighoff.
He said the project in Potters Mills is another step toward making 322 a safer route for travelers and a better part of the infrastructure that supports many area businesses.
“To me, that is what a legislator is supposed to do, and I love doing it,” said Bennighoff.
OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Lately, Benninghoff has had the opioid epidemic on his mind. He finds it to be a shame that so many people and families are suffering from this addiction, and that it is a problem that is affecting everyone in the county right now.
“I’ve done 12 hearings on this the past two years, and it’s interesting that there are a lot of people who want to believe that this is somebody else’s problem; it is only inner city, these are just teenagers who have nothing better to do. That is just not the case, this is a medical problem and we are still issuing too many prescriptions. There is a lot of medication out on the streets,” said Benninghoff.
He said 85 percent of opioid addicts get started by using prescription drugs, and while the state has done some things to help curb this, he feels there is more that can be done.
“Ultimately you are hoping that it makes it more difficult for those who are ‘doc shoppers’,” said Benninghoff, talking about the way people go from doctor to doctor looking for medications. But Bennignhoff feels like there is more regulation that needs to be done, especially when it comes to the medications that addicts use to come off of opioids. He said that he has spoken with addicts who tell unscrupulous doctors that they are bigger users than they really are so they can get extra meds that they can then sell on street.
“If I am having an addict telling me this, then that is pretty self diagnostic. We need to clean this up,” said Benninghoff. He added that he has heard all sides of the argument including the tough talk saying to just let them be left to their own destructive devices.
“That all sounds good until you have it hit your own family and then people’s opinion changed,” said Benninghoff. “And these are every day people. These are people that you sit next to on the bus. These are people you work with. These are professionals. And once you lose someone, that pain doesn’t go away. That seat is still empty at the dinner table. It is a bigger problem than people think. It is not just one fix.”
He said better mental health treatment and more awareness are part of the solutions, but that addicts ultimately must make a choice to fix their lives.
“GO CALL KERRY”
Bennighoff said when people in the district have a problem, they know to “Go call Kerry,” because he knows how to get things done. He said he hates all the red tape in government and is always working to do the right thing and help his constituents.
“It always has frustrated me that once someone calls me and it has already been 180 days that they have been waiting on something, I call down, rattle some chains and the next thing you know, magically, these permits come three … five days later. It ought to happen because it’s the right thing. Which is kind of how I run my office. We don’t really worry too much about Republican, Democrat or Independent party-wise. We do things because we think it is the right thing. We fight for things that we think are the right thing to do and are going to improve our community, both in the 171st district and statewide.”
He will never forget why he ran for office in the first place, because got frustrated as county coroner, always seeing things at the end of the equation.
“I wanted to have the opportunity to have an impact and make some changes,” said Benninghoff. He said running every two years is more difficult than running every four years as coroner, but he is glad to continue to fight for what he believes in.
“As I told my kids, if you want to make some changes you got to take some hard knocks to get there, and I obviously continue to that.”
Benninghoff said that he enjoys representing and fighting for his district, and that is why he hasn’t chosen to run for a higher office. He said his helping the people in his community makes it all worth it.
“I am very grateful for the interactions I have without constituents, people are always very kind to us. My staff makes that happen, that partnership and the quality of the well trained staff I have should be a part peoples decisions. Because if I get replaced, my office gets wiped out and you will start with everyone very green, and I would put my staff against any staff in the state.”
