Kristin Phillips-Hill was elected to serve York County residents in the Pennsylvania Senate in 2018 and subsequently re-elected in 2022.
As a former small business owner and school board director, Kristin has made government efficiency a point of emphasis throughout her tenure in public service.
Throughout her first term in the Senate, Kristin spearheaded a concerted bipartisan and bicameral effort to improve access to high-speed internet in Pennsylvania through her role as chair of the Communications & Technology Committee. She also serves as one of four legislative appointments to the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority.
Kristin also led the fight to provide for flexible instructional days for school districts to use when unforeseen circumstances prevent students from entering the classroom. Her bill, which was signed into law, served as the model that ensured the continuity of education for students amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pennsylvania took a huge step in the fight against human trafficking when Kristin’s Senate Bill 60 was signed into law as Act 1 of 2020. Under the law she wrote, criminals who solicit the services of trafficked victims now feel the full weight of the law for their heinous crimes.
She also led the fight alongside Sen. Lisa Baker to strengthen the integrity of Pennsylvania’s elections’ process by banning outside, third-party money from funding the administration of elections in the Commonwealth.
Her landmark health care reform bill was signed into law in November of 2022, which made major changes to the prior authorization and step therapy processes for medical and prescription drug treatment. The law was hailed as a once-in-a-several-decade reform to an archaic process. Under this law, the relationship between patients and health care providers is strengthened and health care outcomes will improve.
In total, Kristin authored eight new laws as a senator and had several bills she wrote and provided to House members also signed into law. New laws range from increasing oversight into prescription drug abuse, to forever remembering local fallen Marines. Gov. Wolf also vetoed her legislation that would have prevented the state from imposing a COVID-19 vaccination requirement on its citizens and reined in the Acting Secretary of Health from imposing unilateral mandates.
She continues to oppose new taxes and supports legislation calling for greater reform and transparency of government at all levels but starting at the state level where she serves.
Kristin takes her responsibility to manage taxpayer dollars very seriously. She does not participate in the state’s pension program or health insurance program, and she commutes to and from Harrisburg using her own vehicle without accepting mileage reimbursement. She was one of four legislators that a government watchdog publication – The Caucus – deemed “exceeds expectations” when it comes to reporting her Senate expenses online citing her combination of transparency and accuracy.
Kristin continues to be a leading advocate in the Senate for the elimination of school property taxes and sponsors long-overdue reforms to drastically improve the state’s business regulatory climate.
She challenges the status quo by sponsoring several bills to change the way Harrisburg operates by offering solutions to the state’s lobbying laws.
During the 2023-24 session, she was elected by her colleagues to serve in leadership as the Senate Majority Caucus Chair.
Kristin serves as the vice chair of the Senate Communications & Technology Committee and is a member of the Senate Aging & Youth, Appropriations, Banking & Insurance, and State Government committees. She co-chairs the Manufacturing Caucus and the YMCA Caucus. She is the Senate Republican appointee to the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority.
Kristin earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public policy from Rutgers University.
Kristin resides in York Township with her husband Rick. They have three grown children: Victoria, Gavin and Spencer.
View Kristin’s legislative accomplishments here.