State Rep. Russ Diamond has made a move to Substack, a social media platform that gives users an opportunity to share their thoughts on a variety of topics, and in a longer form than is common on X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook.
In one of his first Substack newsletters, published in Jan. 30, Diamond outlines five bills he has sponsored in Harrisburg and hopes to see move quickly through the various committees and onto the state House floor. And, he told LebTown during a telephone interview on Jan. 30, he plans to promote additional bills soon that are still in the works.
“Not yet,” he said. “That’s for a future newsletter.”
Diamond, the Republican representative for Lebanon’s 102nd legislative district, is not new to blogging, having posted previous essays on his legislative and campaign websites. However, he said, those sites are somewhat limiting in what subjects he can cover, and he wanted a medium that gave him the freedom to express whatever happened to be on his mind.
He calls his Substack forum “Facets of Life.”
“I’m there because there are no limitations as to what I can write about there,” Diamond explained. For instance, he said, posts on his legislative site must be about legislation – “If I stray into anything political there, that’s a real no-no.” Similarly, he said, on his campaign site he can only write about campaign issues.
“I’m a bridge. And, I like to write about other stuff, too,” he said. “This is a place where I can do it all in one place. It’s better than Facebook, it’s better than X. Those are short-attention theater. … Sometimes, I like to write in-depth.”
Asked for topics he might want to cover that fall outside the bounds of politics, Diamond was quick with a response.
“The Eagles are going to the Super Bowl,” he said enthusiastically. “Come on now, I want to write about that!”
But there’s more. For example, he said, he recently brought home a family heirloom clock that he repaired, and he wants to write about that.
“I love mechanical stuff. I love tinkering. I love being able to fix stuff,” he said. “It’s hard to fix anything any more. We live in a disposable society.”
Otherwise, he said, visitors to his Substack page are likely to find “slices of life. Observations, even if it’s from the point of a view of an old man standing on his porch, shaking his fist, and shouting, ‘Get off of my lawn.’ … People might like that mix. They might not. If they don’t, they’re free to unsubscribe.”
That doesn’t mean Diamond will disappear from platforms such as Facebook and X, both of which he said have their purpose. “That’s for quick hits,” he said. “This is for longer format stuff.”
In his second Substack post, on Jan. 2 (the first was a day earlier and dealt with a “recent hullaballoo” between a male Philadelphia Eagles fan and a female Packers fan), Diamond addressed his move to the platform.
“I wanted something that would be delivered directly to you, so you could read at your leisure,” Diamond said.
“Some people charge for subscriptions on Substack, but I have no plans to do that,” he noted. “If you’re interested in catching up on some of my older stuff, it’s archived over at my campaign website.”
The columns he writes will allow him to “bridge the gap between being a public official and being a political advocate,” he added. He also expects he’ll write sometimes “from the perspective of a regular guy who grew up in the 70s who’s been a factory worker, a truck driver, a business owner, a musician, and a Philadelphia Eagles fan.
Read More: Rep. Russ Diamond composes song to replace (maybe) Pennsylvania anthem
Five bills
In his Jan. 30 column, Diamond shared the details of five bills that he’s introduced to the House since the current legislative session began earlier this month. They are, he said, listed “in no particular order.”
“Nothing has gotten much traction yet in Harrisburg. … It’s very early in the session,” he said.
However, he noted, “we already have several cosponsors on all of them. We’ll see when things are moving full force. … Everyone’s catching their breath, so now I can start talking to committee members and committee chairmen, seeing if we can get these moved out of committee.”
Diamond further explained his rationale for each during his interview with LebTown. Bills are listed here in the order of their House bill number.
HB119 – Ending Daylight Saving Time
“We need to stop the unhealthy practice of changing the clocks two times a year. The science is clear, it’s unhealthy for people,” Diamond said. “We can remain on standard time all the time.”
He noted that Arizona and Hawaii already do not observe Daylight Saving Time, and North Dakota has a bill in the works to join their ranks.
“This is my fourth session offering this bill to stop the twice-yearly ritual of changing clocks. Springing forward and falling back has negative repercussions on public health, safety, and productivity. Under federal law, a state can opt out of changing clocks by remaining on Standard Time year-round,” he wrote in his blog. “I believe if Pennsylvania leads, our neighboring states will follow. We aren’t called the Keystone State for nothing!”
Diamond noted that President Donald Trump has jumped on the bandwagon and has endorsed a similar goal for the country.
HB120 – Vaccine Consent for Minors
“Pennsylvania does not have a statewide minimum age for consent to receive a vaccine,” Diamond said in his blog. “In fact, under a Philadelphia Department of Public Health policy, kids as young as 11 can be offered and receive vaccines without parental consent. That’s ridiculous. My legislation would set a minimum age of 18 for anyone to be able to consent to get a vaccine.”
Diamond told LebTown that he knows adults “adults who can’t read and understand the inserts with those vaccines. So how can any kid consent to that, or any medical treatment. as young as 11? That’s utterly ridiculous. Let’s just set it at 18.”
HB121 – Mandating In-Person ATV & Snowmobile Tests for Kids
Diamond explains on his blog that “minors between 8 to 15 years of age who want to operate an ATV and minors between 10 to 15 years of age who want to operate a snowmobile off their own property and without supervision in Pennsylvania must receive safety training and pass an examination for a safety certificate.
“The Department of Conservation & Natural Resources currently allows the exam for this safety certificate to be taken online. While online testing makes the examination convenient, concerns have been expressed that parents and guardians are providing answers for their children or are taking the test for them,” he wrote. “This legislation would simply require the final examination to be taken in-person while still allowing the classes to be provided online.”
Diamond told LebTown that he’s heard “concerns from instructors” about some youngsters possibly fudging their results. “So let’s just have the kids take the tests in person,” he said. “It’s a public safety issue. … It just makes sense.”
Some consideration will have to be made, he noted, to ensure that testing facilities are located within a reasonable driving distance for all residents, particularly up north. “We might have to take that up wuth DCNR, but I think moving in that direction is the right thing to do,” he said.
HB122 – Restricting the authority of WHO, UN, and WEF
“By explicitly stating that the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN), and World Economic Forum (WEF) shall have no jurisdiction or power within the Commonwealth, this legislation aims to safeguard the state’s sovereignty and autonomy while recognizing the importance of global cooperation,” Diamond wrote. “President Trump has already taken some action on the WHO and the WEF, but I still think it’s important to jealously guard Pennsylvania’s sovereignty against any and all foreign interference.”
He later told LebTown that “Pennsylvania’s sovereignty ought to be protected. … We don’t know what the next president will do, but we should never surrender Pennsylvania’s sovereignty to any international organization, ever.”
Diamond said he believes at least two other states are working on similar legislation.
HB125 – Change Swearing-in Day to Dec. 1
Under the state Constitution, members of the General Assembly are currently sworn in on the first Tuesday of January after being elected, but their terms of service begin on Dec. 1, Diamond said. However, he said, the adoption of a post-COVID constitutional amendment in 2021 – addressing the General Assembly’s authority and duties to act within 21 days of the declaration of a disaster emergency – creates a problem for lawmakers if a disaster occurs at the wrong time.
“If a disaster such as the I-95 bridge disaster or the East Palestine train derailment were to happen in late November of an election year, the General Assembly would not be sworn in or able to respond within the constitutionally required 21 day period,” Diamond blogged. “We get paid starting on December 1; we ought to be sworn in and able to respond.”
He noted that the change would be an amendment to the state Constitution so would require voter approval.
“This year we were sworn in five weeks after our term started. We can’t do that,” he told LebTown. The January swearing-in date “is just tradition,” he said. “So just swear us in on Dec 1 when our term begins.”
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