Farms and Tech and Good Government in PA

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:04:14
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:04:18 – 00:00:14:32
Nick Miller
There’s a lot to talk about bringing fresh energy and new ideas to Table Harrisburg, and that’s critical to good government.

00:00:14:37 – 00:00:22:53
Nick Miller
Making sure our region is moving in the right direction and growth is good, but it’s got to be smart growth.

00:00:22:58 – 00:00:30:55
Nick Miller
In our era of everything’s online. It’s good to be able to see people at a booth and talk to them face to face.

00:00:31:00 – 00:00:43:26
Nick Miller
You know, my goal is to get stuff done. To do that and divided government. We’ve got a Democratic majority. House and Republican Senate. Democratic governor got to work together.

00:00:43:30 – 00:00:52:49
Nick Miller
I think that’s where we get lost in the national stage or political scene is that there are different perspectives. But what can we do to work together?

00:00:52:54 – 00:01:11:53
David Martin
There’s a lot of good government to talk about. With today’s guest. When he was elected Pennsylvania state senator, Nick Miller was the youngest senator to take office in over 100 years, and he didn’t waste much time jumping in on a range of issues. Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m Dave Martin. First, help us show the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are.

00:01:11:53 – 00:01:33:10
David Martin
On all your favorite social media, make sure of us and share our show everywhere. We all need to talk about good government. The Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation. What used to be acres of farmland is being transformed. Housing and shipping centers are just part of the changes. But listen to how Nick Miller is helping preserve pockets of what made the area attractive in the beginning.

00:01:33:11 – 00:01:52:02
David Martin
I’ll give you a hint. Fresh grown potatoes. We also talk about technology from his position in the Senate. He’s eyeing the future and as he will tell you, staying ahead of tech isn’t easy. But it’s essential, especially for kids. I always like talking to new and young elected officials. They bring a fresh energy and a fresh commitment to the job.

00:01:52:05 – 00:02:01:21
David Martin
Coming up, a conversation with Pennsylvania State Senator Nick Miller. He’s definitely got a fresh perspective.

00:02:01:26 – 00:02:28:07
David Martin
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00:02:28:10 – 00:02:52:32
David Martin
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00:02:52:35 – 00:03:01:37
David Martin
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00:03:01:41 – 00:03:20:21
David Martin
Once you wrap up this episode of The Good Government Show, give a listen to our friends over at Good News for lefties. This daily podcast highlights news stories that show there’s more good news out there. Other people in government are really trying to do the right thing. That’s good news for lefties. Listen, where are you listening now?

00:03:20:26 – 00:03:30:17
David Martin
Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m happy to have with me Senator Nick Miller of Pennsylvania’s 14th district, which is Lehigh and Northampton counties. Welcome to the Good Government Show, Dave.

00:03:30:18 – 00:03:31:52
Nick Miller
Thanks for having me. Looking forward to it.

00:03:31:54 – 00:03:54:19
David Martin
Well, me too, and we’ve got a lot of good government to get to. But I want to start at the very beginning. I understand you are the youngest state senator seated, and I think over 100 and 130 years or something like that. And you’re also the youngest chairman of a of a policy of the Senate Policy Committee. What on earth made you get involved in politics and public service as a young man?

00:03:54:21 – 00:04:15:13
Nick Miller
Yeah, I just, you know, looking around, wanting to be a leader for the region, not just the valley, but also Pennsylvania and have gotten the confidence of my colleagues, voted me as the policy chairs we mentioned and working on just talking about things that are impact people every single day, whether it’s transportation investments or affordability issues like housing and health care and energy.

00:04:15:25 – 00:04:22:17
Nick Miller
There’s a lot to talk about and bringing fresh energy and new ideas to the table in Harrisburg. I think that’s critical to good government.

00:04:22:17 – 00:04:26:12
David Martin
So this is something you always thought you wanted to do is to get into public service?

00:04:26:22 – 00:04:46:11
Nick Miller
Not necessarily, but definitely my my mom was a Common Pleas judge and was around that growing up, and several now have school board and education. Top priority for making a difference because you can impact hundreds of thousands of students if you continue to improve education system.

00:04:46:11 – 00:05:08:07
David Martin
Well, there’s a lot of good government. I want to get to you. You’ve got your hands in a lot of things. One of the first things that jumped out at me was the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Program. According to your press release and other things I’ve read, the state has preserved over 2000 acres of farmland, and you have helped save 104 acres of farmland in the state of Pennsylvania.

00:05:08:10 – 00:05:14:24
David Martin
Why is this important? You know why, why, why do we. Why do we need to do this? I mean, do we really need to save farmland? Can’t they just save it on their own?

00:05:14:26 – 00:05:36:23
Nick Miller
No. I mean, it’s critical, especially in the one of the fastest growing regions in Pennsylvania. You see a lot of that open green space and farmland being bought up. And there’s been challenges of whether it’s warehouses now, but making sure protecting that piece is critical for the quality of life we have here that we have losing that you lose, you really do negatively impact the quality of life.

00:05:36:23 – 00:05:47:10
Nick Miller
And so being able to save that by the development rates. And we also need farmland. We need to be making our own produce and products here in Pennsylvania. We do a lot of that. We need to continue that.

00:05:47:12 – 00:05:51:14
David Martin
So do you know what these local farms are making or producing rather or growing?

00:05:51:17 – 00:06:10:52
Nick Miller
Well, we at this point we see a number of different ones. But you know, it’s potatoes. It’s it’s everything you can think of, even just corn that’s used for whether it’s crops and animals. But there’s multiple different things. Apples, there’s all kinds of stuff being produced that we have value that people don’t necessarily think of.

00:06:10:54 – 00:06:12:08
David Martin
And you got to have pierogies.

00:06:12:11 – 00:06:13:54
Nick Miller
All you got.

00:06:13:59 – 00:06:15:23
David Martin
So we need the potatoes.

00:06:15:25 – 00:06:16:20
Nick Miller
Yeah. Most definitely.

00:06:16:20 – 00:06:23:05
David Martin
All right. Okay. How did you get involved in, you know, this farm preservation program? What how did this attract your interest?

00:06:23:08 – 00:06:45:40
Nick Miller
Yeah, it’s just part of what I ran for office is just making sure our region is moving in the right direction, and growth is good, but it’s got to be smart. Growth and protecting that quality of life is critical. And having that farm in green spaces is part of the makeup of our area. If we lose that to this warehouse development and overdevelopment, it’s just it’s not good for our area.

00:06:45:42 – 00:07:02:41
David Martin
And I read about this a little bit, apparently, according to to one of the things I read, one of your first jobs ever was at the Allentown Farmers Market, and you were able to secure some money for the to renovate that. How does it feel to go back to the place where you worked as a kid, to bring some money to them, to keep it open?

00:07:02:44 – 00:07:26:30
Nick Miller
Yeah. It’s awesome. I mean, that’s a regional asset. And, you know, growing up in like seventh or eighth grade work at Red barn, produce some produce at the farmers market, and it’s just an awesome spot for families to go to on the weekends or people to shop there for fresh produce. I just wanted to make sure that we’re investing in those so we’re not losing that piece of our city and region.

00:07:26:40 – 00:07:32:06
Nick Miller
So it was awesome to help out and there’s more work to be done. We all working on some other stuff that we’re going to announce.

00:07:32:06 – 00:07:35:54
David Martin
So so what did 12 year old Nick Miller do at the farmer’s market? What was your job?

00:07:35:56 – 00:07:38:15
Nick Miller
I was selling produce. Yeah, yeah.

00:07:38:20 – 00:07:42:10
David Martin
All right. Yeah. Loading off the truck, loading it in. All that stuff. Everything.

00:07:42:25 – 00:07:43:58
Nick Miller
All that stuff. Yeah, yeah.

00:07:44:00 – 00:07:50:14
David Martin
Okay. But it must be fun to go back there and as a state senator and be able to deliver to a place you work.

00:07:50:17 – 00:07:59:07
Nick Miller
Yeah. And they’ve got an awesome breakfast spot in the middle on the weekends and hanging out and talking to people and seeing people I know and just kind of getting a pulse on the community.

00:07:59:09 – 00:08:02:23
David Martin
All right. Did anybody say, oh, my God, I remember you and used to run around the market?

00:08:02:26 – 00:08:04:45
Nick Miller
Yes, yes. Exactly that. Yes.

00:08:04:47 – 00:08:16:20
David Martin
You know, to that end, I saw something else that you were a part of back in January. I had a hearing on clean air and clean water in Pennsylvania. What was the results of the hearing and what did that spur?

00:08:16:23 – 00:08:36:17
Nick Miller
Yeah, we’ve got some challenges with the quality of air in some of these old industrial parts of Pennsylvania, but specifically in the Valley. We move a ton of cargo, and it’s not by ship, it’s by trucks. And so there’s a lot of emissions that we are our air quads impacted. We’ve one of the highest rates of asthma in the country.

00:08:36:29 – 00:08:55:39
Nick Miller
So that was one of the kind of thoughts of why we shouldn’t have that conversation about having a policy hearing. But, you know, how can we impact that? How can we reduce congestion? Route 22 is our kind of backbone of infrastructure in the Lehigh Valley. And addressing that. So it’s not bumper to bumper all the time. It’s something that we’re working.

00:08:55:39 – 00:08:57:49
David Martin
On which ties into having more farmland.

00:08:57:51 – 00:08:59:04
Nick Miller
Well.

00:08:59:09 – 00:08:59:32
David Martin
Yeah.

00:08:59:34 – 00:09:04:00
Nick Miller
I mean, the farm land is important. All these things, they tie into each other. Sure.

00:09:04:05 – 00:09:10:31
David Martin
Yeah. So as a result of this hearing, anything we can look forward to in terms of either legislation or new policy?

00:09:10:34 – 00:09:33:17
Nick Miller
Yeah, one that’s very real on the on the water side. We’re trying to get PFAS. It’s a forever chemical that’s used by bone. Get that out of the foam. Get it away from firefighters. It’s causing cancer. We’ve had a number of different firefighters pass away from that exact kind of cancer. So addressing that with right now the bills and stuck in the one of the Senate committees, hopefully that’s going to move in the next couple of weeks.

00:09:33:18 – 00:09:49:27
Nick Miller
That’s a critical one. And then residential water wells. Right now there’s no guardrails with who can install residential water wells and making sure that that’s not properly so that folks have clean, clean water and clean air as they’re constitutionally required to in Pennsylvania.

00:09:49:29 – 00:10:02:38
David Martin
So, you know, the people would argue, you know, developers especially would say, well, you know, I don’t want to much government here. You know, this is too much government regulation. You’re not allowing me to build where I want and build what the citizens want. What’s your response to that?

00:10:02:40 – 00:10:20:22
Nick Miller
I think it’s fair, but I also think there should be guardrails. It’s the same thing. We’re going to talk about technology in a little bit here. That there’s got to be guardrails. But we don’t want to stop innovation or development, but we want to make sure it’s the correct way so that community members are impacted in a negative way.

00:10:20:25 – 00:10:34:09
David Martin
So the other thing I wanted to bring up when we talk a little bit about farmland is you were able to get a veteran’s trust fund grant of, I guess, $40,000 for something called the Second Harvest Food Bank. What is the Second Harvest Food Bank and how does this work?

00:10:34:14 – 00:11:01:27
Nick Miller
Yeah, the second harvest, I mean, helping out with one purchasing from local farms, which I think is critical, and their local produce and making sure it’s getting the hands of people that are having just a bad stretch and they need a hand on having healthy food and access to it. Second harvest is that food pantry. That and it’s actually they have a distribution network across the valley, which is really helpful because there’s different levels of need in different parts of the region.

00:11:01:29 – 00:11:02:58
David Martin
Was this just for veterans?

00:11:02:58 – 00:11:11:12
Nick Miller
That one specifically. But we’ve helped them in other ways, and they’re part of other state programs that allow them to help community members, not just veterans.

00:11:11:12 – 00:11:16:26
David Martin
And what do they get? What is the what? It’s a, I guess, a monthly delivery. What’s the what’s the delivery? Do you know?

00:11:16:29 – 00:11:42:34
Nick Miller
I think it varies. And they delivered a local nonprofits that do kind of street level distribution to larger kind of network wide stuff. But there are monthly senior boxes that they deliver. And actually at our senior expo there, a senior was telling me that we can improve the the makeup, a different kind of selection of boxes. It was feedback, you know, delivering food that people are actually going to eat and have the ability to cook.

00:11:42:37 – 00:11:45:34
David Martin
And so a lot of a lot of fresh produce and they’re looking for more.

00:11:45:36 – 00:11:53:33
Nick Miller
Than a lot of fresh produce. It’s more important. But no I was getting complaints on the cereal. How to.

00:11:53:38 – 00:11:56:02
David Martin
I want Cheerios, not Rice Krispies. Come on.

00:11:56:06 – 00:11:56:36
Nick Miller
Exactly.

00:11:56:40 – 00:12:04:16
David Martin
Stuff like that. Well, you had a you had a senior a seniors and veterans expo recently, I guess, in early April. What was that all about?

00:12:04:18 – 00:12:27:15
Nick Miller
That’s our annual event. We do with one of our local state representatives, Judy McNeil. And it’s just a community day where we’ve got we had over 60 vendors and hundreds of people come in. And it’s just, you know, in the day, in our era of everything’s online, it’s good to be able to see people at a booth and talk to them face to face, and whether it’s from the YMCA or the local airport and ask questions.

00:12:27:17 – 00:12:39:45
Nick Miller
We had just a lot of good feedback of being able to see folks and my staff there. Jeanie steps there to help with all kinds of state issues too. So it’s just really good. Good. Good day. One of my favorite of the year actually to see people.

00:12:40:00 – 00:12:43:07
David Martin
And what do they ask you? What’s the what’s the thing on everyone’s mind?

00:12:43:09 – 00:12:58:32
Nick Miller
Property taxes. Yeah. We’ve got a program that we voted to increase as part of cutting taxes for the property tax and rent rebate program that helps folks, seniors, and they get a check back from the state in terms of rebate.

00:12:58:34 – 00:13:15:50
David Martin
So you were recently part of a program in announcement in a program called Main Street Matters. Tell me what this program is. And there’s a lot of money, you know, $1 million into, I guess, one bank building, the old cement building. How is this a good use of government dollars? How is this money well spent?

00:13:15:53 – 00:13:42:39
Nick Miller
Well, I mean, I mean, the main streets throughout Pennsylvania are critical to the local economies, and that’s specifically in Northampton borough as being vacant for years. And so you see that and look at it from the market’s perspective. Nothing’s on the private side is really taking root yet. It needs some state helps, government help. And we are secure $1 million to make that renovating the commercial.

00:13:42:44 – 00:14:04:28
Nick Miller
And then 12 apartments above. And we know that the demand for housing is through the roof. And being able to bring all those additional units, those projects don’t happen there, very challenging projects. And they’ve got environmental challenges. They got parking and infrastructure challenges, the electrical needs upgrading. Without that seed support, it won’t happen in a critical intersection in the Northampton borough.

00:14:04:33 – 00:14:12:06
Nick Miller
If you want to leave the building blighted for decades on end. No, we want to see the change and improve it so people can be proud of their main street.

00:14:12:08 – 00:14:15:01
David Martin
And do you think it’ll have an impact beyond just that one building?

00:14:15:03 – 00:14:27:00
Nick Miller
Most definitely. Yeah. I mean, it’s kind of a broken windows theory. Okay. You start to see change. People say, okay, I want to invest in my facade next door and hopefully get that snowball effect.

00:14:27:00 – 00:14:38:28
David Martin
So it’s a good use of government dollars. Most definitely. Most definitely. You said you wanted to get into technology. There was I guess the first thing I wanted to ask you about is it’s called the Safe Chat Act. Can you explain what this is?

00:14:38:31 – 00:15:02:32
Nick Miller
Yeah, this is we talked about, you know, how quickly technology is moving, innovation, ChatGPT and AI. It’s a hot topic. And talk about moving. There’s so many miners using this technology. And we just want to make sure it’s guardrails that they’re protected. And unfortunately we’ve seen some really negatives. We’ve heard negative stories about students actually hurting themselves at the guidance of some of this AI.

00:15:02:37 – 00:15:28:13
Nick Miller
And so putting parameters on there that one identifies to the user that it’s not a human. Every three hours you take a break. And you know, if the system identifies that this person is kind of in crisis, they provide resources or help. And they also don’t give instructions on how to sell farm. So so I mean it kind of this protecting miners in 2026 is critical with how much.

00:15:28:16 – 00:15:30:23
David Martin
How do you stay. How do you stay ahead of that though?

00:15:30:25 – 00:15:45:46
Nick Miller
It’s challenging. I mean that’s you got to work in a bipartisan fashion. And that’s how we got the bill out of the Senate. Republican, Democrat prime. That’s critical of working together to get that done, because technology is moving quickly and we’ve got to move faster. That’s what we are seeing in my office.

00:15:45:48 – 00:15:52:34
David Martin
And you’re the minority chair of the Senate Communications and Technology Committee. So are you like a technology expert now?

00:15:52:38 – 00:16:08:13
Nick Miller
We’re working towards that. Yeah. There’s a lot of different bills that come through. And from data centers to actually the AI telecoms and how we can improve access to in rural areas for internet access. There’s all kinds of technology communication stuff.

00:16:08:16 – 00:16:16:06
David Martin
As a state senator, how hard is it to switch from having a meeting about, you know, the Safe act and technology and then, you know, preserving farmland?

00:16:16:08 – 00:16:28:34
Nick Miller
That’s one of the challenges I love about the job. I mean, it’s you learn a lot about a lot of different things and being able to organize that. And I’ve got a phenomenal staff and team that helps prioritize how we can get stuff done.

00:16:28:36 – 00:16:40:09
David Martin
And you’re working with you’re working with the county with Lehigh, Lehigh County on securing cyber attacks. Ransomware. Tell me about this because I don’t understand this.

00:16:40:21 – 00:17:04:22
Nick Miller
Yeah. So thank you. The data that your county has and it’s both Lehigh and Northampton counties and, you know, making sure that they do a self-assessment as part of the 250,000, I agree, is assessing kind of the vulnerabilities we know as, as a state that outside foreign entities attack our systems all the time. And I don’t want to be reactive to cyber attack.

00:17:04:24 – 00:17:20:40
Nick Miller
We’ve seen it in different communities across Pennsylvania. You can lose a ton of data, and you put a lot of people’s personal information at risk, and making sure we’re being proactive to really beef up these systems and understand where there’s weaknesses. That’s a that was the purpose of that. Grant.

00:17:20:43 – 00:17:33:08
David Martin
We’re talking with State Senator Nick Miller here of Lehigh Valley. So tell me a little bit about what you have going on. There was a I guess you’re trying to get the police to stop speeding. Is that is that the whole point behind this radar bill?

00:17:33:11 – 00:17:55:38
Nick Miller
Well, the knowledge that we’re using in Pennsylvania is being phased out, that actually the manufacturer, the equipment is slowing down production. The last state in the United States to not be using local radar. And you’ve got police officers on the side of the roads kind of getting out of cars in harm’s way. In the meantime, people are flying around.

00:17:55:43 – 00:18:09:09
Nick Miller
We’ve seen just people flying around in all kinds of accidents in the Lehigh Valley specifically. But I’ve talked to other legislators in a bipartisan way. They’re seeing their communities. It’s time for our local police at radar.

00:18:09:13 – 00:18:10:35
David Martin
All right. Do you drive safely?

00:18:10:37 – 00:18:12:25
Nick Miller
No.

00:18:12:30 – 00:18:16:58
David Martin
All right. That was the easy part. We’re going to get to the hard part in just a minute. Are you ready?

00:18:17:01 – 00:18:21:01
Nick Miller
I’m ready.

00:18:21:05 – 00:18:44:52
David Martin
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00:18:44:52 – 00:18:56:37
David Martin
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00:18:56:42 – 00:19:25:35
David Martin
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00:19:25:40 – 00:19:34:15
David Martin
All right. Senator Nick Miller, you have been a state senator for a few years now before they your the school board for quite some time to find good government. What is it?

00:19:34:18 – 00:19:56:14
Nick Miller
It’s working together and being efficient and effective. I think, you know, you see the national polarizing politics and identity people got to get, you know, get down to business for all the sleeves and, you know, really deliver for their community. I think that’s what separates our team and others and leaders from other elected officials. Can they deliver for their communities?

00:19:56:17 – 00:19:59:38
Nick Miller
And that’s what you know, that’s why I ran for office and that’s what we’re doing.

00:19:59:40 – 00:20:06:30
David Martin
You’ve talked a couple of times about bipartisanship. Is it hard to do now in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States?

00:20:06:38 – 00:20:35:41
Nick Miller
I think you see some of that that that national boards and politics kind of leak into the local and state government. But, you know, my goal is to get stuff done and to do that and divided government where you’ve got a Democratic majority House in the Republican Senate and the Democratic governor, you’ve got to work together. And so building those relationships and seeing what people want to work on, and if those aligned with our priorities and what we’re seeing in our communities, we’ve been extremely successful at getting stuff done across the aisle.

00:20:35:43 – 00:20:42:23
David Martin
And people are frustrated with government. If what they don’t like what they see coming out of Harrisburg are coming out of your office, what should they do?

00:20:42:28 – 00:21:04:20
Nick Miller
You know, they should definitely reach out to me directly or in my office. And we’re always learning and listening to what we can be doing better. And I think it’s important to be a strong leader. You have to be able to listen to two different perspectives. I think that’s where we get lost in the national stage or political scene is that there are different perspectives, but what can we do to work together?

00:21:04:22 – 00:21:13:21
David Martin
So you mentioned your mother was in public service before you. Who inspires you? Who and keeps you going and saying, no, I want to stick around. I want to keep doing this.

00:21:13:24 – 00:21:32:02
Nick Miller
Well, I mean, my mom was a big inspiration for why a reason ran. But, you know, my my team is phenomenal. And seeing the impact we’re having on our region, whether it’s protecting them from cyber attacks or investing in infrastructure and our airports and highways and schools, we’re moving the needle. And that’s inspiring in itself.

00:21:32:04 – 00:21:38:03
David Martin
So were you were you president of your student government class? Were you always going to be running for office?

00:21:38:06 – 00:22:01:19
Nick Miller
No. I went to Penn State for finance and IBM and project management and then worked in real estate. And I think all those different experiences allowed me to be successful in understanding the project management side things, the real estate and putting the deals together to move. You know, you talk about that Main Street matters and understanding like, well, who can who’s a developer and how can they work with DP in the local borough to get stuff done?

00:22:01:26 – 00:22:09:16
Nick Miller
All that experience has been great, and I’ve loved my just quick three and a half, three and a half years already. Time flies.

00:22:09:18 – 00:22:18:39
David Martin
So now, three and a half years in. What would you like people to know about government that you didn’t know before? From an insider’s perspective, what should people know.

00:22:18:44 – 00:22:38:46
Nick Miller
That it does work, that we can point to things that the state government specifically are that are successes for our community that does have an impact in your day to day life. I think that’s important to be able to show progress. I truly believe that we’re we’re moving the needle and our community members are benefiting from that.

00:22:38:48 – 00:22:49:11
David Martin
There’s nationally, certainly, and locally as well. There’s a lot of people who just, you know, think that government is bad. What are you doing? And what can we do to restore people’s trusted government?

00:22:49:13 – 00:23:10:02
Nick Miller
I think it’s having those conversations with each other. Again, I mentioned in Pennsylvania it’s divided government, but understanding this perspective, listening to different points of view and figuring out where you can get stuff done, and that’s from all levels. We work closely with our county partners and municipal city partners to make a difference in people’s lives. And there’s some real challenges right now.

00:23:10:05 – 00:23:36:27
Nick Miller
Affordability across the board, whether it’s housing or energy, people are being squeezed. And so that’s something that you have kind of the next stage and what we want. Running for reelection is, you know, how to calculate, make a real impact there, because the state plays a critical part in policy around energy, which impacts your electric bills, and also housing, which impacts rent and housing affordability.

00:23:36:30 – 00:23:38:27
David Martin
What’s the best thing about being a state senator?

00:23:38:34 – 00:23:58:54
Nick Miller
Like I said before. I mean, being able to see some of these projects. I mean, right across the street from our office, we delivered $14 million for a housing project. And being able to see that come with, you know, under construction and happening very quickly, and that will be on online within just a couple of months. Seeing that real progress is it’s exciting.

00:23:58:55 – 00:24:15:21
Nick Miller
It inspires you to do more. But, you know, one of the biggest challenges is kind of taking on those those big challenges of regional issues and getting people bought in from different counties and regions and understanding that there’s a broader impact that takes some work.

00:24:15:23 – 00:24:29:46
David Martin
So two part question what is if someone is going to come to the Lehigh Valley to come to Allentown? What’s the we already talked about? So what’s the one thing they must try and what’s the what’s the dish and what’s your favorite place in Lehigh Valley?

00:24:29:48 – 00:24:35:12
Nick Miller
Well, I would say it’s got to be a cheese steak. You know, I think.

00:24:35:17 – 00:24:53:01
Nick Miller
Cheesesteaks are pretty good. Okay. And then there’s a lot of great entertainment venues, from the archery music hall to center Phantoms hockey. And we just number one in the country for small baseball parks here at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. It’s baseball season. And so I got to give a shout out to that pigs.

00:24:53:06 – 00:24:54:54
David Martin
Have you had a chance to throw out the first pitch?

00:24:54:56 – 00:24:56:37
Nick Miller
I have, or two years ago.

00:24:56:49 – 00:24:59:03
David Martin
You did. All right. Throw a strike.

00:24:59:15 – 00:25:02:32
Nick Miller
It was ran on the border. We got it. Yeah, it was good.

00:25:02:34 – 00:25:03:46
David Martin
What do you do for fun?

00:25:03:51 – 00:25:13:43
Nick Miller
You know, I love spending time with my family and friends. My sister has a farm, you know, just outside the city. I’m helping her out out there and enjoying time of family.

00:25:13:45 – 00:25:14:41
David Martin
Where do you get your news?

00:25:14:43 – 00:25:35:59
Nick Miller
You know, I read the newspaper every day. Good newspaper article. Good. I think that’s important. There’s a lot of good local issues that get covered there and then online. I think it’s incredible how many people are the percentage of news that’s kind of consumed by people from the internet and social media, you know, and seeing what else is out there.

00:25:36:01 – 00:25:47:00
David Martin
So this is the good government show. We always try to bring it back to a good government topic. Tell me about a good government project you’ve been involved in. You’re excited about, you know, something that maybe you’re working on now.

00:25:47:03 – 00:26:15:15
Nick Miller
I got to take it back to the PFAS. You know, it’s a forever chemical on firefighter bones and in firefighter equipment, protecting the folks that run towards danger in our communities and protect their communities. I think that’s a good government and bipartisan and addressing a need. And then the long term effect is at our residential water as well, because that’s contaminated some water wells and one of our burrows, which we then had to secure funding to remediate.

00:26:15:20 – 00:26:20:16
Nick Miller
What our goal is, is to stop at a source. So we’re not being reactive. We’re being proactive.

00:26:20:17 – 00:26:38:50
David Martin
Well, that does sound like good government getting rid of PFAS. So well done. Keep keep up the good work and the bipartisan efforts. So it sounds like you’re headed in the right direction. Senator Nick Miller, you represent Pennsylvania’s 14th Senate district, which is Lehigh and Northampton counties. Pleasure to have you on. Good to talk to you. Good to meet you.

00:26:38:52 – 00:26:40:50
Nick Miller
Thank you. Likewise, Dave. Thanks for having me.

00:26:40:52 – 00:26:44:52
David Martin
Thank you.

00:26:44:57 – 00:27:06:27
David Martin
The Good Government Institute has a new partner, the Charles F Kettering Foundation. I really like their podcast, The Context, and I bet you will too. They have a new series called Democracy Under Construction. The show is hosted by historian Alex Lovett, and he looks back at the first 250 years of U.S. history. Alex digs into the moments that have pushed us towards an inclusive democracy.

00:27:06:29 – 00:27:15:43
David Martin
You can find it where you’re listening right now, or visit Kettering and give them a follow.

00:27:15:48 – 00:27:33:39
David Martin
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host leading Iowa Good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Kavanagh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talked to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:27:33:42 – 00:27:42:27
David Martin
Join us right here. We’re listening. Now that’s leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa cities.

00:27:42:32 – 00:28:04:33
David Martin
It was called the War to End All Wars. But it didn’t. Three royal cousins, all kings, one from England, one from Germany and one from Russia blundered their way into a war, a completely avoidable war that left millions dead in the trenches across Europe. Good government show executive producer Jim Ludlow details the blunders, mistakes and bluster that started World War One that didn’t end all wars.

00:28:04:35 – 00:28:20:25
David Martin
The book The Royal Cousins details the events and creates an alternative history. Imagine of World War One never happened. It didn’t have to. Just read it yourself. Download the book today on Amazon. It’s just $0.99 and a timely look at history.

00:28:20:29 – 00:28:44:21
David Martin
Being able to deliver a grant to restore and improve a farmer’s market where you work. And that’s got to be satisfying. And an interesting twist for sure. Pennsylvania State Senator Nick Miller did that, and he’s done a lot more in his first years in office. And as he said, he’s spending our money wisely. I heard a lot of bipartisan cooperation on a lot of the bills and project he’s worked on so far, and on projects he continues to champion in the future.

00:28:44:21 – 00:29:03:20
David Martin
That’s good government. Now for a cheesesteak next time I’m in Allentown, Pennsylvania. And if I can get that at an Iron Pigs game, even better. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website. Good government show for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government and action everywhere.

00:29:03:27 – 00:29:13:00
David Martin
Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

00:29:13:05 – 00:29:52:00
David Martin
The Good Government Show is produced by the Good Government Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement and civic education. All donations to the show help promote trust in government. You can donate at Good Govt Institute. That’s good govt institute. Executive producers are Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin that’s me and David Snyder. Jason Stershic is our editor and producer. Join us again to hear good stories about our government right here on The Good Government Show.

00:29:52:05 – 00:29:55:05
Narrator
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.