Profile

Roger A. Madigan was elected to the state Senate in 1984 to represent the 23rd Senatorial District, which includes Bradford, Lycoming, and Sullivan counties, and parts of Susquehanna and Union counties.

Previously, he served in the House of Representatives, representing the 110th District, which includes all of Bradford County, from 1977 through 1984.

The senator serves as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, vice chairman of the Labor and Industry Committee, and is a member of the Appropriations, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Rules and Executive Nominations committees. He is also chairman of the Joint State Government Commission, a member of the State Transportation Commission and the Pennsylvania Aviation Advisory Committee, and serves on the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council, the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System's Board of Trustees.

From 1988 to 1993, Sen. Madigan served as chairman of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. He led the fight for legislation that became known as the "Madigan Triggers," which stabilized Pennsylvania's Unemployment Compensation System and saved the state over $400 million in interest payments to the federal government. For this and other efforts, he was named the 1989 "Government Leader of the Year" by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, its highest public-sector honor. Sen. Madigan is the only state legislator to have received this award.

In 1993, he was the first recipient of the Leadership Award from the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association for his efforts to reform the State's Workers' Compensation System. The award was created to recognize exceptional effort and is not given annually.

Also in 1993, the National Association of Homebuilders named him the "State Elected Official of the Year" and presented him with its State and Local Government Affairs Recognition Award.

Sen. Madigan was presented the 1987 "Man of the Year" Award by the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association; the National Federation of Independent Business "Guardian of Small Business Award" for 1989-1990, 1991-92, 1993-94, and 1995-96 sessions for his consistent support of small business; and the 1991 "Alumni of the Year" Award by Delta Theta Sigma Fraternity. He was honored in 1991 as the ninth recipient of the James M. Baird Jr. Memorial Award established by the Firemen's Legislative Federation of Pennsylvania, and was named Honorary County Agent by the Pennsylvania Association of County Agents for 1992. In 1997, Sen. Madigan was named National State Republican Legislator of the Year, selected from among 3,500 nominees from around the nation.

Sen. Madigan has also received the "Legislator of the Year Award" from the following associations: Pennsylvania Jewelers Association (1988); Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries (1989); Pennsylvania Retailers Association (1992); Keystone Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors (1992); Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania (1993); and "Outstanding PA Senator of the Year" - Pennsylvania Landowners' Association (1996). 

Sen. Madigan also was presented the National Job Corp Coalition's 1996 Alpha Award; the Central Pennsylvania Committee for the State of Israel Bonds 1996 Leadership Award; the 1995 Distinguished Dairy Alumnus Award from the Penn State University Department of Dairy and Animal Science; the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau's Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award for 1995; the Pennsylvania State University 2003 Distinguished Alumnus Award; and the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Troy Area School District. 

Sen. Madigan serves as a trustee emeritus of the Pennsylvania State University, and in February 1991 he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport. He is a director of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association and a trustee of the Guthrie Medical Center in Sayre. 

He earned a B.S. in dairy production from the Pennsylvania State University in 1951 and is a member of the Penn State Coaly Society and the Delta Theta Sigma fraternity. Sen. Madigan was a dairyman for 13 years (1951-64), and currently operates a 260-acre crop and certified tree farm near Towanda.

Other community activities include membership in the Rotary Club, various Masonic Orders, Bradford Lodge IOOF, Bradford-Sullivan County Farmers' Association (since 1952), Union Grange, the Bradford County Holstein Club, and the Pennsylvania Holstein Association. 

He is married to the former Millie Weaver and is the father of four children.