Robert "Bob" Mensch is a Republican politician. He is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he represented the 147th legislative district. He was first elected in 2006 to succeed the retiring Raymond Bunt Jr. He is currently the State Senator for the 24th Senatorial District in Pennsylvania.
Biography
Mensch attended Valley Forge Military Academy and College on a music scholarship. He worked for 27 years as a general manager at AT&T and later for ARBROS Communications as a National Sales Director. He then served as a Marlborough Township Supervisor from 2004 through 2006. He is the co-founder of the Unami Watershed Conservancy and chairman of the Upper Perkiomen Valley Regional Planning Commission. He was a member of House of Representatives 2007 to October 19, 2009. He has been a member of Senate from October 19, 2009 to date. He represents the constituents of the 24th District.
PA State Senate
On July 28, 2009, State Senator Rob Wonderling retired from his seat in the 24th district in order to assume the presidency of the Greater PhiladelphiaChamber of Commerce. Mensch announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for the special election as soon as Wonderling announced his plans. With Montgomery County Commissioner and former District AttorneyBruce Castor and former State RepresentativeJay Moyer withdrawing their names, Mensch had a clear path to the nomination that he received on August 6. On September 29, Mensch defeated DemocraticLansdale Borough Council member Anne Henning Scheuring with 66% of the vote. In the 2010 general election he defeated Democrat Bill Wallace with 60% of the vote. Senator Mensch was elected by his Republican colleagues to serve as Majority Caucus Chairman, a leadership position, for the 2019-2020 legislative session. As chairman he presides over Republican caucus meetings to discuss bills and amendments and to develop caucus strategy. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee and sits on the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. In addition, the Senator is a member of four additional committees: Health and Human Services; Game and Fisheries; Aging and Youth; and Labor & Industry. He co-chairs the bipartisan Senate Life Science Caucus, Economy, Business and Jobs Caucus, and the Community College Caucus. He also chairs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, which conducts studies and makes recommendations aimed at eliminating unnecessary government spending. Senator Mensch sponsored Senate Bill 358, now Act 86 of 2013, which requires certified FDA facilities to provide patients with information regarding their breast density. He also sponsored Senate Bill 181, now Act 48 of 2017, which requires all departments and agencies to justify their budget requests beginning with dollar one, for all existing as well as proposed programs for each fiscal year, before they can receive consideration for budget funding.
In the News
On May 4, 2019, Senator Mensch joined the Pottstown Branch of the NAACP and members of the community on May 4, 2019 at the intersection of Route 100, King Street, and Shoemaker Road in Pottstown, Pennsylvania to unveil a sign recognizing Mr. Newstell Marable Sr. Senator Mensch introduced legislation on behalf of the Pottstown Branch of the NAACP, now Act 161 of 2018, which designates the bridge on a portion of Pennsylvania Route 100 over the Schuylkill River in Pottstown Borough, Montgomery County, as the Newstell Marable Sr., Memorial Bridge.
