Longtime state Rep. Peter John Daley II has died at the age of 71. Daley served in Harrisburg from 1983 to 2016, representing the former 49th District, which covered municipalities in Fayette and Washington Counties. He graduated from California University of Pennsylvania (then California State College) in 1972 and received his law degree from Widener School of Law in 1993. Daley recalled talking to an old family friend about his thoughts on a career, telling former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno that he wanted to be a football player back in the day. He said Paterno told him, “You want to be a lawyer.” Daley was mayor of California Borough from 1974-82 and was elected to the Pennsylvania House as a Democrat in 1982. He chaired the House Banking Committee, developing the Housing Trust Fund, a set-aside fund so people could get low-interest mortgages in Pennsylvania. Daley also helped pass the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE). He also served on the House Consumer Affairs and Agriculture Committees. “I never lost sight of who I was, and why I was there and where I came from,” Daley told the Uniontown Herald-Standard back in 2017.