Tagged: Tom Corbett

For the first time in several decades Pennsylvanians will be able to view an original copy of the Bill of  Rights.

It’s 1789 — Congress approves the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The states ratify the amendments December 15, 1791 and President George Washington sends a handwritten copy of the Bill of Rights to each of the 13 states. Pennsylvania’s copy goes missing in the late 1800s and New York’s copy might have been destroyed in a fire at New York’s archives.

Gov. Tom Corbett's office says his comments about a lack of Latinos on his staff were taken out of context to discredit him.

The first-term Republican said in response to a question at an Al Dia newsmedia-sponsored event in Philadelphia last week that he did not have any Latinos on his staff. Then he asked people at the forum to help him find one.

His office issued a statement Wednesday that said he was only referring to his immediate staff, a small group.

Gov. Tom Corbett has ordered a delay in the adoption of new high stakes standardized tests for public schools in Pennsylvania.

The new Pennsylvania Common Core standards were supposed to be implemented in July. The class of 2017 would need to pass the subject-specific tests before graduating.

But Education Department spokesman Tim Eller says the postponement won’t result in any major changes.

Gov. Tom Corbett won’t be budged by public opinion polls when it comes to marijuana.

Support is high for legalizing the drug when obtained with a doctor’s prescription.

But Corbett has said making medical marijuana legal will not rule out abuse of the drug, because prescription drugs are abused now.  

"This is a gateway to many other drugs," he said. "I believe we have a drug problem in this country. We have a drug problem in the state of Pennsylvania."

Corbett made his remarks on the Radio Pennsylvania “Ask the Governor” program.

Gov. Tom Corbett says he'll name a central Pennsylvania public school superintendent as his new education secretary, with outgoing Ron Tomalis becoming an adviser on higher education issues.

Corbett said in a statement Wednesday that he'll nominate Cumberland Valley School District Superintendent William Harner as education secretary.

Corbett's statement didn't explain the reason for the change.

Gov. Tom Corbett and his allies in the state Legislature have introduced controversial legislation to reform the pension systems for state employees and public school teachers.

The sponsors say the bills make necessary cuts to reduce the state’s massive liability problem. Unions argue that the measures are illegal because they cut current workers’ future benefits.

To get a handle on how Pennsylvania’s two public pensions ended up in their current funding crisis, one has to look more than a decade into the past.

A Big Commitment

Gov. Tom Corbett is reluctant to pull any legislative issue from the very top of his crowded agenda.

But other legislative leaders appear more than happy to do it for him.

The governor has said he wants four things done before lawmakers leave for their summer recess: a budget, liquor privatization, a transportation funding package and an approved overhaul of the state’s two pension plans and the debt that comes with them.  

State House and Senate lawmakers have stepped up to sponsor legislation to advance the governor’s plan to overhaul the state’s two pension systems.

A week has passed since Gov. Tom Corbett's ill-received comment tying Pennsylvania's  7.9 percent unemployment rate to job applicants unable to pass drug tests.  But Senate Democrats are revisiting earlier comments that they say are reflective of Corbett's policies.  The governor insists it’s much ado about words.

The Senate’s top Democrat says clumsy statements by the governor are significant not because they make easy hay for political opponents, but because of what they reveal about Corbett himself.

Some employers say finding job applicants who can clear drug tests is a real concern, though it may not be as large a contributor to the state's 7.9 percent unemployment rate as a recent comment by Gov. Tom Corbett would suggest.

"There are many employers that say 'We're looking for people, but we can't find anybody that has passed a drug test, a lot of them,'" Corbett said on the Radio Pennsylvania show Ask the Governor. "And that's a concern for me, because we're having a serious problem with that."

A new poll finds Gov. Tom Corbett is stacking up poorly against real and potential Democratic challengers in the 2014 gubernatorial election.  

The Quinnipiac University survey of more than 12,000 registered voters pegs the governor’s disapproval rating at 47 percent, with 38 percent of those surveyed approving of his job performance.

Senate Democratic leader Jay Costa said although some argue the governor has time to buff up his image, the results are far from meaningless.  

The Commonwealth Court has denied an injunction to not close state health centers, according to the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, which represents public health nurses.

The Corbett administration is planning on closing or consolidating 26 state health centers. The Department of Health has said that closing centers would allow services to be streamlined and for staff to work in a more mobile capacity. State health centers provide services such as vaccinations and STD testing.