Rep. Craig Staats of Richland Township, Bucks County, was elected to represent the 145th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November of 2014.

As a state representative, Staats aims to promote job growth through the adoption of business-friendly policies that will attract job creators to the Commonwealth and help them to thrive and grow. He also supports efforts to ease the property tax burden on Pennsylvania citizens and to improve public education by focusing on greater control at the local level. Other legislative priorities include road and bridge improvements in upper Bucks County and the preservation of open space.

In the 2023-24 Legislative Session, Staats has been reappointed to the Education, Liquor Control and State Government committees and will serve as deputy chair of the Policy Committee for the session. Staats was also named again as chairman of the Education Subcommittee on Career and Technical Education (CTE).

Staats brought 32 years of business-related experience to the House including 25 years in the restaurant industry. He also worked as a business broker, conducting business sales and acquisitions and promoting business growth and job creation by matching entrepreneurs with business opportunities.

No stranger to public service, Staats has served as chairman of the Richland Township Board of Supervisors, the Richland Township Preservation Board, Agricultural Security Area Advisory Committee, and he held a seat on the Richland Township Planning Commission. He also served as Judge of Elections in Richland, was president of Sweetbriar Homeowners Association and is a former youth sports coach. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Staats is active in his church and is a Fourth Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus, St. Isidore Council.

A graduate of Central Bucks public schools and Johnson and Wales University, Staats earned a bachelor’s degree in business management. He lives in Richland Township in upper Bucks County with his wife, Robin. They have two adult sons, Dylan and Nicholas.

The 145th district includes the townships of Bridgeton, Durham, East Rockhill, Haycock, Milford, Nockamixon, Richland, Springfield and West Rockhill and the boroughs of Quakertown, Richlandtown, Riegelsville, Telford (Bucks County Portion) and Trumbauersville.