NEW YORK, NY --- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) honors Pennsylvania Representative John Perzel today as a Legislator of the Year at the organization’s 28th Annual Meeting.

“John Perzel is one of the finest state legislators in the nation," said Duane Parde, ALEC’s Executive Director of ALEC. "He's a leader who truly personifies the Jeffersonian principles of liberty, limited government, and free-markets.”

Perzel is one of seven state legislators honored nationwide.

As Pennsylvania’s House Majority Leader, John Perzel controls and oversees the movement of all legislation in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Perzel was the major force behind legislation making schools accountable and providing school districts with histories of low student performance with the technical and financial assistance necessary to increase student performance. He made schools safer, improved classroom environments so teachers can teach and students can learn, and provided at risk and troubled students with a second chance to turn their lives around by providing for alternative education programs. He also moved 70,000 able-bodied welfare recipients from dependency to dignity and jobs through historic welfare reform law.

Among the leadership of America’s state legislatures, ALEC members hold an impressive presence: 32 Speakers and Speakers Pro Tem; 22 Senate Presidents and Senate Presidents Pro Tem; 22 Senate Majority and Minority Members; 30 House Majority and Minority Leaders. ALEC alumni include 8 sitting governors, 3 lieutenant governors, 2 senior-cabinet level positions, and more than 80 members of Congress.