Biographical Information

        Franklin Kury brings to his work the unique perspective of one who has been both inside and outside the legislature. Elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for three terms (1966–1972), he was a leader in the enactment of environmental laws, such as the Clean Streams Act, that are seen as the culmination of the environmental revolution that marked the end of the exploitation of the state’s natural resources by the coal, steel and railroad industries. He was the author and lead advocate for the environmental amendment to the state constitution that declares a right to a clean environment by the people and makes the state government the trustee of the public natural resources.

        In 1972 he was elected to the first of two terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he became a leader in government reform.  He chaired the special committee that reformed the process for Senate confirmation of gubernatorial nominations and the committee that modernized the Public Utility Commission and created a consumer advocate.  Kury also led a six-year struggle that resulted in the enactment of the state’s flood plain and storm water management laws.  He retired voluntarily from the Senate in 1980 and turned to full-time law practice.

        As a lawyer with Reed Smith (1983–2003), a major law firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, and Malady & Wooten (2003–2016), one of Harrisburg’s premier government affairs firms (see www.malady-wooten.com), he counselled clients and advocated for them on state legislative matters.

        In 2011 Clean Politics, Clean Streams: A Legislative Autobiography was published by the Lehigh University Press. In October 2015 his second book, Why Are You Here? A Primer for State Legislators and Citizens, was published by the University Press of America, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. His third book, Gerrymandering. A Guide to Congressional Redistricting, Dark Money and the U. S. Supreme Court, is being published by the Hamilton Press of Rowman & Littlefield in the spring of 2018.

        A native of Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Kury graduated from Trinity College (Hartford, CT) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  He is married to the former Elizabeth Heazlett of Pittsburgh, and they are the parents of three sons. They reside near Hummelstown in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.