Boscola's Return Good For Easton, Mayor Says

State Sen. Lisa Boscola's new district is good news for her and for the city of Easton, Mayor Sal Panto said Wednesday.

A state Supreme Court ruling handed down this week approved new legislative district maps that will go into effect for the 2014 elections.

One change that comes with the ruling: Boscola's new 18th district boundaries will now include the Easton area, the Express-Times reported.

Boscola, a Democrat, had represented Easton for two years before redistricting put the city into the 24th district in 2001.

During that time, "she was an excellent state senator for us," Panto said, noting that he also worked with her during his first tenure in office, when she was a state represenative.

(Boscola's district then didn't include Easton, but Panto said he worked with her as part of the Lehigh Valley delegation.)

She will replace state Sen. Bob Mensch, a Montgomery County Republican who was elected in 2009.

"I think Sen. Mensch did a fine job. He was always available," Panto said.

The difference isn't in the legislators but the districts, he argued, but that Mensch's suburban Philadelphia has different issues than Easton or even the Lehigh Valley.

It's not so much that Panto thinks Boscola will be able to push economic development projects in Easton. (He argued the Corbett administration is focusing more on suburban communities than cities.)

It's that he thinks she might be able to help with things such as pension reform and fixing Act 111, which governs binding arbitration with police and firefighters.

The mayor has said pensions are costing the city too much. Last year, Easton officials cited pension costs as the driving factor behind a new "commuter tax."