Mark B. Cohen (born June 4, 1949) is a Democratic politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented District 202 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from June 10, 1974, until his defeat for reelection in the Democratic primary in 2016.
In 2017, Cohen ran for judge and won in both the primary and general election. On January 2, 2018, Cohen was sworn in for a 10-year term as a Judge on the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.
Early life and education
He was born in New York City, the oldest child of Florence and David Cohen.
Cohen attended Central High School of Philadelphia, graduating in 1966. He sent a letter on September 25, 1965 to civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., inviting King to speak at his school.
Cohen enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as a features writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian and an officer of the Penn affiliate of the College Democrats of America. Cohen graduated in 1970 with a degree in political science.
Cohen earned a law degree from the Harrisburg campus of the Widener University School of Law (now known as Widener University Commonwealth Law School) in 1993 and an M.B.A. from Lebanon Valley College in 2000. As an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar, he is qualified in the practice of law in Pennsylvania. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States district courts for Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the US Supreme Court.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Original election
Cohen was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a special election on May 21, 1974. He was 24 years old. He was officially nominated for the special election as the Democratic nominee for the vacant House seat by the executive committee of the Democratic State Committee.
Early years in the House, 1974-1988
Cohen sponsored legislation to enable an American citizen who was a foreign medical graduate to complete a 5th Pathway Program to receive a license to practice medicine in Pennsylvania. The 5th Pathway Program peaked nationally in 1979-1980, but ultimately the expansion of the programs offered by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates led to its decline and eventual elimination by the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association.
Cohen was later appointed Secretary of the State Government Committee and as Chairman of the Public Utility Subcommittee of the Consumer Protection Committee.
To deal with plant closings, Cohen introduced state legislation similar to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Cohen's 1977 bill provided for 75 days advance notice for plant closings. In 1979, he introduced House Bill 1251, the more comprehensive Employee Protection and Community Stabilization Act. His legislation helped lead to enactment of 60-day advance notice plant closing legislation by the City of Philadelphia, which, in turn, helped inspire the federal 60 day advance notice requirement enacted in 1988.
In 1983, Cohen became chairman of the House Labor Relations Committee, a position he held until 1990; during his tenure, he focused on increasing the minimum wage and protecting worker's compensation benefits. His efforts to raise Pennsylvania's minimum wage in accordance with rises in inflation, coupled with aggressive statewide organizing led by the Philadelphia Unemployment Project and Pennsylvania labor unions, helped lead to minimum wage increase bill signings by Governors Robert P. Casey in 1988 and Edward G. Rendell in 2006. A 1986 Labor Relations Committee study of the length of time it took injured workers to get worker's compensation benefits found that it took disabled workers an average of 10 months to get a decision on their eligibility. Cohen sought remedial legislation to deal with worker's compensation problems. The Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce offered its own reform program. Ultimately, elements of both plans took effect. His chemical right to know legislation for workers and communities was signed into law by Governor Richard Thornburgh in 1984.
