Jim Ferlo completed his first term in the State Senate and was re-elected to a second term at the end of 2006.  Formerly, a 14-year Pittsburgh City Councilman and two-term Council President (1994 – 1997), Ferlo has been incorporating his own passionate style of community activism since the late 1960s. It was during those early years as a union activist, political organizer and community advocate that Ferlo affirmed his commitment to the public and his confidence in people. This commitment and investment has translated into an experienced legislator who is accessible and accountable.

His first term as a State Senator included some notable successes on issues of importance to his constituents.  While maintaining constant contact with the people he represents, he helped Governor Rendell move important issues forward such as:

• PACE and PACENET expansion
• Medical malpractice insurance reform
• Property tax reduction
• Implementation of a Statewide Economic Stimulus Package

Senator Ferlo took on an anti-predatory lending campaign in cooperation with Rendell's first-term Secretary of Banking, the progressive-minded A. William Schenck III.  Senator Ferlo and Secretary Schenck crafted a multi-pronged piece of reform legislation to address abuses in the mortgage lending and appraisal industries.

A firm supporter of the S.T.O.P. proposal (Stop Taxing Our Properties), Senator Ferlo has made it his priority to further reduce, if not completely eliminate, property taxes.

As Board Treasurer of the City of Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority, Senator Ferlo has been a leader in shifting the mindset of local development and investment.  His leadership has refocused attention on neighborhood-based and Green Building initiatives. At the State level, he was a vocal supporter in the drive to expand and implement the Commonwealth’s Main Street and Elm Street Programs.  He has been a pioneer in envisioning ways that local communities can take advantage of these state programs, including several instances where he has successfully urged local townships and boroughs to collaborate with neighboring municipalities to combine their strengths as a "Multiple-Main Street" or as an "Enterprise Zone".

A staunch supporter of health care reform, Ferlo, while the director of the Community Health Advocacy Network (CHAN), assisted in the development of the Pennsylvania Hospital Patient Bill of Rights. The regulation, stating all patients have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and afforded any and all available medical coverage, was the first to mandate an itemized accounting of hospital billing and access to hospital medical records. While reviewing the Community Service Assurance Provision of the Hill-Burton Act, an assistance act to public and other non-profit medical facilities, Ferlo raised public awareness when he discovered a hospital compliance asserting that no Hill-Burton facility could refuse emergency treatment regardless of a person’s ability to pay.

Ferlo has been a leader in the fight to strengthen Pittsburgh’s economic base through tax reform, job creation and retention, economic development, and funding parity from Harrisburg. He sponsored both the City Prevailing Wage Enforcement Act and the Pittsburgh Living Wage Law. As a driving force behind the Save Nabisco Action Coalition (SNAC), Ferlo led the effort to convince Nabisco to keep its corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh for an additional decade, thereby saving 650 jobs. SNAC’s success redefined local government’s role in plant closings around the country. After Nabisco’s 10-year commitment and eventual relocation, Ferlo succeeded in attracting government and private support for the sustainability of another bakery at the Nabisco site (Atlantic Bakery). He redefined zoning codes for day care centers and created an occupancy permit for residential areas (home day care centers). His affiliation with the Pennsylvania Alliance for Jobs and Energy (PAJE) resulted in two dramatic utility reforms: a ban on winter shut-offs and the implementation of a gas cost rate. Ferlo also lobbied for the creation of the Regional Asset District (RAD), thus securing support and funding for cultural and theatre arts arenas, libraries, parks, sports and civic facilities and programs. Subsequent RAD funding to the city allowed for senior citizen property tax relief, as well. During his tenure as Council President, Ferlo led an effort among his colleagues to lobby support for Mayor Murphy’s creation of the Pittsburgh Development Fund in order to spur major economic projects and provide working capital to assist in jobs and education. He fought for expansion of the David Lawrence Convention Center, bringing new revenue and jobs to our region.

Identified as an advocate for historical preservation, Ferlo has pressed for riverfront and brownfield development, historic civic district designations, building projects for parks and playgrounds, protection of green space and awareness for public open space.

As a man whose history is steeped in advocacy issues, Ferlo fosters that same activism within his constituency. His development of the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance encouraged the creation of citizen councils on a citywide level for just that purpose. Community input and citizen empowerment are intricate parts of Ferlo’s public service equation. He led the effort for establishment of District Council elections and sponsored the city’s Human Rights Ordinance.

Past and present committee/organization affiliations include: City Council’s Committee on Housing Economic Development and Promotion (Chair); City Council’s Committee on Planning, Zoning and Land Use; City Council’s Committee on Engineering and Construction (Chair); Pittsburgh Model Cities Commissioner; Community Action Pittsburgh (Chair); Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance (President); Americans for Democratic Action; Pittsburgh Economic and Industrial Development Corporation; Alpha House; Carnegie Mellon Trustee; Save Nabisco Action Coalition; Pennsylvania Alliance for Jobs and Energy; two-term President of Pittsburgh City Council.

Ferlo was born to Italian immigrant parents in the small upstate town of Rome, NY. He credits part of his legislative effectiveness as being one of 10 siblings.

He currently resides and is a homeowner in the Highland Park neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh.