State Representative Thomas Murt
Tom Murt was elected to serve the people of the 152nd District in 2006. As the people's representative, he plans to focus on property tax reform, open space preservation, alleviating traffic congestion, storm water management and flooding issues.
He has been appointed to the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness, Education, and Children and Youth committees.
Before his election to the House, Murt was assistant coordinator of the Counseling and Advising Center at Penn State University's Abington campus, where he also taught part-time in the business department.
Murt has served as a director of the Upper Moreland School District and as an Upper Moreland Township Commissioner.
Murt has served in the U.S. Army Reserve since 1990. He was called to active duty in 2003, and served in Iraq with the Army's elite 4th Infantry Division. For his service in Iraq, Murt has been nominated for the Army Commendation Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. During his 14-month deployment in Iraq, he wrote of his experiences in a featured column, "Voice from Iraq," which appeared weekly in Montgomery Newspapers . Murt continues to serve in the Army Reserve as a staff sergeant with the 656th Area Support Group.
Murt is active in his local community, serving as a coach for the Upper Moreland Little League, the Upper Moreland Soccer Club and Hatboro YMCA basketball. He also serves as a religious education instructor for St. David Parish in Willow Grove. In addition, he volunteers on the board of directors of the Upper Moreland Education Foundation and the Upper Moreland Historical Association, which he founded.
Murt was born and raised in Hatboro. He graduated from Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster. Murt earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Penn State University and a Master of Arts in Education from La Salle University. Murt also has undertaken graduate coursework in economics at Temple University and was awarded a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Instructional I teaching certificate from Gwynedd-Mercy College.
Murt and his wife, Maria, a nursing instructor at the Abington Memorial Hospital Dixon School of Nursing, live in Hatboro with their three young children, Katherine, Daniel and Patrick.