With his father in mind, Mullins seeks funding program for neurodegenerative diseases

BLAKELY, Pa. — On Thursday on the state House floor in Harrisburg, state Representative Kyle Mullins stumped for research he takes personally.

“Awareness only gets a cause so far,” Mullins, of Lackawanna County , said. “It must be accompanied by action."

The legislation he is talking about, House Bill 704, establishes a neurodegenerative disease research program in Pennsylvania. Mullins introduced the bill last year. It passed the state House this week and now heads to the state Senate.

Photos scattered across Mullins' district office in Blakely show why the bill is so important to him. His father, Michael Mullins, was diagnosed with ALS, a neurodegenerative disease also called Lous Gehrig’s disease, in 2020 and passed away two years later.

“And it was in that time that I realized th