State Rep. Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, running in his second election, and State Rep.-elect Flick, R-South Williamsport, greeted many voters in the 84th and 83rd districts, respectively.

In morning interviews outside of the election headquarters in Hepburn and Loyalsock townships, Hamm and Flick spoke about their day ahead and their plans for the immediate future when they get to Harrisburg — much of it hinging on hopes they can play roles as part of the 203-member House of Representatives to improve the economy, stymie inflation with emphasis on energy independence, addressing societal problems in schools and addressing ways to tackle violent crime.

“I don’t take anything for granted,” Hamm said outside of the Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Co. Station 15 building, where township residents cast their ballots in person.

Hamm, with his daughter Madison by his side for the day, said he believed it was important for government representatives to be approachable and accessible.

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette State Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, greets voters at the polling place at the Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday morning.

“I hand out my cell phone like candy,” he said.

That kind of open line of communication with the constituents enables state representatives to do their job more effectively, he said.

“We hear their voice,” he said, citing how interpersonal interaction and access by phone were ways he believed he can best represent his district, which is the fourth largest geographically in the state.

After leaving the township, Hamm said he was heading to Sullivan County to visit rural Davidson and Elkland townships and would then return to hit areas east to west. His goal was to try to get to 42 of the 52 municipalities in Lycoming County.

When asked what he would tackle first as representative, Hamm started out by saying “people in Pennsylvania are hurting” because of a slumping economy and inflation.

“You see it when you go to the gas pumps, when you go to the grocery store and when you heat your home in the winter,” he said.

Hamm said he favored restoring the commonwealth’s energy independence, but he noted that repairing the economy and stopping the rise in inflation were not government-only solutions.

Government can do its part by focusing on the energy resources it has below its feet and restructuring the tax code to make Pennsylvania more tax-friendly to incoming and existing businesses and industries but it can’t happen without cutting red tape and regulations, he said, adding that such restrictions are strangling small business owners.

“We have 153,000 regulations in the commonwealth,” Hamm said.

The regulations control every aspect of people’s lives, and this is not what “our forefathers wanted. At the end of the day, we need to roll back regulations, and we will see economic growth in our commonwealth,” Hamm said.

In that way, the children and grandchildren will want to stay in Pennsylvania and work and live and raise their children.

As an example of government bureaucracy, Hamm cited the loss of a $2 billion steel mill in Pittsburgh due to waiting for the permit to be granted. The company pulled out and went to West Virginia, he said.

Hamm and Flick said they would get behind whoever takes the executive branch — whether Republican Doug Mastriano or Democrat Josh Shapiro.

The state can’t afford not working together to address its problems, Hamm said.

For Flick, it was a day when he planned to visit most of the municipalities and townships in the 83rd District, including those in Union County, such as White Deer and Gregg townships.

Flick sees a need to return the state’s energy independence and that focuses on drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region.

“We have enough natural gas to supply the entire state for decades,” he said outside of the polling station at the Loyalsock Township building.

Flick said he would like to be appointed to the House Energy Committee.

Another item on Flick’s to-do list is to put health services and mental illness in school districts at the forefront of his efforts as a representative.

Mental health issues in school districts need to be addressed, he said. Misuse of social media, a lack of two-parent homes and a lack of fathers contribute to negative impacts on young students’ minds and to rising crime and substance abuse, he said.

Flick is the legal guardian of two inner-city youths from Brooklyn, New York, and has seen what helping the mental status of young men and women can do to inspire and change the trajectory in a young person’s life.

Flick also believes an amendment is necessary in a House bill regarding substitute teachers requiring bachelor’s degrees. He, himself, has an associate degree and specializes in computer science.

“We need to be able to allow substitute teachers to be hired based on having an associate degree and life experience, not only on having a bachelor’s degree from a college or university,” he said.

Flick said of the 203 state representative races he is one of two candidates who does not take money from lobbyists or political action committees or super political action committees.

He said he believed in listening to ideas from both political parties and would work across the aisle when necessary. He believed that Republicans, Democrats and independents alike are among the people he will serve.