Summary

In this episode of the Zekely Podcast, host Zeke interviews Senator Amanda Cappelletti, who made history as the first Pennsylvania State Senator to give birth while in office. They discuss her journey in politics, the importance of public speaking, and the various legislative committees she has been a part of. The conversation also touches on her personal experiences, including her childhood, her role as a mother, and her commitment to reproductive healthcare and environmental legislation. Amanda shares insights into her work with constituents and the services available to them, as well as her hopes for the future and the importance of fighting for progressive values in Pennsylvania.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Senator Amanda Cappelletti

01:35 Capp/No Capp

06:09 Breaking Barriers: Motherhood in Politics

07:27 Public Speaking: A Natural Talent

08:38 Fun with Governor Shapiro Trivia

10:00 Name That Committee

13:21 Accident

15:34 Constituent Services and Unclaimed Property

19:42 Engaging with Trashy TV Shows

22:24 Political Identity and Values

24:09 Legislative Aspirations and Goals

26:09 Hope and Future Perspectives

Unclaimed Property: https://www.patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/

Constituent Services for 17th District: https://pasenatorcappelletti.com/services/

Full Video Episode Available On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheZekelyPodcast

Short Clips Can Be Found On TikTok: @drzeketayler/@thezekelypodcast and Instagram: @thezekelypodcast

Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to the Zekely podcast, Let's Talk Pennsylvania. The guest I have today is a lawyer and politician in Pennsylvania. She is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 17th district since 2021, which is where I live. In 2023, she made history as the first Pennsylvania State Senator to give birth while in office, joining just 5% of state lawmakers nationwide who are mothers of children under the age of 18.

So thank you so much for being here with me, Senator Amanda Cappelletti

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Well, thank you so much for having me Zeke it's always fun to hang out with you and your family. So it's a pleasure.

I have a lot of questions for you. We're going to play some games today. So let's get to

Alright, so let's play a little game. In honor of Amanda Cappelletti, we're going to play Capp No Capp. Okay? Do you know Gen Z lingo at all? Do you frequent Gen Z lingo? Not really? Okay, I am so happy to educate you because I love Gen Z lingo. I just think it's fun, and it embarrasses my kids a lot. So, cap essentially means like you're lying.

Yeah.

Not, not often.

and no cap means it's totally true. All right, so I'm going to give you some different events in Pennsylvania, or did they occur in Pennsylvania? Okay, so you're gonna basically say, if you think what I'm describing happened in Pennsylvania, you say no cap.

If you don't think it happened in Pennsylvania you say cap. That I'm lying. Okay so it's fair enough.

Yep

Located at the filming location of Dawn of the Dead this horror fan convention features loads of zombie films inspired by the Living Dead

Cap or no cap this occurs in

cap, I'm lying.

Yeah, because that's the blob in Phoenixville that we're talking about, not Dawn of the Dead.

It's actually in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Yeah, Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Yep. There's a zombie convention every year. Yes.

Yay!

Okay, so

then we got two really good horror places and I love horror. Like I go all out doing haunted hay rides and everything in October. That's good to know. I'm gonna have to check that out.

Mm-hmm.

Well, you're going to have to go to Monroeville

because they have a convention every year for zombie fans. Yeah. So there you go. All right. Next on Capp No Capp. OK, so the World Ag Expo is the largest annual outdoor agricultural exposition with more than 100,000 people attending each year. They have their top 10 new products contest, which highlights ag tech equipment services and more. So cap no cap. Does this occur in Pennsylvania?

I love it.

I I know we have a lot of farms Zeke, but I believe our number one economic driver in Pennsylvania. It's in the top three. know that. But I want to say, doesn't that happen out in the heartland of the country, out where big Ag really exist more than anything?

We do, we do.

Yeah, so what do you think? Capp, no cap.

You're right this time, I'm lying. It happens in Tulare, California. Not even in the heartland, it happens in California every year. Huge agricultural exhibition, So you're right on that one. All right, Peeps fans, okay, like the Peeps that you eat on Easter, from all over the country come to celebrate New Year's Eve with the 400 pound illuminated Peeps chick drop.

Okay.

Bye.

Okay.

Fun activities such as ice skating, photo ops, fireworks, and live entertainment. Cap or no cap, does this happen in Pennsylvania?

No cap, that happened to the best one in Pennsylvania.

You

are 100 % right, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I did not, by the way, all these things that I looked up, I had no idea what they were beforehand. I did not know that that happened in Pennsylvania. So have you ever been?

I have not, but Senator Lisa Baskola, a Democratic colleague of mine, she gives out peeps every Easter. She represents that area. We know a lot about it. She's a lot of pride. It's fun with her.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. That's

I'm gonna say no cap. Yeah.

No cap, that is correct. does

in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.

I didn't know that part, that felt like Pennsylvania to me.

Yeah, in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania that is where it occurs. Okay, last one. So it's a three-day festival celebrating the Armillaria Bulbosa fungus, the largest living organism in the world and is estimated to be 1,500 to 10,000 years old. The fungus theme festival includes a parade of consuming a 10 foot by 10 foot mushroom pizza. Cap no cap.

Does this occur in Pennsylvania?

So I want to say no cap simply because I love mushroom pizza and I now want to go to this and I want it to be in Pennsylvania. So we're going to say no cap.

Mm-hmm.

Unfortunately, I was cappin'. It happens in Crystal Falls, Michigan. Yeah, so not too far away, but if you really want to go and celebrate and have some mushroom pizza, go there.

did it mean to you to be the first state senator to give birth while in office?

To be honest, I never really thought about it until I announced to my colleagues that I was pregnant. Before that, as you know, and as they knew, I had had two miscarriages. So in those moments, it wasn't in my mind that there was still this glass ceiling of being the first person to give birth while in office at the state Senate And one of my colleagues pulled me aside and she said, you realize you're the first one of us to do this.

Yeah, I mean, obviously people see you having a child while you're serving in the state senate. You're blazing a path forward for other people saying, hey, I'm doing it and it's okay. You know, we should all have the ability to do these things. And so it is amazing that you are doing it. And, you know, everyone should have the ability no matter where they are in their path, in their jobs, they should be able to have a family. So I think it's amazing that you're doing it.

Was public speaking something that came naturally to you, or did you have to work at it?

So, another little known fact about me is I'm a national award winning public speaker from college in high school.

I did not know that.

you ever heard of FBLA

FBLA?

Yes, it's called Future Business Leaders of America. And you have to be invited to

Okay.

at the club in high school. And at least where I was, had to be invited to participate. And I was invited to be a part of it. It was served as where we had homeroom together. of different extra things. And they do competitions, regional, state, and national. in the high school level, I always did the public speaking stuff and only ever made it to the state level.

I moved on to college and they have a college version called Phi Beta Lambda, PDL. And from there, I competed in public speaking and moved on and was able to compete in the Pottstown and National Sports Prevot.

Mm-hmm.

I'd say

Wow.

me, it's something I've always had a little bit of a knack for. I don't know why I chose public speaking, other than to say I also really enjoyed theater and being up in front of a crowd when I was younger as well. So maybe that kind of all spoke to each other in that way.

Mm-hmm.

It's just a skill set of mine.

right, let's play a little game. It's called That's My Governor, okay, where we talk about how much we know about our Democratic Governor, Josh Shapiro.

what NBA team does Governor Shapiro hate?

Okay, well, he's a Sixers fan, because he loves all Philly sports,

the only time

I've seen him go on the record is he hates the Celtics.

why wouldn't I? I should have known that. That's the Celtic to Boston. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah Can't can't stand

can't stand the Celtics. Yeah All right. We'll get one. Don't worry. So governor Shapiro calls, Pennsylvania the great

Okay.

Is this a Great American Getaway? Okay. Yeah, they did the whole camper thing as a family.

You got it. You got it. The Great American Getaway. You got it. Okay, good. Yep. Yep.

Yep. The Great American Getaway. All right. What's Governor Shapiro's favorite kind of jacket? His bomber jacket. You're on a roll now. You're on a roll. All right. All right. The last one. What does Governor Shapiro help do for Pennsylvania?

I've got this bomber jacket.

Okay.

What if he had

He gets,

yeah, what does he get done?

stuff. Good. Okay. Okay. My husband would be proud of me. He's always telling me you got to watch those four letter words.

Yeah, get shit done. That's right. We're allowed to swear on this podcast. You got it. All right.

No,

you're allowed to swear on this one. All right, good job. Good job on

Okay.

right, let's play another game here. I made this game specifically for people who are in political office. It's called Name That Committee because you sit on a number of committees in the state Senate. Basically, these committees are a way for you to break off into smaller groups and then you debate different types of legislation, how to update legislation, and then hopefully it moves out of committee and then the entire assembly can vote on it.

Mm-hmm.

I'm going to give you some legislation that you've worked on and you're going to tell me what committee that was. Okay? So there was legislation that allows a lottery prize winner to choose whether to disclose their name and other identifying information. Okay? So which committee would that have been discussed in?

Okay, so that's actually probably went to a committee I no longer serve on. I served on that committee in my first term or the first session period as a senator in the first two years. That would be Community, Economic and Recreational Development.

Mm-hmm.

You got it. You've got it. Excellent. Okay. So the next thing, there was a shortage of certified poultry technicians who are key to preventing the spread of diseases like the bird flu. And there was legislation that allowed non-US citizens to be able to have work visas and become certified poultry technicians because there was a shortage. And so we have a group of people who could be certified and therefore help the public with the disease. So what committee would have been debating that?

that would have gone to the Agricultural Committee.

Right, Agricultural Rural Affairs Committee, you know your committees. All right, the next thing we have is legislation providing insurance coverage of speech therapy for stuttering, which, you know, that people need therapy sometimes. And so it'd be nice if we would have insurance providers mandated to cover those types of services.

this is going to be a tricky one because it sounds like it probably went to Health and Human Services. However, if it has to do with insurance coverage, it went to Banking and Insurance.

That is absolutely correct. Once again, you know your committees. Okay, next we have, this is an important one for being a doctor. This is important to me. There was legislation prohibiting pelvic, rectal, and prostate examinations on patients who were anesthetized or unconscious without informed consent for educational purposes.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, this one went to Health and Human Services.

You got it. And I read about that when it was being debated in committee and coming out to the floor and it was eventually passed. And I think that is great. Consent is a very important thing. So thank you for doing that. And then we have one more. Legislation authorizing courts to order evaluations of and treatment for persons with gambling disorders and establishing penalties and regulations for leaving a minor unattended at a gaming facility.

Absolutely.

So again, this was going to be a funny one because it could go to two different committees. It could go to community, economic and recreational development, but for all of our gambling legislation typically goes to, but because it has to do with crime, I'm pretty sure we discussed it in

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And you are absolutely correct. Five for five. Thank you very much, Amanda. And again, these are the kinds of things you talk about. They affect our everyday lives. And so that's why it's important that people like you are in these committees pushing legislation forward that helps all Pennsylvanians.

did you ever have an accident that left an imprint on your mind?

So I was a competitive softball player

one thing differently in life and I would have been playing D1 softball. But I chose a different path. But in saying all of that, in junior high, because when I went to school, we were elementary junior and then high school. We had two junior highs,

Mm-hmm.

and west. And every year we had a big softball game of junior high east versus junior high west. And I went to west. The day before, I was at a softball practice for the summer team.

Mm-hmm.

And

one of the girls was goofing around, not paying attention to coaches. The coach had called us all to stop and pay attention to something and she wasn't listening. And so she threw the ball at me when I wasn't looking, because I was looking at the coaches and I turned and when I tell you, mean it hit me square in

eye socket. I mean square in my eye socket. And the big game was the next day and I really thought I was going to end up missing it. I was afraid something was broken.

None of that was true. My face did swell up. I had the biggest black eye for the game, but my eye eventually opened and I was able to play in the game. But I will never forget some of my friends teasing me all day long and probably the rest of the school year about how I'm this great softball player who completely missed catching that ball.

Mm-hmm.

Well, I mean, there's some truth to that, I guess. Yeah, I, I, I think when I was in Little League, I was a terrible Little League player and they put me in center field and even before the game started, they were hitting balls, coaches, hitting balls in the outfield. And I had these I had glasses at the time, like really big box glasses. And the sunlight hit me in the eye.

Yeah.

and the ball literally went right over the top of the mitt and hit me square in the nose. And I don't think if I had glasses on, I would have broken my nose. But I didn't. But I had a nosebleed everywhere before the game even started. And I think they threw me off the team after that season was over. I was terrible. I'll never forget. I think the pitcher even hit me during that game. It was like the worst game ever. But yeah, that wasn't any fun.

Mm-hmm.

So we're going to play a game called Constitu-what? Where we talk about some services that you directly supply to your constituents in your district that they might not be aware of. So what are some things that people can get from you in your district?

Yeah.

So I'm going to name one simply because I

my name on this list. Have you heard of unclaimed property

Mm-hmm.

the state? Okay, so there's a whole website

No, no.

the treasurer, the state treasurer, where you can get money that is owed to you from an uncashed check gift card, reimbursements, all kinds of stuff. If you don't cash those and it's meant for you, it goes to this pot, this pot that the state holds on to.

Mm-hmm.

So if you go to the treasurer's website, you look up, if you look up unclaimed property, Pennsylvania. So go to the website, you can search.

unclaimed unclaimed

property pennsylvania

Yeah, Google that. The website

will come up. It'll be the Pennsylvania Treasurer's website, who is currently Stacey Garrity. And you can search by your name.

just like your first and last name?

So I went on today because I saw

of my friends saying that they had gotten like $500. I have searched my name plenty of times, never had anything. I went on today. My name is there. So very excited.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Now, what I hate to tell you is I don't actually know all of the steps of what to do to get this money

So I'm going

talk to my staff. My staff knows what they're doing. They will help you with anything and everything. And so I'm going to ask them for a little help on getting some unclaimed property back.

Mm-hmm.

So your constituents can call up your office and they can walk you through how to get that money back essentially. Is it explained to you on the web? Like is the website just letting you know that it's owed to you but there's no way to claim it through the website or how to? No.

No,

you can absolutely start the process there. I started the process and then I got a PDF that I think I just need to sign and send back in, but I'm going to double check with my staff to make sure I tell you what to do. But, you know, it's just a little more.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I have never done that before. I'm definitely going to do that because I've

Pennsylvania most of my life, but certainly in this area for almost the last decade, maybe there's some money floating around that I could reclaim.

Absolutely. mean, the money I found for me is back from when I was living in the city of Philadelphia during law school.

That's interesting. What are some other services that you offer directly to your constituents that they may not know about?

Yeah.

If

need help getting a birth certificate, a copy of the birth certificate. I would say like a handicap placard if you need one or you qualify for one now and you don't know how to get it. Filing

Okay.

unemployment, that was a big thing when I first started because that was during the pandemic. But yeah, if you need help figuring out unemployment, we do.

Mm-hmm.

We just did something called a scam jam. So we'll partner up often with the Department of Insurance or Department of Human Services about scams, how to avoid them, how to get Medicare or Medicaid. So we'll do a lot of things like that. And I would say if you have questions about anything,

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

regarding those things or I like to tell everyone call us if you don't know where to go call us if we're not the right people we're going to connect you to the right people we have all the

Mm-hmm.

because I know to be frank I know a little bit about what my staff does my staff does so much I am incredibly grateful for their passion and their drive to help the people in District 17 because I don't I know they just

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

They're really good at it. They're really good at it.

Mm-hmm.

I think that's great because I think a lot of people don't even know where to start on a lot of issues with their lives and so if they know that they can call their state senator and say I don't really know where to start then maybe they can point you in the right direction. So thank you, that's great.

What?

All right, we're gonna play another game called Trashy TV. Okay, so I'm gonna list off some Trashy TV shows and I only know these shows because Jess watches all these shows.

Yeah.

And you let me know which one would you rather be on and why if you know any of these. OK, so we have Love Island, Love Island, The Real Housewives, Love is Blind, Vanderpump Rules or The Circle. Which of those tickle like if you had to pick a show to actually star in, know, state senator Amanda Cappelletti makes a showing on What Trashy TV Show.

my gosh. So I've heard of some of these. I will admit to have watching Real Housewives and the Vanderpump rules got me through maternity leave.

Okay,

there you go.

I think I would probably

Vanderpump rules in its previous iteration. So for people who don't know, it's been completely recast, new people.

Yeah.

I only

know this because Jess actually complained to me about that very issue. I guess this is like a thing.

Well, I'm with Jess I want the old cast. I don't want new people. But I would probably go

that. They are more my contemporaries. I am more of the same age as those individuals. And I feel like there are a few people based on what I've seen on TV. I know that this is, you know, could be really who they are or who they're not.

I guess a few people just love to be like, excuse me, let's have a conversation about your poor behavior.

Well, I think it's a valiant goal in life is to be on Vanderpump rules. Who knows? It could be in your future. I think I probably want to be on The Circle. Have ever watched The Circle?

No, I don't even know what that is.

So the circle

you sit in a hotel room and you essentially interact with a group of people all in separate hotel rooms and you try to become the most popular person in this group of people by just engaging with them in like a social media format like you're in a chat room and but nobody knows you can make up who you are nobody can see what you look like you can put up a profile picture but it doesn't have to be your profile picture

and you just have conversations and by the end of the game, you basically win the most popular person. But it's hilarious. Sometimes it's like a mother-son duo pretending to be somebody and sometimes it's like an actual real person displaying their whole personality. It's kind of fun. I mean, out of all of them, that would probably be what I want to be on. I don't think I'd fit in anywhere else.

You're so good at social. I could see you being good at that. You have such a good social media presence. I'm actually really bad at social media. My staff that does my official side social media, like, they've got that all handled. I know nothing.

Ahem.

Yeah.

Well, I'm

going to try and boost your social media game, OK? We're going to work on it.

Okay.

So when you decided to run for office, why did you decide to become a Democrat and represent the Democratic Party? Because everybody has a choice. What party they want to represent. So why did you choose Democrats?

So I grew up in a fairly Red area.

Mm-hmm.

My mom was a Democrat. can remember as a kid supporting Bill Clinton, mom supported Bill Clinton. I don't think I knew my dad was a Republican until I was older.

Mm-hmm.

was a level of value setting for me that was really important.

And

Mm-hmm.

having people in my life, especially as I've gotten older, but even from high school through now, I think I can pinpoint people that I was close to in various pivotal moments in development that had an abortion for whatever reason.

and access to that kind of care. It became really crucial to me just as like a general statement because I know when you know somebody who gets an abortion at 15, I'm going to see the way that their life turned out and the fact that they are incredibly happy and successful now is

impactful. I hate to be repetitive like that, but it really kind of demonstrated for me where my

values live and where I, you know, I saw my own people and what I wanted to be, the way I was voting and what I was voting for. So I knew

Mm-hmm.

was a Democrat before I ran because that's how I was voting. Those are the people who are reflective of the values that I hold and the basic morals and policies that I wanted to see in place.

So I always knew that about myself and I think that came pretty early on in life.

That makes sense.

If we ever get the trifecta in Pennsylvania, what type, like what's your dream legislation to pass for Pennsylvania? Just tell me like three, three of them, because I know you probably have like a whole list in your brain. And for those, for those who don't know, like a Democratic governor, Democratic control of the House, which we currently have in a Democratic Senate.

So the...

So for those who know me, my past is I was the Director of Policy for Planned

So when I'm talking about reproductive healthcare, I'm talking about abortion access. I come from not just that personal space of like knowing these people and then my own history with abortion care and starting my family and what that looks like.

Mm-hmm.

most people don't know the abortion regulations that we do have currently fit in the crime code, not health and human services code, crime. That's a problem.

The crime code, interesting.

I have and I'm working on legislation to move it out of there to get rid of all of the barriers. I really just want to improve reproductive health care, whether you want to start a family or not. I want that space to be a healthy space for anybody to go into and address, really

Mm-hmm.

maternal morbidity and mortality. And when you include access in that way, you know.

that those numbers go down and maybe become a safer place for people to start families. So that's number one. I think number two is probably going to be environmentally related. Go 100, I've worked on Go 100 legislation since I got in the Senate, which is the thing that we get that the goal and provide the regulations to support for moving to 100 % renewable energy here in

Mm-hmm.

We know that that's-

possible, even if there are lot of jobs there, we know that many people are pushing for those things. So really just setting ourselves up for success and get helping push us to get there and stop relying on dirty

I have two more questions for you then let you go. What gives you hope?

I know, it's a tough, it's a big one, it's a heavy one.

It's. You know, actually, it's not that big. I have a.

19 year old niece Who grew up in Berks County and if you Berks County, it is not a bastion of a progressive politics.

Mm-hmm.

But you hear.

Hopefully someday.

hear her and her friends talk. To know that they will stand up to.

people and say, you know, pronouns shouldn't matter in that, that you just give somebody the respect of calling them what they want to be called. To hear them talk about some of these things in the way that I've heard her and some of her friends speak

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

me a lot of hope. That's important to me. I look at my little girl and I think about what her future

is going to look like. What am I leaving behind for her and what am I fighting for for her? And I think that combination of having those two young women in my life.

Mm-hmm.

Really just to help and really pushes me to make sure that.

you don't stop fighting.

Hmm. Yeah, what plans do you have to get yourself through these next few years?

I don't know that I

a specific plan. I just don't know that I know any other way than to fight.

Right, just keep moving forward

one day at a time.

Yeah, I will tell you

that is the root of kind of who I am. My therapist even said to me, you know when I talked to her about this most recent miscarriage, she said something along the lines of, you know, being happy to see me grieving this time around. said, the first time you were so, so intent on doing something with it.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

How do I make sure there are policies to better support people, that people don't go through this in the same way that I am? It's

Mm-hmm.

just kind of, I don't know, it's just the only way I know how to be. And I think that's what's gonna keep pushing me is just that that's at the core of who I am, I think.

Well thank you so much for being my guest. I'm extremely grateful you are representing me in Harrisburg, and Pennsylvania's lucky to have you.

Well, thank you so much. We've been grateful for you all of district 17 and to be frank, all of Pennsylvania. It's a pretty cool place. Even if we don't always agree with the outcomes of some of the elected officials, I get to serve.

Well, that's why we

have to keep fighting and moving forward.

thank you for joining me here on the Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved. And until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.

Absolutely.