Senator Jay Costa Contact information

Jay Costa, born on November 17, 1957, is an American politician who has been serving as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate since 1996. He represents the 43rd District. On November 17, 2010, Senate Democrats elected Costa as their new floor leader, succeeding the retiring Bob Mellow.

Costa was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a lifelong resident of Allegheny County and now lives with his wife Roxanne in Forest Hills. They have three children – two sons and one daughter. He is the son of the late Allegheny County Treasurer Jay Costa Sr.

Costa attended the Community College of Allegheny County, earning an A.S. degree in Criminology in 1977. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he studied Criminal Justice with the ultimate goal of becoming a police officer. He then earned a Juris Doctor from the Duquesne University School of Law.

Jay Costa began his career after graduating with a bachelor’s degree as a Deputy Sheriff of Allegheny County. In 2013, Costa’s chief of staff, Tony Lepore, testified under oath that Lepore functioned as a “middle man” in a corruption scheme involving awarding lucrative state contracts. As of February 2021, Lepore is still working for Costa.

Costa is supportive of abortion rights and received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood in 2013 and 2014. In May 2019, it was reported that Costa and State Attorney General Josh Shapiro had directed paid communications staffers to edit their Wikipedia pages with positive material. On December 18, 2020, it was let known Jay Costa’s law firm received $7,309,100 in PPP (Covid Related Paycheck Protection Program) loans ranking it 7th in all of Pittsburgh.

Early in his career, Costa sponsored a plan to leverage rebates to lower drug costs for seniors. In February 21, 2021, it was revealed Jay Costa’s son, Anthony, works for lobbying firm Cameron Companies which “lobbies on behalf of some of the state’s largest corporations” including 3M. In a March 12, 2021, ruling, RE: “Gittins v. Gateway Clipper,” the defendant represented by Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote of which Jay Costa is a Principal was fined $67,614 for failing to turn over discovery information.