Rebecca holds a B.A. from Point Park University. She is a certified ADA Coordinator, certified in CPR and First Aid, and a registered Mandated Reporter.

Biography — Rebecca MacTaggart for PA

She and her husband have been married since 2002 and have lived in South Strabane Township for 20 years. They raised their two children from kindergarten through graduation in the Trinity School District.

Closer to home, Rebecca has served as Board Vice President and Chapter Advocacy Coordinator for the United Spinal Association of Pittsburgh since 2019. She sits on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's Accessibility Advisory Board and the Kessler Foundation Caregiver Advisory Council. She serves as an Ambassador for the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission and on the Board of Directors for the Parent Education and Advocacy Leadership (PEAL) Center. She volunteers as an accessibility advisor for the Montour Trail, an active volunteer for the Westland Branch and with Friends of the Riverfront.

Rebecca MacTaggart holds a Bachelor of Arts from Point Park University. She has been married since 2002 and lives in South Strabane Township; she and her husband raised two children in the Trinity School District. She volunteers as an accessibility advisor for the Montour Trail and with the Westland Branch and Friends of the Riverfront.

Today, she works at Community Living and Support Services (CLASS), where she serves as a Community Engagement Specialist. In that role, she is a state-certified person-centered counselor, helping individuals with disabilities maintain their independence in housing, transportation, and daily life. She is also a state-credentialed Certified Investigator in Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services system, handling cases of abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and rights violations.

Rebecca focused in on health, providing one-on-one mentorship to children and young adults with disabilities and working alongside their teachers, parents, counselors, and medical teams. She then joined the United Spinal Association's national office, first as Government Relations Coordinator and then as Government Relations Manager, investing time in advocacy efforts in Harrisburg and Washington, DC.

That experience changed the direction of Rebecca's career. She had already spent more than a decade focused on helping students find their confidence and creative thinking skills in the performing arts. This also included work as a student support paraprofessional helping students in life skills, autism support, and emotional support programs and implementing Individualized Education Plans.

Rebecca currently works as a community engagement specialist at Community Living and Support Services and is a state-credentialed certified investigator in Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services system. She previously worked as a government relations coordinator and government relations manager for the United Spinal Association's national office, and as a student support paraprofessional.

Rebecca's run as a Democrat for Pennsylvania State Representative in District 48 in 2026 is her first run for elected office.

2026 Pennsylvania General Election 

How the overdue minimum wage increase will affect home healthcare. Our minimum is too low, our health sector is understaffed, and 20% of our neighbors rely on Medicaid.

Every state on Pennsylvania’s border pays a higher minimum wage. Even West Virginia is at $8.75. Ohio is at $11.00. Workers cross the border for it.

I’d raise it to $15 and index it … but home health agencies can’t raise their own prices, and home care is critical.

The state sets home care reimbursement rates. Raise the wage alone, and agencies may close. Raise both the minimum wage and reimbursement rate in the same bill, and everyone wins.

Pa. State House 48th District election: MacTaggart v. O’Neal | 90.5 WESA

There have been a number of legislative proposals that would increase revenue for the state, including marijuana legalization, a tax on digital advertisements, and the legalization/taxation of “skill games.” Which, if any, of these do you favor, and why?

The digital advertising tax. It isn't a new tax. Pennsylvania has charged a 5% gross receipts tax since the 1860s, and modernized it as the economy changed. Digital ads were originally exempted to help their young industry grow. Now they dominate the market, and Google, Meta and OpenAI can pay the same advertising tax as everyone else.

HB 1678 exempts news media sites, which matters while local newsrooms shrink. Estimates run to several hundred million dollars a year. I would put that revenue toward property tax relief for seniors being taxed out of homes they already paid for.

HB 1678 exempts news media sites, which matters while local newsrooms shrink. Estimates run to several hundred million dollars a year. I would put that revenue toward property tax relief for seniors being taxed out of homes they already paid for.

Our workers need union support, training centers and other pathways to great jobs in promising fields. Only then can our entrepreneurs and business owners proceed into these sectors or supply the goods and services those new industries and workers will need.

Issues — Rebecca MacTaggart for PA

Proposes raising the minimum wage to $15 and indexing it, alongside higher state reimbursement rates for home-care agencies.

Supports applying Pennsylvania's advertising tax to digital advertising and using the revenue for property-tax relief for seniors.

Advocates for union support, training centers, and other pathways to jobs in growing industries.

- Proposes raising the minimum wage to $15 and indexing it, alongside higher state reimbursement rates for home-care agencies.
- Supports applying Pennsylvania's advertising tax to digital advertising and using the revenue for property-tax relief for seniors.
- Advocates for union support, training centers, and other pathways to jobs in growing industries.

Economy

As of October 16, 2026, Rebecca MacTaggart’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Healthcare

Supporters of private schools have urged the state to expand a tax break that allows businesses to deduct contributions they make to those schools. Critics say private schools should provide more details about tuition costs and the family income of students that benefit from such support. Where do you fall on these questions, and on how the state should fund grade-school education generally?

On expanding the tax break, absolutely not. Not now. Pennsylvania has run this program for 25 years and never checked whether it works. Change the law, collect real data, and then we can have an honest discussion about its size and cost. We demand transparency and scoring from public schools. A tax credit this large should be no different.

The last year and a half has been rough though. An early version of the federal budget would have eliminated Head Start entirely, despite its positive impacts. It will be threatened again.

It's critical to protect early childhood education.

Count on Rebecca MacTaggart to keep defending Head Start every time anyone tries to cut it.

Opposes expanding the private-school contribution tax break until Pennsylvania collects data on the program's results, size, and cost.

Pledges to defend Head Start against funding cuts.

- Opposes expanding the private-school contribution tax break until Pennsylvania collects data on the program's results, size, and cost.
- Pledges to defend Head Start against funding cuts.

Education

The growth of data centers has attracted controversy across the state, yet lawmakers have so far struggled to devise legislation to address it. Are there legislative measures you support to address data center concerns, such as local or statewide construction moratoriums or efforts to require more transparency/limit resource use by the centers?

Pause new approvals until we know what we are agreeing to. In Memphis, an Elon Musk data center went up in about four months. Fast track. No hearing. The neighbors only found out because they had trouble breathing.

Four measures: Require precise reporting of energy use, water withdrawal and wastewater discharge, filed with the state and published. Prohibit local officials from signing non-disclosure agreements with developers. Hold approvals until those studies and guardrails are law. And update the Municipalities Planning Code's $500-per-day fine cap, which is too weak of a deterrent.

Should the state legislature enact laws concerning the impacts on water, energy, or land use from the development and operation of data centers? Would state regulation of data center development and operation interfere with the authority of municipalities to establish ordinances under the MPC (Municipal Planning Code)?
Yes. Pennsylvania needs to agree on minimum statewide water, energy, and land-use standards for all businesses. Those standards need to be set in statute, not just an executive order the next governor can undo.

Pennsylvania State Representative District 48 — VOTE411 Voter Guide

Setting a minimum floor of expectations won't weaken local authority. It will strengthen it, as long as new regulation's penalties are heavy enough to change operator behaviors. And again, it would be a floor, not a ceiling. Towns could still adopt tougher standards themselves.

The unknown future of the global energy market is a considerable risk to our economy, and climate change is a related risk we can't ignore. The war in Iran proved we should still be very concerned about this risk, affecting the health of the global economy in less than a week. Prices spiked, family budgets got rewritten. It’s no fluke. As a region, we must not treat renewables, electrification and battery technologies as threats. We must instead entice these industries and opportunities to come here and build in harmony with our existing employers.

Battery manufacturers have made major investments in nearby regions, but we haven't pursued them as aggressively as others. Geothermal uses many of the same skills our energy crews already have. Rather than betting everything on a small segment of the energy industry, we must act with the confidence that we can be leaders across the board.

There is another problem. Under the Municipalities Planning Code, the maximum fine for a zoning violation is $500 a day. For a family or a small business, that is real money. For a billion-dollar corporation, it is a rounding error. When the penalty for breaking local rules costs less than a company spends on coffee, communities do not have real enforcement power. That has to change.

Calls for pausing new data-center approvals until reporting requirements, studies, and regulatory safeguards are in place.

Supports statewide minimum water, energy, and land-use standards for businesses while allowing municipalities to adopt tougher rules.

Advocates attracting renewable-energy, electrification, and battery industries while diversifying the region's energy economy.

Calls for stronger penalties for businesses that violate local zoning rules.

- Calls for pausing new data-center approvals until reporting requirements, studies, and regulatory safeguards are in place.
- Supports statewide minimum water, energy, and land-use standards for businesses while allowing municipalities to adopt tougher rules.
- Advocates attracting renewable-energy, electrification, and battery industries while diversifying the region's energy economy.
- Calls for stronger penalties for businesses that violate local zoning rules.

Energy & the Environment

Public Safety

What changes, if any, would you support to enable better access, ensure security, and support the processes of our elections?
Voting rights and access must be defended as sacred, and voter data must be kept secret. Voting is the right that protects all others, and any policy proposal that infringes on that right is unacceptable, even if it seems that only a small minority would lose their voting rights as a result.

Because of these beliefs, Rebecca supports protecting in-person and mail voting, expanding access for seniors and people with disabilities (including transportation to polling places), transparent ballot processing and reporting, and ensuring counties have the staff and resources they need.

Lastly, Pennsylvania elections and voter data belongs to Pennsylvania voters. Voter information must shared and transmitted as infrequently as possible.

Pennsylvania's budget process needs more transparency, accountability, and urgency. The 2025 budget impasse lasted 135 days, and we all felt it. Counties couldn't draw state reimbursements to fund child welfare, disability supports, and services for seniors. Nonprofits cut staff hours, laid off workers, and closed programs altogether.

I support earlier public negotiations, regular public updates, and a real, enforced deadline. Vulnerable Pennsylvanians need these programs, and the government's purpose is to serve the people.

Hawaii boldly chose to take corporate money out of its elections this year. Pennsylvania can do it too.
I’m pledging to support it.

House Bill 2728 was introduced by State Representative Joe Webster on August 5, 2026 and referred to the House State Government Committee, where it sits today. It changes Title 15, Pennsylvania's corporations code instead of changing election law.

It makes explicit that the powers Pennsylvania grants to corporations, nonprofit corporations, and limited liability companies do not include the power to use money or anything else of value in order to influence elections.

People First. Money Out — Rebecca MacTaggart for PA

I want to be sure our bill applies to corporations chartered in other states, but make no mistake: HB 2728 takes us in the right direction. Many of our other headaches stem from the problem of too much money in politics. This would solve so much, so quickly.

Supports protecting in-person and mail voting, expanding access for seniors and people with disabilities, and limiting voter-data sharing.

Supports earlier public budget negotiations, regular public updates, and an enforced deadline for enacting Pennsylvania's budget.

Supports House Bill 2728, which would bar corporations, nonprofits, and limited liability companies from using money or valuables to influence elections.

- Supports protecting in-person and mail voting, expanding access for seniors and people with disabilities, and limiting voter-data sharing.
- Supports earlier public budget negotiations, regular public updates, and an enforced deadline for enacting Pennsylvania's budget.
- Supports House Bill 2728, which would bar corporations, nonprofits, and limited liability companies from using money or valuables to influence elections.

Voting & Elections

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Rebecca MacTaggart

- Advocates for union support, training centers, and other pathways to jobs in growing industries.

- Pledges to defend Head Start against funding cuts.

- Advocates attracting renewable-energy, electrification, and battery industries while diversifying the region's energy economy.
- Calls for stronger penalties for businesses that violate local zoning rules.

- Supports House Bill 2728, which would bar corporations, nonprofits, and limited liability companies from using money or valuables to influence elections.

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- Your state representative represents the interests of your local district in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. The State House of Representatives, along with the State Senate, makes up your state lawmaking body: the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
- Your state representative can author, sponsor, and vote on bills that may become state laws, including introducing tax bills. 
- State representatives and their staff respond to constituent concerns and questions through emails, phone calls, and website announcements. 
- State representatives oversee the executive branch and can vote to overrule a veto by the Governor.  
- They are elected to two-year terms and have a salary of $106,000, with a 1-3% annual increase

Your representative and state lawmaker in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives