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Helen Gillette

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Helen D. Gillette
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 31st district
In office
1969–1978
Preceded byDistrict
Succeeded byBrian D. Clark
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the Allegheny County district
In office
1967–1968
Personal details
Born
Helen D. Frederick

(1919-03-23)March 23, 1919[1]
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
DiedNovember 23, 1991(1991-11-23) (aged 72)
Natrona Heights, Harrison Township, Pennsylvania, United States
Political partyDemocratic
ChildrenGeorgia (Gillette) Pellegrino
Rebecca (Gillette) Correa
Residence(s)Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania
OccupationInsurance agent and politician

Helen D. Gillette (March 23, 1919 – November 23, 1991) was a small business executive who became a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She represented Pennsylvania's 31st district for six terms from 1969 to 1978. [2][3][4]

Formative years

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Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 23, 1919 as Helen D. Frederick, Helen D. Gillette was a graduate of New Kensington High School and later took night courses through the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania State University Extension.[5][6]

In 1947, Gillette opened her own insurance and accounting business,[7] which she continued to operate following the end of her legislative career.[8][9][10]

Public service career

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In 1964, Gillette served as a justice of the peace in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.[11][9]

In 1966, Gillette ran for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[10] While campaigning to represent her Allegheny County district, she pledged to vote against the state's planned acquisition of land to build the proposed Lake Erie-Ohio River Canal.[12] Gillette won her primary race by defeating her opponent, Harry McCallister of Curtisville, without accepting any campaign contributions and by spending just $682.[13] She then won the general election in November by defeating her Republican opponent, Indiana Township real estate broker John H. Smith, by a margin of 11,391 to 7,729, and went on to represent constituents in the Allegheny County district from 1967 to 1968 (in what then became the newly created 31st district).[14]

An environmental protection advocate, she was a vocal supporter of Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Act, which was passed in 1937.[15] She advocated strongly for stiffer penalties for polluters, stating that Pennsylvania needed to "do much more in the field of research, learning more about pollutants and how to control them, and learning better methods of purifying water for reuse."[16] In 1967, she co-sponsored legislation to required couples wanting to dissolve their marriages to live separately for one year prior to filing for divorce.[17]

Gillette subsequently campaigned for,[18] and won re-election to, the Pennsylvania House, and then represented the established 31st district from 1969 to 1978. While serving on the Pennsylvania House Conservation Committee in 1969, she traveled with her fellow committee members to Minersville, Pennsylvania in early March to investigate strip mine landfill dumps in the state's anthracite coal region, as part of the committee's information gathering as it considered two proposed waste disposal bills (House Bill 153, a solid waste materials act that would regulate the transportation of solid waste across county lines and prohibit dumping in mines if it would create environmental or health hazards, and House Bill 279, which would amend the Clean Streams Act to toughen penalties for polluters). In addition to visiting the Minersville landfill, members of the committee inspected the Nanticoke landfill in Newport Township, Luzerne County, the drainage tunnel and its mouth in North Union Township, Schuylkill County, and the East Norwegian Township and Tamaqua area landfills in Schuylkill County. Although several committee members reported to newspapers and their constituents that the landfills they inspected appeared to be in good shape, Gillette, who was the only female member of the committee, stated that it was too early to tell what impact the landfill operations might have on the residents of the communities where they were located. "The problem needs a lot of study, and I wouldn't want to say what the effect of garbage burial would be on land and water resources." She added that a more thorough investigation of individual landfill sites should be undertaken statewide before any conclusions were made by the committee. She also participated in the committee's public hearing regarding the proposed legislation, which was held in Hazleton on March 7, and well attended.[19]

In 1970, she supported the repeal of a controversial insurance premium tax.[20] In 1971, she participated in a pro-life rally at the University of Pittsburgh, and delivered a presentation entitled, "The Pennsylvania Legislature and Abortion Legislation."[21] In 1972, she helped to form the Legislators for Muskie Committee in support of Edmund Muskie's ultimately unsuccessful campaign to become president of the United States.[22] In 1974, she served on the Pennsylvania House's Joint Conservation Committee, and participated in a tour of, and subsequent meeting about, the Blacklegs watershed in Indiana County on May 24 to explore ways to eliminate the watershed's problem with mine acid pollution.[23]

In 1975, Gillette was appointed to the Pennsylvania House's Conservation and Consumer Protection committees.[24] The chief sponsor of Pennsylvania's 1976 "Lifeline Bill" to force utility operators statewide to set lower "lifeline" rates for low-volume utility users, deliver financial relief from high utility bills to low-income residents statewide, and encourage greater energy conservation by all utility consumers, shepherded the legislation to a 102-56 victory in the House.[25]

In 1977, she served on the Pennsylvania House's Appropriations Committee.[26] That same year, she watched the progress that she had made in securing her colleagues' 1976 passage of the "Lifeline" energy bill dissolve when the Pennsylvania House voted 106-90 to defeat her newest version of the legislation, which would have defined lifeline rates for lower-income consumers and authorized utility companies to set peak demand or time of day pricing to encourage their customers to conserve energy.[27]

Controversies

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During her six-term tenure, she became known for her disagreements with Governor Milton Shapp[28] and her fellow members of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party[29] regarding its platforms at the time regarding the death penalty and the 1973 Abortion Control Act.[8] In 1974, she voted with 156 of her fellow legislators, to override Shapp's veto of legislation that would restrict women's access to abortion.[30] The law, according to its supporters, was designed to reduce abortions that were deemed "not necessary to save a woman's life or health" while forcing women seeking abortions for any other reason to obtain "written permission from [their] spouse or, if ... under 18, the permission of a parent."[31]

After leaving her legislative position in 1978,[32] she pursued an unsuccessful campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the office of lieutenant governor,[33] losing to Robert P. Casey, a teacher and ice cream parlor owner from Monroeville whom voters apparently mistook for the well-known state politician Bob Casey Sr.[8]

Later years

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Following her legislative career, Gillette resumed work with her insurance business, but continued to remain active in politics, joining with her former colleagues just a few months before her death to urge the current state legislature to take up action on campaign finance reform and reduce the impact of special interest groups on the state's budget development process.[34]

Death, funeral and interment

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Gillette died from cancer at the age of seventy-two on Saturday, November 23, 1991 at her home in Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania. A Mass of Christian Burial service was held for her at 9:30 a.m. at the Most Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church on Monday, November 25 in Natrona Heights, followed by interment services at the Our Lady of Hope Cemetery in Frazier Township.[35][8]

References

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  1. ^ Pennsylvania. Dept. of General Services; Pennsylvania. Bureau of Publications; Pennsylvania. Dept. of Property and Supplies (1976). The Pennsylvania Manual. Vol. 103. Department of General Services. ISSN 0275-8814. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  2. ^ Cox, Harold. "House Members G". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  3. ^ "Helen D. Frederick Gillette, six-term state legislator, dies." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 24, 1991, p. 26 (subscription required).
  4. ^ "Helen Gillette avoids fanfare in Harrisburg." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North Hills Record, April 25, 1978, p. 38 (subscription required).
  5. ^ "31st District," in "Meet the Candidates: Firefighter Richards in Hot Race with Caputo." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, October 27, 1966, p. 26 (subscription required).
  6. ^ "31st District," in "Voter's Guide to State House Candidates." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 10, 1966, p. 31 (subscription required).
  7. ^ "Helen Gillette avoids fanfare in Harrisburg," North Hills Record, April 25, 1978.
  8. ^ a b c d "Helen D. Frederick Gillette, six-term state legislator, dies," The Pittsburgh Press, November 24, 1991.
  9. ^ a b "31st District," in "Meet the Candidates: Firefighter Richards in Hot Race with Caputo," The Pittsburgh Press, October 27, 1966.
  10. ^ a b "31st District," in "Voter's Guide to State House Candidates," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 10, 1966.
  11. ^ Drapken, Michael. "31st District," in "Dardanell Wins Only State Battle of Incumbents: Vote Margin Less Than 1000 Over Otto." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 9, 1966, p. 20 (subscription required).
  12. ^ "State Can Halt 'Big Ditch,' Club Claims." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 4, 1966, p. 33 (subscription required).
  13. ^ "Fulton Spends $3667 In Win Over Humes: Other Candidates File Expense Lists for Primary Drives." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, June 17, 1966, p. 9 (subscription required).
  14. ^ Drapken, "31st District," in "Dardanell Wins Only State Battle of Incumbents: Vote Margin Less Than 1000 Over Otto," The Pittsburgh Press, November 9, 1966.
  15. ^ Smith, Michael. "Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law: The Liability Imposed," in Duquesne Law Review, Vol. 28, No. 4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Duquesne University, 1990.
  16. ^ Boyle, Patrick. "New Legislators Declare War on Old Problems." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, January 1, 1967, p. 8 (subscription required).
  17. ^ "Pa. Divorce Law Changes Asked." Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Intelligencer Journal, August 4, 1967, p. 16 (subscription required).
  18. ^ Helbert, James. "31st District," in "Holland Candidacy Still Up in the Air." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, January 31, 1968, p. 18 (subscription required).
  19. ^ Sage, Tom. "Legislators Visit 2 Area Landfills." Pottsville, Pennsylvania: Pottsville Republican, March 7, 1969, front page and p. 5 (subscription required).
  20. ^ "Signing Up for Repeal" (photo with caption). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Daily News, March 11, 1970, p. 5 (subscription required).
  21. ^ "Pro-'Life' Weekend." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 17, 1971, p. 21 (subscription required).
  22. ^ "Commissioners back Wecht for county chairmanship." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North Hills News Record, March 29, 1972, p. 5 (subscription required).
  23. ^ Hess, Leonard. "Five Projects Completed on Blacklegs Watershed." Indiana, Pennsylvania: The Indiana Gazette, May 24, 1974, p. 13 (subscription required).
  24. ^ "New State House Procedure Rules Ready for Action." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 17, 1975, p. 4 (subscription required).
  25. ^ "House Passes 'Lifeline' Bill for Low Volume Power Users" (article with photo and caption). Kittanning, Pennsylvania: Simpson's Leader-Times, May 26, 1976, p. 1 (subscription required).
  26. ^ Czarniak, Chet. "Legislators expect tax increase." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North Hills News Record, June 4, 1977, p. 2 (subscription required).
  27. ^ "Energy-saving bill defeated." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, June 2, 1977, p. 14 (subscription required).
  28. ^ "Women Take Rap at Shapp." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 14, 1971, p. 9 (subscription required).
  29. ^ "Gillette vote on state tax is surprise." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North Hills News Record, November 25, 1977, p. 54 (subscription required).
  30. ^ "Veto Is Reversed." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1974, p. 8 (subscription required).
  31. ^ "Law to Restrict Abortions Is Enacted in Pennsylvania." New York, New York: The New York Times, September 11, 1974.
  32. ^ "Gillette announces she'll step down." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North Hills Record, January 20, 1978, p. 10 (subscription required).
  33. ^ "Helen Gillette lists $3,504 in expenses." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: North Hills Record, June 27, 1978, p. 27 (subscription required).
  34. ^ Bumsted, Brad. "Former Pa. lawmakers urge changes in budget process." Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Public Opinion, July 6, 1991, p. 5 (subscription required).
  35. ^ "Gillette, Helen D.", in "Death Notices." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 24, 1991, p. 26 (subscription required).
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