Jordan Harris
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 186th district
Assumed office
January 1, 2013
Preceded byHarold James
Personal details
Born (1984-05-12) May 12, 1984
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic
ResidencePhiladelphia
EducationMillersville University (BA)
Cabrini University (MEd)
Neumann University
ProfessionLegislator
WebsiteOfficial website

Jordan A. Harris is an American politician currently serving as the Majority Chair of the Appropriations Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A Democrat, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 186th legislative district, comprising parts of South and West Philadelphia. He was first elected in 2012.

Harris is a member of the Knight Foundation's Philadelphia Community Advisory Committee.[1]

Early life and education

Harris attended John Bartram Motivation High School in Philadelphia. Harris holds a bachelor's degree in governmental and political affairs from Millersville University and a master's degree in education from Cabrini College. He is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Neumann University. Harris is a former teacher in the Philadelphia Public Schools. He has served in city government, rising to the position of director of the Philadelphia Youth Commission.

Political career

Since his election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2012, Harris has advocated for criminal justice reform, supporting clean slate bills to allow people convicted of felonies to, after a certain amount of time, have their conviction removed from their record.[2] Harris worked on this legislation since he was sworn into office, and Governor Tom Wolf signed the Clean Slate Act in June 2018.[3] As of June 2022, over 40 million Pennsylvanians have had their record sealed as a result of the law.[2]

Harris was selected by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party as one of 20 delegates to the United States Electoral College for Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, in the 2020 United States presidential election.[4]

Harris previously served as the Chair of the Pennsylvania House Legislative Black Caucus and served as the Democratic Whip in the 2021-2022 legislative session.

In May 2023, Harris, along with fellow Philadelphia-area Representative Jared Solomon, established the legislative Black-Jewish Caucus.[5]

Committee assignments, 2023–2024[6]

  • Appropriations (Majority Chair)
  • Rules

References

  1. ↑ "Knight Foundation: Philadelphia".
  2. 1 2 "Rep. Jordan A. Harris | Biography". www.pahouse.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  3. ↑ Murphy, Jan (2018-06-28). "New law opens the door to giving ex-criminal offenders a 'clean slate'". pennlive. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  4. ↑ Routh, Julian (2020-12-14). "Pennsylvania's presidential electors make it official, formally certify vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  5. ↑ Miller, Cassie (2023-05-01). "Pennsylvania lawmakers establish Black-Jewish caucus". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  6. ↑ "Representative Jordan A. Harris". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2023-05-24.


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