Rep. Mario M. Scavello was first elected to represent the people of the 176th Legislative District in a special election held April 23, 2002. He is now serving his fifth full term. The district he represents is comprised of part of Monroe County consisting of the townships of Coolbaugh, Jackson, Paradise, Pocono and Stroud (districts 02, 03 and 04) and the boroughs of East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg. 

Since his election to the state House, Mario has been a steadfast advocate of school property tax reform. He crafted the Scavello Tax Reform Plan, which, if fully implemented, would save homeowners 45 percent on their annual school property tax bill.   

Mario has been appointed to serve on the House Appropriations, Ethics, Finance, Professional Licensure, Rules, and Tourism and Recreational Development committees for the 2011-12 session of the General Assembly. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Mario will be chairing the Subcommittee on Education.  Mario will also chair the Subcommittee on Travel Promotion, History and Heritage of the Tourism and Recreational Development Committee. He is also a member of the House Republican Policy Committee and this session was named as a member of the House Republican Policy Committee Policy Development Team on Property Tax Reform.  In 2005, he was appointed as a subcommittee member of the Sales Tax Initiatives Subcommittee of the House Finance Committee during the Special Session on Property Tax Relief.  

Two of his proposals geared toward saving taxpayers money became law during the 2005-06 legislative session. House Bill 176 (Act 40 of 2005) requires the Department of Revenue to collect any unpaid local realty transfer tax plus any penalties and interest at the same time the department collects the Commonwealth’s portion of the realty transfer tax. House Bill 750 (Act 41 of 2006) increases the compulsory arbitration level in civil cases to $50,000 in all counties, which enables civil matters to be resolved out of court, saving the county the time and expense of litigating. 

Throughout his years of public service, Mario has awarded a total of $233,000 from his public salary for scholarships to college-bound students. Mario has also awarded $25,000 in savings bonds as a motivational program for students in sixth grade who maintain honor roll grades.  

Mario is a former mayor of Mount Pocono and former chairman of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. He has been a small businessman and is very active on the local level as a community leader. He was honored with a Clara Barton Award for his service to the Red Cross as board member, telethon volunteer and state and local level advocate. He has also been named a board member of the statewide United Way of Pennsylvania. 

He is active in many organizations including: the Knights of Columbus, Rotary Club and Sons of Italy. Mario serves as a board member to United Way of Monroe County, a statewide board member of the United Way of Pennsylvania and the American Red Cross of Monroe County, Northampton Community College Advisory Board, Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Pocono Family YMCA, and the Monroe County Area Agency on Aging. His past commitments included leadership positions with athletic associations, a police commission, conservation districts, and mental health and retardation association. 

A graduate of Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx, New York, Mario also attended the City University in New York. He was named Monroe County “Citizen of the Year – 1997” by the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce; received the “1998 Liberty Bell Award,” a state award given by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division; named “1998 Citizen of the Year” by the Pocono Mountain Lions Club; and appointed Legislative Fellow to East Stroudsburg University in 2005. 

He has been married to his wife Mary Ann for 36 years and has two grown daughters, Michelle and Melissa, and a grandson Braydon.

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