Mayor Cherelle Parker knows her way around Harrisburg. She has some requests for the new legislative session.

It may have been only the first day for lawmakers in Harrisburg, but Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker came to the state Capitol prepared with a binder of talking points and requests for legislators on what the city needs.

Parker, now in her second year leading the state’s largest city and biggest economic driver, returned to her old workplace last week for the first day of the new legislative session. A former state representative, Parker came with a focus on telling lawmakers there, old and new, about what her city needs from the state to build more housing, keep SEPTA affordable, and increase funding for the Philadelphia School District.

“I’m the mayor of Philadelphia, I’m never gonna turn down an opportunity to make an ask,” Parker said in an interview. “And the [state] leaders, they expect that of me. They know that if I did not use it as an opportunity to share with them what we’re working on in the city of Philadelphia, I would not have made good use of my time.”

Parker indicated that she plans to ask the state for help in creating incentives so the city can build more affordable housing and market-rate units, as well as preserve existing homes. She is likely to focus much of her second year on housing policy and is expected to release the details of her housing plan in the coming months. She campaigned on a promise to build and repair 30,000 units during her first term.

“Philadelphia, with limited revenue-generating capacity, we can’t do it alone,” the mayor said. “And I’m talking about housing of all kinds. No one puts Philadelphia in a box in the kind of housing we should be focused on.”

Parker also said she was proud to be able to tell lawmakers in Harrisburg that Philadelphia increased its local funding for SEPTA by $20 million, as the city and collar counties ask the state to help save the transit authority from an impending “death spiral.” Republican lawmakers often argue that the city and its surrounding counties need to put up more money if they want the state to invest more in SEPTA.

» READ MORE: Will Harrisburg be able to fix SEPTA’s financial crisis?

As a holdover before a legislative solution is reached, Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, redirected $153 million in federal highway funds to block a significant fare increase that SEPTA planned to implement at the start of this year.

Philadelphia, Parker said, is also doing its part to support the struggling authority.

“For the first time in I don’t know how long to be able to say, ‘Philadelphia, we got our homework done already, we’ve already increased our local share,’ that felt really good,” she added.

Public transit will be a major issue in Harrisburg as part of this year’s budget negotiations, and Shapiro is likely to pitch a fix in his budget address next month.

Parker also gave “huge congratulations” to Sen. Joe Picozzi (R., Philadelphia), who unseated a Democrat to represent parts of Northeast Philadelphia. The 29-year-old is the youngest member of the state Senate and the first Republican to represent Philadelphia in the chamber since 1996. He was chosen to chair the Senate’s Urban Affairs and Housing Committee and has said sustaining SEPTA and improving public safety are among his top priorities.

“I think we are going to have an extremely great working relationship because he’s focused on getting things done for the city of Philadelphia,” she said, noting her existing relationship with Rep. Martina White (R., Philadelphia), another GOP official in Harrisburg representing the Northeast.

Parker, who spent a decade in Harrisburg as a state legislator before her election to City Council, said the House’s bipartisanship while at a 101-101 tie on the first day of the session made her proud.

“It gave me hope,” she added, about the prospects of bipartisanship in the coming legislative session.

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.